Huge surge in Moray benefit and crisis grant claims
MORAY Universal Credit claims have soared by more than six times the average as the impact of coronavirus bites.
Applications for the benefit have shot up from an average of 40 applications a week in the region – to more than 500 in the last fortnight.
In addition, Moray Council's welfare team has been deluged by more than 590 applications for crisis grants from the Scottish Welfare Fund in the last two months.
The council's convener, Councillor Shona Morrison, said staff were doing their utmost to help locals facing "incredibly distressing circumstances".
Cllr Morrison said: "The last few weeks have been extremely challenging for all households in Moray, as we feel the very real effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
"No aspect of daily living is the same as it was when we entered 2020.
"Many in our communities now find themselves in real financial difficulty and having to rely on the benefit system to survive this crisis.
"With applications for Universal Credit taking up to five weeks to process, many households are having to seek emergency financial support from the Scottish Welfare Fund – money allocated to each local authority from the Scottish Government to help those finding themselves in extreme financial hardship."
She added: "At the onset of this crisis, the Scottish Government provided councils with an additional £45 million to assist those in need. £22 million of this fund is currently with local authorities, with the remaining £23 million being distributed at a later point.
"Moray Council have now received £261,000 and the income maximisation team at the council have been inundated with applications.
"The income maximisation team are doing an incredible job against a backdrop of unprecedented challenge and massively increased workload. They are dealing with people at their most vulnerable and in incredibly distressing circumstances. The team, as always, are compassionate, professional and act as a lifeline to so many.
"They are very much one of the unsung heroes, along with so many other council employees."
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said yesterday that since March 16, more than a million new claims for Universal Credit have been processed in the UK, and 10,000 staff were being redeployed to help on the frontline. A recruitment drive has been launched for an additional 5,000 people to aid the effort.
The DWP added that staff have been making proactive calls where they can see people haven’t been able to get through on phone lines and that they are working weekends and over the Easter weekend to handle the sheer number of calls.
