THE GOVERNMENT'S new benefit Universal Credit hits jobcentres in the Bradford district from Monday, combining in work benefits and out of work benefits for the first time.

Described as a "revolution in welfare" it is designed to replace six existing benefits with one monthly payment and help people to be better off in work.

From Monday, new claimants in the district who are single will be able to claim Universal Credit for the first time, with families and couples staying on jobseekers allowance until the scheme rolls out further.

Heather Barraclough, employer and partnership manager at Jobcentre Plus in Bradford, said the numbers will start small and gradually increase as more and more new claimants were directed to the new benefit, and that a roll-out date for more complex cases had not yet been set.

She added: "In Bradford we are starting with single people like other areas of the country have, and at some point in the future we will be given a date when it will be available to families and couples.

"No one is going to be swapped over from an existing benefit to Universal Credit at the moment. It is for new claimants only. At some point in the future that may happen, but again, we don't know when that will be."

She went on to say that new claimants going on to the new benefit would have to agree to an individual claimant commitment and would be assigned their own work coach to help them find work. Unlike jobseeker's allowance people do not need to "sign on" every fortnight in order to receive the monthly benefit, she added.

"It is much more flexible. In the past, people would perhaps not want to take a little temporary job for a week or a fortnight because it would mean signing off and then starting a new claim, which has been a deterrent. Universal Credit allows you to keep the same claim, with the benefit amount being adjusted as earnings go up or down each month."

It can also be of benefit to employers who might want to offer extra hours to an existing part-time employee on a short-term basis, she said.

Councillor David Green, leader of the Bradford Council, which administers housing benefit in the district, said: "Bradford Council has been working at length with our charitable and third sector partners to put in place a system of support for our residents in the transition to Universal Credit.

"We recognise that the government's new way of implementing housing and work-related benefits may cause some disruption, so our support includes budget management, housing advice and listings for public IT access to make on-line claims."

Universal Credit is already available in Calderdale and Kirklees and will hit Leeds in February and Wakefield in April.