The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will provide £39 million of funding from April 2019 to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to provide support to universal credit (UC) claimants.
DR UK factsheets on universal credit
DWP will fund Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland a further £12 million to set up delivery in the run up to April 2019 to ensure a smooth transition to the new delivery model.
This funding is from Universal Support’s £200 million budget, which was launched in 2015.
Citizens Advice have now issued a statement about this funding in which they agree with the aims and principles of Universal Credit, but see it as a flawed system which needs fixing.
“This funding agreement does not stop us from raising problems with Universal Credit publicly and it does not compromise the impartiality or confidentiality of the advice and support we give to people — these are red lines we never cross, including when it comes to funding.”
Citizens Advice will concentrate on helping more people with their initial Universal Credit claim — making sure they get the tailored help they need to fully complete the claim. It will also share evidence to DWP, based on problems they encounter when providing support to claimants.
Citizens Advice will take over Universal Support. Existing Universal Support funding arrangements will remain in place for Local Authorities until 31 March 2019, with joint running of the Citizens Advice offer alongside until this date.
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