SFHA, together with its sister UK housing federations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is calling for six changes to be made to Universal Credit in order to improve the whole system for tenants and housing associations. SFHA invited six guest bloggers to write about one of the #SixAsks and copies of those blogs can be found on this page. The SFHA is also actively engaging with elected politicians in Holyrood and Westminster to promote improvements that need to be made to Universal Credit so that it can function in a fair and efficient way for claimants and for stakeholders.
The SFHA also makes submissions on behalf of its members to advisory panels such as the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, the Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee and the Social Security Advisory Committee. Copies of recent submissions to these can also be downloaded from this page.
The Six Asks are:
- End to the 5 week wait for money. People should be able to get a payment in the middle of this period and there should be greater flexibility on payment frequency for all
- More data sharing between DWP and social landlords and the restoration of implicit consent will mean landlords can better support tenants and prevent problems. This is key to the success of managed migration.
- Where benefit is paid direct to the landlord we need a system that is fit for purpose with the landlord receiving the payment on the same cycle as the tenant
- Increased funding for support and advice to make sure people do not miss out on entitlement including allowing backdating for more claims
- Making sure that work pays for everyone by matching monthly assessments to earnings within that period, improving work allowances and reducing the taper
- Restore inflation linked uprating to working age benefits from April 2020
