Coronavirus outbreak exposing ‘precarious’ nature of UK welfare system, says government adviser

‘It’s great that some of the mortgage companies are thinking about mortgage holidays, but given how long we know this is going to go on, what about rental holidays?’ says Dame Louise Casey

The outbreak of coronavirus is exposing the “precarious” nature of the UK’s welfare system, according to a government adviser who is calling for greater action to protect low-paid workers.

Dame Louise Casey – appointed to lead a review into rough sleeping by Boris Johnson last month – said she was “worried” Covid-19 would result in more hunger and homelessness in Britain.

Echoing calls from the Labour Party, Dame Louise also urged the government to explore “rental holidays” for those in insecure employment across the country affected by the spread of the virus.

It comes as the number of cases of the coronavirus continues to escalate across Europe, with individuals in the UK told to self-isolate for seven days if they experience symptoms including a fever or a new, continuous cough.

“What this virus is doing is throwing a spotlight I think on whether we as a nation want to help people less fortunate than ourselves and actually it puts a spotlight on how precarious our social welfare system is,” Dame Louise said.

Dame Louise also criticised the government over payments of universal credit in an appearance on the BBC Radio 4’s​ Today programme.

“Still to this day no changes made in the Budget last week to that where people if they actually hit the uppers right now because of this virus they will have to wait five weeks or take a loan out which they can ill-afford to pay back,” she said. “It pushes people into hunger, and in my view homelessness.

“It’s great that some of the mortgage companies are thinking about mortgage holidays, but given how long we know this is going to go on, what about rental holidays?

“What about local authorities? Actually what does the social care budget need? What about all these private sector companies that pay people such a low amount of money to go into the homes of our parents and look after them? This shows just how precarious all of these systems are.”

“I’m really worried about it and concerned the government needs to take greater action and be much clearer with people where they stand currently on their benefits and we plan for more people to be pushed into debt, and into hunger and homelessness.”

Dame Louise previously advised Tony Blair on homelessness while he was prime minister.

She also urged shoppers to donate to food-bank bins in supermarkets across the country to prevent the charities running low on staple goods such as pasta and toilet roll.

“This is a moment for everyone in our country to step up,” she said. “It’s also a test of the fact there will be thousands of people facing real difficultly because of this virus – people in low-paid jobs, people on zero contracts.

“All of these football matches that are being cancelled, all these social events that people aren’t using taxis for, all of the people who are in low-paid jobs are facing real difficulty and we don’t at the moment have a welfare system that is fit for that type of purpose.”

On Monday, the government announced it would suspend face-to-face assessments of sickness and disability welfare payments to protect vulnerable claimants amid the outbreak of coronavirus.

The Department for Work and Pensions said the temporary move will come into effect from Tuesday, and will apply to claimants of personal independence payments, employment and support allowance, some on universal credit and those on industrial injuries schemes.

Therese Coffey, work and pensions secretary, said: “Temporarily suspending face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits will allow us to ensure we continue to provide a safety net for those in need, while removing unnecessary risk of exposure to this disease.”