A RARE joint meeting of MPs and Lords will quiz the government on Tuesday on its failure to reform universal credit (UC), which does not provide a “dependable safety net” for working people.  

The House of Commons work and pensions committee and the House of Lords economic affairs committee will question Welfare Minister Will Quince after the government gave a “disappointing” response to their reports on UC, which is supposed to help the poorest with living costs. 

He will be joined by Neil Couling, head of UC at the Department for Work and Pensions.

The session, which will be held remotely and streamed on Parliament TV, is likely to look at measures to help vulnerable claimants and Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement in last week’s Budget that the £20 temporary increase in UC has been extended until September.

Chairman of the Lords committee Lord Forsyth of Drumlean said that the committee’s July 2020 report, Universal Credit Isn't Working: Proposals For Reform, had made it clear that UC was failing those it is supposed to be protecting. 

“The government’s response failed to engage with many of the ideas we proposed for reform,” he added. 

“That’s why we’re taking this step of working with a Commons select committee to push [ministers] to provide answers in order to better protect the most vulnerable.”

Labour’s Stephen Timms, chairman of the Commons committee, said: “The flaws in the [UC] system, particularly problems caused by the wait for a first payment and the hardship it can cause, have long been highlighted.

“Sadly, the government has failed to engage with constructive proposals for change and refuses even to do its own research to find out the impact of its policies.

“We hope that this session will lead to change.”