The Conservatives' refusal to pause the rollout of universal credit will force more welfare recipients to use food banks this winter, a charity has warned.
The Trussell Trust, which operates a network of 400 food banks, said it is increasingly worried that volunteer-run centres will not be able to cope in the run-up to Christmas with growing demand from people who are being switched to the streamlined benefit.
David Gauke, the work and pensions secretary, told the Conservatives' annual party conference in Manchester on Monday that the full rollout of universal credit will go ahead, despite calls from charities and Tory backbenchers to pause while problems with the trials are addressed.
"Universal Credit is working," Gauke told the conference. "So I can confirm that the rollout will continue, and to the planned timetable."
To mollify critics, Gauke said the government will issue new guidance to frontline jobcentre staff to make sure that claimants know they can apply for an advance on their welfare payments if they’re short of money.
Thousands of people who have already been put into the streamlined system were forced to turn to food banks or loan sharks because they had to wait six weeks or more for the universal credit payments to start coming through, critics say.
The Trussell Trust says those problems will be magnified now that the benefit is being expanded. "Our research showed that in areas of universal credit rollout, demand for food banks was more than twice the national average," Garry Lemon, head of media and external affairs at the trust, told BuzzFeed News.
Citizens Advice said it's also disappointed Gauke "has not taken this opportunity to pause the rollout to ensure the problems are fixed before it speeds up significantly."
The service said it was disappointed that the government is pushing ahead with the full rollout of universal credit, despite concerns raised by charities and Tory backbenchers that some people already receiving universal credit were having to wait weeks for their first payments to come through.
The decision also drew criticism from local government. Cllr Claire Kober OBE, Chair of London Councils, also voiced her disapproval, saying: “While we support its principles, the London experience so far has been that it places both claimants and local authorities in a position of financial insecurity due to the six week waiting period and further delays in payments experienced by one in four claimants.
“The impact of this can be serious – a significant number of families claiming Universal Credit have fallen into rent arrears as a result of delayed payments, leaving them at risk of becoming homeless. Wider use of advance payments is welcome but will not tackle fundamental problems."
She went on: “It’s not too late to address local authorities’ concerns and deliver Universal Credit in a manner that promotes the social and economic welfare of claimants. We will continue to urge Government to reconsider the case for slowing down the Universal Credit rollout.”
Frank Field, the Labour chair of the Commons work and pensions committee, said the policy will "cause havoc to hundreds of thousands of poorer people's lives".
The Liberal Democrats accused ministers of "burying their heads in the sand".
It is unclear whether a nascent rebellion of Tory backbenchers over the policy has been quashed.
Fourteen backbenchers led by Heidi Allen, the Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire, wrote to Gauke last week urging him to pause the rollout while the delays in payments were addressed. Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Allen said pushing ahead despite the problems would not be consistent with Theresa May's promise to govern in the interests of the working class.
On Twitter, Allen went on to say she was disappointed there wouldn't be a delay, and that advance payments only hide flaws in the system.
Disappointed we're not delaying UC roll out. Advance payments are of course welcome, but they merely mask payment delays and system flaws.
However, Allen is alone among Tory MPs in pubicly criticising the decision. Andrew Selous, one of the other backbenchers who reportedly called for the rollout to be paused, did not respond to a request for comment.
Both the Trussell Trust and Citizens Advice welcomed Gauke's measures to make sure more people get advances when they are short of money. But, they said, that doesn't go far enough to help those who are really struggling to cover their living costs.
"The six-week wait before people receive their first payment is causing real hardship, but even with better and earlier availability of advances, fundamental problems remain," Lemon said.
"Food banks tell us that many people are waiting far longer than six weeks for their first payment, and struggling to repay advances."
The brainchild of Iain Duncan-Smith, universal credit is the biggest change to the welfare system in years. It aims to streamline several benefits and tax credits into a single payment. It was introduced in some areas in 2013.
Claimants receive the payments monthly in arrears, with a wait of six weeks for the first payment.