People in Newcastle welcome expected Universal Credit changes

People on Universal Credit in Newcastle have told Metro Radio they want the Chancellor to make changes in the Budget later.

The Chancellor will stand up in the House of Commons at 12:30 to deliver his Budget - he's expected to announce money for 300,000 new homes, some money for the NHS and those possible Universal Credit changes.

John Marshall's family depend on the benefit - and he meets many others who do when he volunteers at the Newcastle Street Friends homeless charity.

He's told Metro Radio:

"We've had a lot more people use our service in Newcastle and nobody nowadays should be having to go out and get food from handouts from organisations and charities like ourselves."

On the current six week wait for payments, John said:

"It's that time frame - with us having a daughter - we're struggling to pay our rent because our rent gets paid directly to the landlord at the moment.

"So the delays of Universal Credit cause a lot of problems and could put us into more debt."

Gateshead MP, Ian Mearns, has joined with other Labour colleagues in calling on the government to assess the impact of the controversial scheme - and fix any problems they find.

He's said:

"What we're saying is iron out the glitches, put a stop to this, and then roll it out.

"Don't roll it out as some massive social experiment because it's just, quite clearly, not fair to many, many recipients."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said:

“Universal Credit offers people unprecedented personalised support.

"No one who needs support should have to wait six weeks for a UC payment as advances are available within five days, or on the same day if they are in urgent need."