Universal Credit

Income tax cuts will be brought in a year earlier than planned and an extra £1 billion spent to help protect those moving onto universal credit, as part of the 2018 Budget unveiled by the Chancellor Philip Hammond.

Universal credit work allowances are to increase by £1,000 a year for working families and those with disabilities, meaning they could have an extra £630 a year in their pockets, the Chancellor revealed today.

A fifth of universal credit claimants are still receiving their first payment late, a new report reveals.

The standard wait for universal credit claimants to get their first benefit payment will be cut from six to five weeks from February, it was revealed today.

Controversial charges of up to 55p a minute for calls to the universal credit helpline are to be abolished, the Government has announced.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said the student loan repayment threshold will be increased from £21,000 to £25,000 as part of a wide-ranging review of student finance.

Delays in universal credit benefit payments for housing costs are leaving claimants unable to pay rent and pushing some deep into debt, a committee of MPs has heard.

Many people with children and/or a disability set to receive the universal credit benefit won't be hit as hard as expected after Chancellor Philip Hammond today announced a scale back of previously announced cuts.

More than a million people in England, Scotland and Wales who are eligible for – but don't currently claim – working or child tax credits should apply now or risk losing out under the incoming universal credit benefit system.

Families receiving tax credits won't be hit as hard as expected after the Chancellor today announced a U-turn on one of the major proposed cuts in the Summer Budget.