Wandsworth sees Universal Credit claims double since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

By James Mayer, local democracy reporter

Some of the richest boroughs in London have seen Universal Credit (UC) claims double since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures reveal.

Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston had 9,525 claiming UC in February 2020 – which has now more than doubled to 21,820 as of July 2021.

Wandsworth had the most claiming UC from 5,100 in February last year to 11,995 last month, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Richmond had the least claimants with 2,140 in February 2020 and now has more than doubled to 4,845.

Kingston had 2,285 people claiming UC at the start of 2020, which rose to 4,980 in July this year.

In July, 1,665 young claimants (age 18-24) on Universal Credit in Wandsworth. This has been falling steadily month on month after it peaked at 2,215 in February 2021.

In February 2020, there were 670 young claimants on Universal Credit in Wandsworth.

There were 640 young claimants on UC in Richmond last month, with a peak of 1,005 in September 2020.

In February 2020, there were 270 young claimants on Universal Credit in the borough.

July 2021 saw 705 aged 18 to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit in Kingston. This has been falling steadily since a peak of 1,005 young claimants in February 2021.

In February 2020, before the pandemic, there were 370 young claimants on UC in the borough.

The DWP hs been working closely with people to get into employment who are on UC.

Schemes such as the Day One Job Finding Scheme, Job Entry Targeted Support (JETs) and Sector Work-Based Academy Programme (SWAP) work with claimants on UC for the first six months to build their experiences to move back into work.

For people that have been unemployed for longer, there is the Restart scheme which provides 12 months of intensive employment support to UC claimants unemployed for over a year.

Jessica Sutro, district operations manager for West London at the DWP said: “We’ve been working closely with local partners and employers in Richmond, Kingston and Wandsworth to set up specific opportunities for our customers to enter key sectors.

“For example, we have set up a number of Sector Work-Based Academy Programmes (SWAPs) to support customers into roles in the NHS, Adult Social Care, and the civil service.”

For younger people, six month placements are available across all three boroughs through the Kickstart Scheme.

Jessica added: “We’ve also significantly increased the number of work coaches in our job centres, and in the Wandsworth/Richmond/Kingston area.

“We have opened two new offices, one in Putney (opened in April 2021) and one in Kingston (opened in August 2021), to better support our customers.”