Recommendation 120

The advance payment system was commented on critically by our witnesses. Kirsty McKechnie of the Child Poverty Action Group said that advances ‘contribute to the ongoing hardship that people experience on Universal Credit and the difficulty in making ends meet from one end of the month to the next.’303 Nina Ballantyne from Citizens Advice Scotland highlighted how an advance ‘functions like a loan, so even if people do take it out what they are left with is a much lower payment for the months thereafter, meaning what was already a subsistence payment is that much harder to cover things with additional money taken off it.’304 The Trussell Trust said that whilst advances were designed to mitigate against the challenge of the five week wait they have also ‘turned an immediate shock of hardship into a prolonged lower level of income [which has] equally dramatic effects on people’s ability to afford essentials.’305 Money Advice Moray argued that: ‘Claimants should not be penalised for having to take out advances because of the 5 week wait imposed on them.’306 On this issue Citizens Advice Scotland stated simply that: ‘Placing people into a cycle of debt should not be a tenet of the Universal Credit system.’307