I FIND it unbelievable that the change to Universal Credit cannot be made without leaving claimants without any payment for six weeks. There are numerous circumstances where a change in payment needs to be made, eg pensions, and if somebody is already in receipt of a welfare payment the natural assumption is that the payment is necessary and a six-week hiatus is not acceptable.
To add insult to injury it now seems that the welfare telephone helpline is charged at 55 pence per minute and this is surely a service which needs to be free.
Yours sincerely
Geoffrey Richards
Ashton Lodge
Ashton Road
Hilperton
Trowbridge