Thousands of people are set to be affected by an upcoming universal credit rule change. Existing rules mean that universal credit claimants do not have to attend Jobcentre appointments if they are working a minimum of nine hours per week.
However this is likely to change in the coming months with the UK Government set to increase the threshold. In an interview earlier this summer secretary of state for health and social care Thérèse Coffey revealed that the cut-off point was set to be raised to 12 hours a week.
Read more: Universal credit: Changes to benefit could see thousands lose out as new rules introduced
“Once you get a job if you’re working fewer than the equivalent of nine hours a week we still expect you to be coming in and looking for work,” she said. “We’re going to be raising that, I hope, very soon.”
Although an exact date is yet to be confirmed for the change Ms Coffey suggested it could rise even further in the future. She also said that the change would mean around 120,000 claimants would need to attend meetings with DWP 'work coaches' adding that there was “an opportunity to do more” by raising the threshold beyond 12 hours but said this would require more Jobcentre advisers.
“The more people that we see in the Jobcentre, dare I say it, the more work coaches we will need,” she said. “So there’s a decision to be taken. And I believe we can go further than that. But I can’t do that without more people fulfilling the role of the work coach.”
Almost six million people in the UK receive universal credit. Claimants who do not turn up to required meetings are at risk of having their benefits stopped.
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