A Highland MP is asking to meet Rishi Sunak over fears Universal Credit claimants are to lose more than £3oo due to a system oversight.
Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has written to the prime minister asking to discuss solutions to perceived system failures for the benefit claimants.
Mr Stone explained in his letter that Universal Credit claimants who are paid four-weekly by their employer have a major barrier in accessing cost of living funds.
Due to the way the weeks fall over the course of a year, the claimant will receive one double salary payment, he says.
During this month, the claimant’s earnings reduce their Universal Credit to nothing, also known as a “nil award”.
‘Government does not understand scale of the issue’
Mr Stone stressed this issue will have an impact on more people than just his constituents and therefore hopes the prime minister will accept his request for a meeting.
He said: “This is a small failure with a huge impact for those affected.
“If you are unlucky enough to receive your once-a-year nil award during the narrow qualifying period for the cost of living payment, you miss out on a substantial amount of money that could be put towards heating as we head into another harsh Highland winter.
“When I asked the prime minister about this oversight during Prime Minister’s Questions last week, he pointed me towards discretionary funding that my constituents can’t access.
“This is a government failure that needs addressing urgently, not swept under the rug.
“I also tabled a written question to the government, asking how many people had been impacted by this issue, only to be told it was ‘not possible’ to identify this number.
There is a failure in the system for claimants of UC who are paid 4-weekly by their employer and were paid double during the qualifying month for the Cost of Living Payment.
If you are affected by this, please get in touch with my office on jamie.stone.mp@parliament.uk. pic.twitter.com/CV0oVKjHbt
— Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) November 2, 2022
“My concern is that this is not a one-off case.
“If it’s happening to my constituents, it will be happening to others and the government does not hold the data to understand the scale of the issue.
“I hope the prime minister accepts my request to meet so we can come to a resolution together.”
Earlier this year Mr Stone called on the government to cut fuel duty in the Highlands, to help families bearing the brunt of record petrol prices.
This came after the Lib Dems calculated households in rural areas are paying £2,000 a year more on transport costs than those in urban areas.
Conversation