A Caerphilly County Borough MP has demanded that the UK Government takes action over Universal Credit.
Gerald Jones, pictured above, who represents Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, has asked the UK Government to give clarity over its proposed changes to Universal Credit.
Speaking in a parliamentary debate earlier this month, Mr Jones called for more flexibility with the scheme to help people struggling to cope with payments.
According to statistics from the Citizens Advice Bureau, it dealt with 201 Universal Credit cases from 77 different people in the Upper Rhymney Valley.
Mr Jones, who was first elected to parliament in 2015, urged the government to introduce the proposed changes to advance payment waiting periods sooner in order to help people already in debt.
The MP has also urged the government to extend the repayment period for advance payments.
However, employment minister Alok Sharma MP confirmed that the current 12-month maximum repayment period for advance payments would not be extended to 16 months until October 2021 at the earliest.
The government also confirmed in its response that the cap on deductions from payments would not be lowered to 30% until October of this year.
Mr Jones MP said: “The Government are planning changes to the repayment period, which will be a maximum of 16 months, with deductions of no more than 30% of the claim. Those changes are in the right direction, but they do not go far enough.
“We have heard more today about looking at other debts, and that is an avenue that it is important to explore.
“The disappointing thing is that we have to wait until the end of the year for the changes to take effect.”
Universal Credit was rolled out across Caerphilly County Borough last September.
In December last year it was revealed that half of Universal Credit claimants in Caerphilly County Borough were behind on their rent.
In April, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd visited Peter’s Pies in Bedwas and said the process to apply for Universal Credit is now much more “sympathetic” towards claimants.