PAC evidence session with Neil Couling and Peter Schofield 9 July 2018 – ‘listening to stakeholders’

NAWRA has written to the chair of the Public Accounts Committee Meg Hillier MP to draw her attention to our correspondence earlier this year with Neil Couling, Director General for the Universal Credit Programme.

We wrote to Neil Couling about specific major problems within the operation of universal credit.  His response did not engage with our concerns and refused to address circumstances where UC is not operating as it should.

In the Public Accounts Committee evidence session on 9 July 2018, Neil Couling repeated the view that lobbying from some stakeholders was about policy rather than the implementation of universal credit.  NAWRA disputes that this is the case and plans to write again to Mr Couling on problems claimants are experiencing migrating from ESA to universal credit and the regulations not being followed correctly. We hope that following his assurances to the Public Accounts Committee he will be more receptive.