Is this the next Windrush scandal? Millions more will have to pass 'habitual residency test' by 2022 to claim new Universal Credit

  • Millions of benefit claimants will soon have to prove their residency rights
  • They will have to pass to be declared eligible for the new Universal Credit system
  • One expert believes: 'Just like Windrush, many deserving claimants will be wrongly rebuffed and will struggle to overcome DWP's impenetrable walls'

Millions of benefit claimants will soon have to prove their residency rights before being declared eligible for the new Universal Credit system.

In a move that could be set to eclipse the Windrush scandal, 2.2 million people will be required to take a Habitual Residency Test by 2022 before being able to claim the new streamlined benefits.

Most will have already been on benefits before the Universal Credit system was introduced in 2014 - which is being phased in over the next five years.

In a move that could be set to eclipse the Windrush (pictured) scandal, 2.2 million people will be required to take a Habitual Residency Test by 2022 before being able to claim the new streamlined benefits

In a move that could be set to eclipse the Windrush (pictured) scandal, 2.2 million people will be required to take a Habitual Residency Test by 2022 before being able to claim the new streamlined benefits

Deserving claimants could be left in poverty due to a lack of paperwork if the issue is not sorted now, the Department for Work and Pensions has been warned.

It is feared that legitimate claims for Universal Credit will be delayed or worse denied if people are unable to produce relevant documentation. 

The possible chaos that might erupt from the decision has been likened to the Windrush scandal.

 Pictured: The 'Empire Windrush' arriving in Britain from Jamaica in 1948

 Pictured: The 'Empire Windrush' arriving in Britain from Jamaica in 1948

Director of Universal Credit Advice Bill Irvine said: 'Just like Windrush, many deserving claimants will be wrongly rebuffed, due to a lack of specialist advisory staff, and will struggle to overcome DWP's impenetrable walls,' he told the Sun.

Work Coaches could be left helping people find the paperwork instead of finding them a job, warned benefits system expert Deven Ghelani.

The boss of Policy in Practice said: 'The Windrush cases show that even trained Home Office staff are making mistakes that can change peoples lives.

'Asking Work Coaches, whose core role is to help people to find work and offer financial security, to carry out immigration tests on the most vulnerable people in our society means many more people will be hurt as a result of the flawed hostile environment policy.'