HOUSING campaigners have hit out at politicians in Swindon, branding their response to concerns raised about Universal Credit as "inadequate".

Their call for action comes after it was revealed that of 1,080 council tenants living on Universal Credit (UC) in Swindon, 829, or 76 per cent, were in arrears with their rent.

In December, Swindon Tenants Campaign Group (STCG) wrote to the town’s two MPs and the leader of Swindon Borough Council highlighting a spike in rent arrears that appears to have occurred as a result of the rolling out of Universal Credit.

STCG called on the politicians to press the government to change the UC rules so that claimants could continue to receive their existing benefits during the period when the UC claim is being processed.

Campaigners made it clear that such a situation was completely unacceptable. Martin Wicks, secretary of STCG, said: “There is no practical reason why claimants who transfer from one benefit or more to Universal Credit, for whatever reason, should not continue to receive their ‘legacy’ benefits during the period when the Universal Credit claim is being processed. The only purpose of the wait is to save the government money at the additional cost of the stress that claimants suffer.”

In response to the letter penned by the campaign group, North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, South Swindon MP Robert Buckland and Swindon Borough Council leader David Renard fully backed the Universal Credit system.

They spoke of “the positive effect that Universal Credit is having on the lives of people across Swindon and the country”, and said: “We know from our visits to Swindon Jobcentre that both claimants and Jobcentre staff believe the new system is better than its predecessor.

“It is easier to understand than the previous benefit system, more flexible than its predecessor and better designed to ensure those in receipt of Universal Credit are able to access tailored assistance via Universal Support.”

They also highlighted the fact that an independent review of UC concluded that those who had already been transferred across to the new benefit were 13 per cent more likely to have been employed, on average working more days and earning more.

But campaigners took issue with the politicians’ response, claiming it “failed to address the issues raised”.

Mr Wicks said: “Regrettably the letter fails to address the main purpose of our email: the steep increase of housing arrears resulting from the implementation of Universal Credit ‘full service’. Insofar as you mention it at all you say that ‘The evidence nationally actually shows that the vast majority of arrears relate to the period prior to moving onto UC.’ Certainly the evidence in Swindon is contrary to this suggestion.”

Mr Wicks vowed to continue to press politicians to change the rules regarding UC, and they said they were happy to look into the problems in greater detail.

The issue will be debated at full council tomorrow evening.

n Have you been affected by the roll-out of Universal Credit? Call the newsdesk on 01793 501806 or email newsdesk@swindonadvertiser.co.uk