It was intended to replace six “legacy” benefits, including unemployment benefit, tax credits and housing benefit. In fact, the Trussell Trust - the UK’s largest food bank network - have reported that food bank referral rates in areas where the full universal credit rollout has taken place are more than twice as high as the national average. Following ongoing criticism, the government has bowed to mounting pressure to postpone the next stage of universal credit, and the system is now not expected to be fully operational until December 2023. As of September this year, 1.2 million people in Great Britain were claiming Universal Credit - up from 1.1 million just a month earlier. Dartford in Kent has seen the sharpest increase in Britain, with the number of people claiming Universal Credit up by 67%, from 446 in August to 747 in September.

Source: Daily Mirror October 16, 2018 21:00 UTC