WORK AND PENSIONS INQUIRY APRIL 2020 Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment. WPC benefit delay response 6 April 2020

This submission draws from the above work carried out for the SSAC submission and from recent research projects on welfare reform in the North of England conducted by Professor David Etherington and Professor Martin Jones between 2016- 2019. We have undertaken work on the implications of the Stoke-on-Trent Hardship Commission work on poverty in Stoke (concurrent), the impact of austerity and welfare reform in Greater Manchester (2017) and the role of welfare reform in relation to precarious work in Sheffield (concurrent).