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Read the latest news & blogs on how we are working to create a London free from poverty
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UC overpayments – Disincentivising fair decision-making
In the wake of the pandemic, more money than ever is being overpaid under the Universal Credit (UC) system. Blunt rule changes to the recoverability of overpayments mean that people are being saddled with debt as a result of structural deficiencies and delays in the decision-making process. As Z2K’s casework highlights, this leaves people in vulnerable circumstances in an impossible situation.
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Silence on the 2.5 million on legacy benefits from the Chancellor and the Leader of the Opposition
Ella Abraham responds to the Chancellor's budget, the inexcusable silence on the issue of those on legacy benefits not receiving the same £20 increase that those on Universal Credit have seen and why we need more from the Leader of the Opposition.
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Why the £20 uplift in Universal Credit must be extended to those on legacy benefits
The past few months have seen organisations in the anti-poverty world coming together in a powerful campaign to challenge the Chancellor to keep the £20 a week increase in Universal Credit he introduced at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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My experience of the hostile environment that is Universal Credit
I'm Carl, I'm 39, and I’ve been receiving UC for three years. Around the same time I started claiming UC I was diagnosed with degenerative disorder, a condition that affects the vertebrae and nerves in my back and gives me problems with chronic pain.
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Ignore and refute: Government’s response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s Universal Credit report
At the beginning of the year, the Government responded to the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s report ‘Universal Credit: The wait for a first payment.’ This report contained extensive evidence from a range of stakeholders on the hardship Universal Credit’s (UC) design flaws, including the minimum five week wait for a first payment, is causing – as well as considered recommendations put forward by the Committee that could help alleviate these. The Government’s response was pitiful – it ignored and refuted the evidence, instead outlining how it will continue to push forward with policies that have very little regard for the people who depend on them for support.
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Universal Credit claimants need certainty, not ‘alms for the poor’
The extra £20 a week isn’t a bonus, writes Z2k chief executive Anela Anwar, it simply unwinds the Government’s own five-year freeze on working-age benefits.
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How the Government have continued to prop up a two-tier welfare state by ignoring 2 million people during this pandemic
The Government have refused to engage with the evidence that the almost 2 million people on legacy benefits, who are predominantly disabled, sick, or careers, need an increase in their income. This refusal means that too many legacy benefit claimants are left to choose between heating their homes, buying medication or putting warm food on the table.
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Why claiming UC has been a “saviour” is misleading
A recent article from The Times stated that Universal Credit (UC) “has been a surprisingly efficient saviour for millions hit by the pandemic.” At Z2K, we know first-hand how misleading this claim is. For too many of the people we help, UC causes financial and emotional hardship and has failed to be of support during Covid-19.
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DWP routinely refuses to implement their own guidance on working with representatives
Z2K works with hundreds of clients to ensure they have the income they are entitled to, but caseworkers are continuously met with barriers when trying to speak to the DWP on the client’s behalf. These obstacles are an affront to people seeking justice from the social security system.
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Lockdown Life – bringing people together to tell stories for change
Over the course of Lockdown, Z2K has been bringing together people with experience of Universal Credit and the Private Rented Sector (PRS) using online groups to counter some of the isolation of Lockdown and give voice to their views on what Life After Lockdown should look like.
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Anti-poverty charity, Z2K, welcomes the Work and Pensions Committee’s new report on the DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak
"Disabled people, charities, the Government’s own Social Security Advisory Committee and now the cross-party select committee have all called for this injustice to be corrected. Ministers must stop wasting crucial time and extend the emergency increase to all out of work benefits to ensure everyone is kept safe during this pandemic.” Anela Anwar, Z2K's CEO, responds to the Work and Pension Committee's new report on the DWP's response to the coronavirus outbreak
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Discriminatory Government excuses are leaving 2.5 million people without vital support
Last week Director General of Universal Credit (UC), Neil Couling, shone a painfully glaring light on the Government’s discriminatory attitude towards those struggling most in our society. Read Ella's blog on why excuses the Government are repeating for why they are leaving millions behind just don't hold up.
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