Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 87
87
Marion Davis of One Parent Families Scotland noted that there ‘are huge and significant problems...
Conclusion
Marion Davis of One Parent Families Scotland noted that there ‘are huge and significant problems around digital access for parents who do not have a PC or a tablet’.213 Nina Ballantyne at Citizens Advice Scotland agreed saying that ‘a lot of people just do not have access to devices. If they do it is a phone, which is even harder to complete applications on.’214 Polly Jones from The Trussell Trust added to this saying that to make a Universal Credit application via a mobile phone was difficult ‘because the screen is too small and you are very conscious of what you are paying for while you are trying to navigate around.’215 Fife Welfare Reform and Anti-Poverty Partnership wrote about how many people rely on library computer resources to submit Universal Credit claims, and state that ‘the pandemic has highlighted that when centres like libraries and local offices close, there really isn’t much help there for the digitally excluded’.216 Suzanne Lavelle of Southside Housing Association said that in their experience they found the Universal Credit ‘system is clunky and if you are trying to make a Universal Credit claim, for example, and you are doing it for a couple, there is lots of signing in and signing out and it is very difficult to navigate.’217 210 Department for Work and Pensions, Universal Credit, Using your account online, accessed 20 April 2021 211 Q49 212 Q49 213 Q71 214 Q75 215 Q120 216 Fife Council (WPS0020) 217 Q121 36 Welfare policy in Scotland
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Department considers the existing resource to be sufficient. There is already assistance available to help claimants to make and maintain their Universal Credit claim using the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Throughout the pandemic, Jobcentres have remained open for anyone who needed face- to-face support and could not be helped in any other way. Jobcentres in Scotland resumed full face to face services, returning to normal opening hours from 9am to 5pm, on 26 April 2021. All Jobcentre Plus offices have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. Work Coaches will continue to support those who need it to maintain their Universal Credit claim. To support DWP’s ongoing commitment in helping claimants, it has recruited an additional 1,152 Work Coaches in its Jobcentres in Scotland. DWP agreed to fund Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver Help to Claim for another year (up to 31 March 2022) to provide support to people to make a new claim to Universal Credit. If Citizens Advice Scotland Advisers identify that a Help to Claim client cannot make their Universal Credit claim on-line, then they will support the claimant to make a claim by phone. Through Help to Claim, DWP has also funded Citizens Advice Scotland to provide Public Access Terminals to enable people who don’t have access to a device to go on-line to claim Universal Credit.