Lancaster Citizens Advice champion speaks out over 'unfortunate and unfair' Universal Credit glitch

A Lancaster Citizens Advice worker has spoken out about how benefit claimants are being underpaid due to a 'computer flaw' caused by 53 Mondays in a year.

Jeni Meadows, schools and family adviser at Citizens Advice North Lancashire, raised the issue with Universal Credit at a Lancaster City Council meeting - calling it "an unfortunate and unfair situation".

She explained that because weekly rent payments are billed on Mondays, when there are 53 Mondays in the year, tenants who have to pay their rent weekly have an extra week to pay.

But she said the Universal Credit system doesn't acknowledge this extra week, meaning residents will be underpaid in the leap year of 2024.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has told Beyond Radio that its approach was confirmed by the High Court after a judicial review, and the problems for claimants were being caused by weekly rental charges as the support received in any calendar month is never the same as the rent due.

They said charging rents weekly "reflects a world which no longer exists".

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting at Morecambe Town Hall, Jeni called on the council to put pressure on the DWP to act.

She gave an example of a Citizens Advice client, Suzie (not her real name), who came to the charity with a housing problem to do with rent arrears.

It became clear that Suzie was calculating her housing costs incorrectly because Universal Credit did not match what her actual rent would be for 2024. 

She is on a low income with young children in her household and is extremely worried about finding the extra money she needs to meet her rental costs this year.

The council will now write to Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride to ask that the Universal Credit system be altered in 2024 by way of a payment adjustment and that a change is made so that this does not arise again in subsequent 53-week years.

Universal Credit is a payment to help with living costs. It’s paid monthly, or twice a month to some people in Scotland.

People on a low income, or who are out of work or cannot work, can usually claim.

The system was launched in 2013 and completed its rollout in 2018, replacing Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Working Tax Credit.

Councillor Caroline Jackson (pictured below), the council's deputy leader from the Green group, said on Wednesday: "The people who get caught up in it are the people who are least able to pay.

"This year they have to find that extra week's rent. 

"Everybody here knows the pressures that are on those people in our area, with the cost of energy and food.

"Somehow or other, the DWP can't acknowledge it. One a half million claimants would be affected by this."

The additional week of rent, which becomes due in April 2024, will affect 1,470 council tenants who are in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit.

Councillor Joanne Ainscough, of Labour (pictured below), said: "I know how computer systems work. They are supposed to improve people's lives.

"When they are not doing that and not paying the right amount of money, that feels deliberate.

"This feels very similar to the very recent Post Office scandal where people just ignore and ignore and ignore the actual problem instead of fixing the systemic issues. They must have known about it for a very long time and it needs sorting out."

Joanna Young, CEO of Citizens Advice North Lancashire, said: ”It’s not good enough to shrug this off as an unfortunate yet rare administrative occurrence.

"This will likely affect those on the lowest incomes in our District at a time when household budgets are already stretched.

"Residents on lower incomes are unlikely to have an extra week’s rent to spare.

"It is only right that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) amend the calculation in 53 week rent years so that we avoid this happening again. The cost of living crisis is still with us. This will have an impact on wider services in the community including Citizens Advice and other charities such as our Food Banks who are all under considerable pressure.”

Briony Scott, manager of Morecambe Bay Foodbank, said: “People on Universal Credit are already being stretched beyond their means. We know that even on the full amount, people don't have enough for the essentials.

"Additional pressure around rent due to the leap year is only going to cause more stress in an already fragile system. A further surge in people being referred to the Food Bank because of this issue, would mean that we will need more donations in order to keep providing emergency food to people in the area.”

In 2023, Citizens Advice North Lancashire helped over 7,000 residents who had over 23,000 different problems. The service is confidential, impartial, independent and free of charge.

A spokesperson for the DWP said: “No calendar year has 53 weeks, and the calculation for payments we use for claimants paying their rent weekly has been confirmed by the High Court.

“Universal Credit is designed to mirror the world of work, with monthly calculations and payments made to reflect how most people receive their wages.

“This helps claimants take responsibility for budgeting their money - helping them prepare for a return to work - and reflects the fact that many people on UC are already in work and receiving a monthly wage.”

The DWP said that as many social housing providers charge rents on a weekly basis, their tenants face the issue of managing varying outgoings every month – not just during a year in which there are 53 charging weeks.