Recommendation 28

In written evidence, organisations who work with benefit claimants raised concerns about the fact that the Help to Claim service no longer included face-to-face support. The National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers said that the Department had reduced support at the very time when it was clear that there was going to be a higher need and commented that jobcentre staff did not have the resources, the benefits knowledge, the time or the independence to support vulnerable claimants.59 The Child Poverty Action Group also highlighted the loss of in-person Help to Claim support, noting that advice services were not resourced sufficiently to provide effective support.60 Transitional protection for claimants moving to Universal Credit