CHANGES to the way jobseekers receive benefits have been rolled out in south and west Dorset.
The controversial Universal Credit scheme is being introduced across the country and was first implemented at Jobcentres in Weymouth and Bridport this week.
Universal Credit will be in three-quarters of all jobcentres across the country by Christmas, and recent figures show that more than 125,000 people are now receiving it.
The new welfare benefit was launched in the UK in 2013 to replace six means-tested benefits and tax credits, which were Jobseeker’s Allowance, housing benefit, working tax credit, child tax credit, employment and support allowance and income support.
The Government has attracted a lot of criticism following the introduction, with critics saying it will affect low-paid self employed people, part time workers, and those who make a tax loss.
However, the Government has stated that the new scheme will “revolutionise” the way that the welfare system is applied, and will incentivise jobseekers to find work.
Lord Freud, minister for Welfare Reform, said: “Universal Credit is a revolution in welfare – a system that, for the first time, supports people both in and out of work.
“Already people across the country are benefitting from this greater flexibility.
“Under Universal Credit we are helping to create a higher wage, lower tax, and lower welfare society, with people moving into jobs faster, and able to increase their earnings safe in the knowledge that they are better off in work.”
Universal Credit is designed to replace six existing benefits with one monthly payment, and for the first time, will combine in and out of work benefits.
The new system shifts focus away from the number of hours a person works to the amount they earn.
The Government has also announced the new scheme will save more than £2.6bn each year in reduced fraud and error, and that benefit payments can be calculated exactly and adjusted, to try and cut down on overpayments.
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