The number of Universal Credit claimants who aren’t required to work has risen by more than one million in a year. The biggest rise since the pandemic…
1.1 million have been added. New DWP stats show 48.7% of all claimants – four million – are in this category. Well up from 36.3% in October 2023…
The most recent rise of 159,654 in total UC claimants between September and October is the largest monthly hike since June 2020. Expensive…
UPDATE: A DWP spokesman said:
“The number of people receiving Universal Credit has been increasing as we have invited tens of thousands of people each month to move from legacy benefits as they become phased out. We’re determined to get more people off welfare and into work. That’s why we are stepping up our plan to Get Britain Working with the most ambitious employment reforms in a generation.
This includes modernising jobcentres and providing tailored support through the Connect to Work programme. Every eligible young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without earning or learning will also be offered guaranteed paid work through our Youth Guarantee.”
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”