A MOTION requesting the council appeal to politicians in Westminster over concerns about Universal Credit has been dismissed.

At a recent meeting of the full council, Swindon’s Labour Group tabled a motion urging the administration to write to the town’s two MPs and the government’s housing minister “setting out the council’s view on the processing of Universal Credit”.

It comes after statistics obtained by Swindon Tenants Campaign Group (STCG) reveal that of 1,080 council tenants on Universal Credit in Swindon, 829 - or 76 per cent - are in rent arrears.

STCG secretary Martin Wicks called the system “callous and inhumane”.

The group have called for the rules to be changed so that claimants can continue to receive their existing benefits during the period when the UC claim is being processed.

Coun Emma Bushell (Lab) said: “Delaying benefit payments puts households into financial hardship. It is an affront to justice.”

In no uncertain terms, Labour urged the council to recognise that the rise in rent arrears among UC claimants is “inevitably the result of the government’s decision to delay benefit payments to claimants being processed for Universal Credit”.

Coun Bushell said: “As a council, we have a duty of care to our residents and a responsibility to tell the government what is happening.”

However, the Conservatives threw out Labour’s motion and replaced it with their own.

It was thought that simply writing to politicians, who the Conservatives claimed were already aware of the problems with Universal Credit, would not address the problem.

Instead, they proposed to “continue to monitor carefully the implementation of Universal Credit and take such steps as are necessary in order to assist people in financial difficulty”.

Speaking in support of the amendment, Coun Russell Holland (Con) said: “The MPs are fully aware of the situation.

“What this amendment says is that rather than just writing a letter, we will look at the problem in more detail.

“We cannot solve every problem by simply writing a letter. Instead, we must monitor the situation carefully.”

But this led to strenuous objections from the opposition benches.

Coun Fay Howard (Lab) said: “What does it mean to say we will assist people in financial difficulty, point them to the nearest food bank? Why can’t we ensure our residents don’t suffer financial hardship in the first place?”

The amendment acknowledged the need to reform the benefits system and vowed to keep Swindon’s MPs informed of any further problems that arise with Universal Credit.

Coun Bushell called the decision to pass the amendment regrettable.