Very pleased that the Work and Pensions Select Committee has recommended that the DWP assess my proposed model of assessment of Universal Credit, which could sort out irregular assessment of earnings and remove the need for a 5 week wait for the first payment. You can read the report at https://committees.parliament.uk/work/135/universal-credit-the-wait-for-a-first-payment/publications/ .

It’s pretty wide ranging, covering much more than the narrow five week wait issue. In general, while it recognise the success of Universal Credit in dealing with the numbers of claims made because of the the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s very critical of much of the implementation of the system. It’s particularly critical of the relationship between policy and implementation.

If anybody’s interested enough to want more detail on my suggestions, there’s a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMYLknF9da8 and a blog post at https://benefitsinthefuture.com/irregular-uc-and-regular-pay-a-solution-that-also-ends-the-5-week-wait/.