PUC0009

Written evidence submitted by The Mental Health Foundation

About the Mental Health Foundation

Since 1949, the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) has been the UK’s leading charity for everyone’s mental health. With prevention at the heart of what it does, MHF aims to find and address the sources of mental health problems so that people and communities can thrive.

Executive Summary

This response will focus on the impact of progress in implementing universal credit on supporting vulnerable claimants. Two of the most important components to protecting the public’s mental health are protecting poverty and ensuring people’s dignity. There are certain groups such as refugees and asylum seekers who are particularly vulnerable to experiencing financial hardship. The unique and complex experiences they face should be specifically considered when considering the current process for universal credit.

Supporting Vulnerable Claimants

Asylum seekers and other high-risk groups such as refugees, lone parents, people with disabilities, minority ethnic groups, and students are particularly vulnerable to experiencing financial hardship.

Despite this, asylum seekers are unable to access universal credit due to the No Recourse to Public Funds policy. Furthermore, new refugees frequently become destitute upon being granted leave to remain in the UK – as, once a person claiming asylum is given refugee status, they only have 28 days before Section 95 support (their Asylum Support Allowance and asylum accommodation) is withdrawn.[1] There is also a growing number of cases where new refugees are being asked to leave their asylum accommodation with as little as seven days’ notice.[2] The UK government’s Homelessness Reduction Act recognises that those at risk of homelessness need at least 56 days to find accommodation.[3]

Current guidance on Universal Credit states that it can take around 5 weeks (35 days) for someone to receive their first payment.[4] Neither of these timeframes are compatible with the 28-day move-on period or with the shorter window some refugees are experiencing. Delays in receiving universal credit can be particularly detrimental for new refugees, given that their asylum support allowance, and accommodation support is withdrawn 28 days and in recent months as soon as 7 days after this point after refugee status is granted. Many people can find themselves falling into homelessness and deep destitution this point.[5]

To help mitigate these issues, these changes should be implemented and introduced:

• The No Recourse to Public Funds policy which stops asylum seekers from accessing universal credit should be abandoned.
• Introduction of a statutory duty to safeguard the wellbeing of vulnerable claimants including Job Centre staff meeting the necessary level of training to work sensitively with refugees, and ensuring that refugees receive their first payment of Universal Credit within the 28 day move on period.
• Permanently extending the timeframe for withdrawal of Section 95 support (financial and housing support) to 56 days for new refugees, to provide them with more security and give them more time to find work and/or apply for social security benefits.
• The Department for Work and Pensions should adopt a compassionate, trauma-informed approach where staff and services are equipped to listen to and value people’s stories, show an understanding of the traumas they have experienced, and respond to their needs without creating new trauma. This would include not forcing refugees and asylum seekers to repeat their stories, which can be traumatising.[6]

March 2024