Benefit IT blunders mean claimants in Stephen Crabb’s own constituency ‘going hungry’ Benefit claimants in the Work and Pensions Secretary’s own parliamentary constituency are going hungry because of problems with his department’s […]

Benefit claimants in the Work and Pensions Secretary’s own parliamentary constituency are going hungry because of problems with his department’s computer systems, a senior MP has warned.

IT glitches mean that new claims are simply vanishing, leaving claimants without any of the cash to which they are entitled for three months, according to Frank Field, the chairman of the Work and Pensions select committee.

They are meant to receive their first benefit payments within six weeks.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

“People are being hung out to dry with no income for three months.” Frank Field

But Mr Field said he received specific evidence of the blunders hitting people living in Preseli Pembrokeshire, the seat represented by Stephen Crabb, who is in charge of the benefits system, as well as in his own Birkenhead constituency.

He told i he feared that thousands of people across the UK are being affected by the online errors.

And he warned that the computer system underpinning Universal Credit (UC), which is replacing current benefits, might not be able to cope with pressure it faces.

“There are lots and lots of cases in Pembrokeshire, as in every constituency, of people going weeks longer than they should without money,” he said.

“People are being hung out to dry with no income for three months.”

Claims ‘go missing because of IT errors’

Mr Field said the glitch meant people did not realise their claims had not been registered until many weeks later when they were still waiting for cash to arrive in their bank accounts.

He called for the system to be amended so people would automatically receive emails confirming that their claims had been received.

Mr Field, a former social security minister, also warned that the requirement for UC claims to be made online was affecting people who could not afford internet access at home.

He cited the case of a Pembrokeshire man forced to stand outside a local pub to pick up its wifi signal so he could submit his claim.

He has raised his concerns in a letter to Mr Crabb in which he warned of “serious doubt” that UC would be able protect some of the country’s poorest families from hunger.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “Contrary to the anecdotal claims in the letter, the Universal Credit computer system is working well, with no reported problems.

“Nearly 250,000 people are receiving payments every month and around 13,000 new claims are made every week, with claimants moving into work faster and earning more than under the old system.”

The department said advances were available to people awaiting their first payments and Jobcentres offered free wifi and free use of computers.