Amber Rudd says Universal Credit is ‘absolutely compassionate’ on same day the high court rules assessments are ‘unlawful’

DWP secretary Amber Rudd has said that Universal Credit is “absolutely compassionate”. Her comments were made on the same day that a high court judge ruled that the Universal Credit assessment regime had caused “severe cash flow problems” and was “wrong in law” for some claimants.
High court rules against DWP

On 11 January, the high court ruled against the DWP in a case brought by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) on behalf of four lone mothers . The case centred around the way in which the DWP assesses income for Universal Credit claimants. Working claimants receive Universal Credit monthly in arrears with the amount based on their previous month’s income.

But the four claimants in the case were all paid on a day very close to their assessment day. That meant that if they were paid early because of a weekend or bank holiday, they were treated as “receiving two monthly wages in one assessment period – which in turn dramatically reduced their UC award”.

DWP says employers should be held responsible

The DWP had refused to make any changes to avoid this situation, claiming that the system was lawful, that it would cost more to make individual adjustments, and that any changes should be made by the employer, not the DWP.

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2019/01/12/amber-rudd-says-universal-credit-is-absolutely-compassionate-on-same-day-the-high-court-rules-assessments-are-unlawful/

I cannot imagine that employers / payroll companies / agencies, who process their payroll on one day, will be happy to process different individual's payments on different days in order to fit in with UC payment schedules for each different employee who claims UC.

This is a DWP mess and I don't think businesses will see it as their responsibility to make it work