Universal credit is 'Orwellian', says former high court judge

Sir Stephen Sedley says digital benefits system is also failing to meet legal obligations.

A former high court judge has described universal credit as “Orwellian” because of its tendency to create and exacerbate misery for claimants even while it professes to be rescuing them from hardship.

Sir Stephen Sedley’s comments about the troubled digital benefits system accompanied a report that revealed hundreds of claimants risked falling into debt because the system had miscalculated their monthly benefit payments.

Sedley, a former lord justice of appeal and now a visiting professor at Oxford University, said universal credit was repeatedly failing to meet its legal obligations to make it clear why a particular decision had been made, or how claimants could appeal if they thought it was wrong.

“People in need are left to guess at and grope for things which should be clear and tangible. The consequences are not limited to over- or underpayment. They feed into the stress and worry that so many people managing on low incomes experience, which in turn can affect family life for children growing up in these environments,” he said.

“There is something Orwellian about a system which is intended to alleviate hardship yet is administered in ways which generate and aggravate human misery. Whether this is happening by accident or by design is an argument for another time and place.”

Full article:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/01/universal-credit-is-orwellian-says-former-high-court-judge

The judge makes a good point. When I saw the headline, I thought he was referring to George Orwell's novel 1984 in which citizens are monitored oppressively by 'big brother'. That is certainly how UCj feels. It is like being permanently available to be summoned to DWP attention, 24/7.

I should add that the financial statements are printable and can be saved as a PDF file, in cases where people want to share them with advice providers without logging into their UC a/c.

I would recommend saving them every time for reference and in case of discrepancy.

Caker wrote:The judge makes a good point. When I saw the headline, I thought he was referring to George Orwell's novel 1984 in which citizens are monitored oppressively by 'big brother'. That is certainly how UCj feels. It is like being permanently available to be summoned to DWP attention, 24/7.

Many thanks for your reporting on your own experiences on UC, for "telling it as it is". Most of the criticism of UC in the press always seems to centre on the long wait for the first payment, as if that was the only thing wrong with the system. They rarely/never seem to mention these other features.