DISABLED people in West Oxfordshire could be more than £300 a month worse off under Universal Credit, a charity has claimed.

Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire is calling on the government to make changes to the benefit to ensure disabled people are not penalised, following a report by the organisation's national network.

This report noted a significant drop in financial support for some single disabled people due to 'flaws in the design' of Universal Credit.

The charity pointed to The Work Allowance, which is meant to improve work incentives for disabled people on Universal Credit.

But this can only be accessed through the Work Capability Assessment, which gives benefits awards to people unable to work, not disabled people who can work.

Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire has helped 511 people with Universal Credit since it was rolled out in November 2017, of which 217 were disabled or had a long-term health condition.

The monthly payment is replacing six benefits, including Child Tax Credit, Income Support and Housing Benefit.

Teresa Archer, chief executive of Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire, said: “We see the toll that Universal Credit can have on disabled people in West Oxfordshire.

“They can be hundreds of pounds worse off than under the previous system - even when they do get the support meant for them.

"This money is desperately needed to cover key costs including essential bills and stop people falling into serious financial difficulty.

“The government must fix Universal Credit and increase the financial support disabled people can receive under the new benefit.”

In Monday's Budget, the chancellor Philip Hammond announced an extra £1bn over five years to help the roll out of Universal Credit.

Visit Citizens Advice at caox.org.uk/

Disabled people in West Oxfordshire can be more than £300 a month worse off under Universal Credit, Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire reveals

Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire has said that some disabled people in the area could be around £300 a month worse off under Universal Credit compared to the previous system.

A report published by national Citizens Advice on Friday - Universal Credit for Single Disabled People - revealed a significant drop in financial support for some single disabled people in a range of circumstances.

This includes losses that can be more than £300 a month for working disabled people because of flaws in the design of the new benefit. The Work Allowance is meant to improve work incentives for disabled people in Universal Credit.

However, in practice, the Work Allowance can only be accessed through the Work Capability Assessment, which gives benefits awards to people unable to work, rather than for disabled people who can work.

This creates the situation where a worker must be assessed as not fit for work to receive targeted in-work support.

Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire is calling on the government to make changes to the design and the amount of financial support in Universal Credit to make sure disabled people aren’t penalised when they claim the new benefit.