‘Dangerous’ government advert for universal credit ruled misleading by watchdog

A complaint that a government advert extolling the benefits of universal credit was misleading, and thus “dangerous to the health and financial security of disabled people”, has been upheld by the UK’s advertising watchdog.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took out a six-page advertorial in the Metro in May claiming to “set the record straight” on myths about the controversial new system, kicking off a nine-week campaign costing £225,000.

Amid an outpouring of anger in response to the advert – published the same day it was revealed that claimants were selling sex to survive – a coalition of 100 charities known as the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ASA upheld the complaint on Wednesday, branding the advert misleading and ruling that the DWP could not substantiate claims made within the advertorial, which said people could move into work faster under universal credit and that payments could be made sooner than five weeks after registration.

“It is shameful that this Conservative government chose to waste thousands of pounds on misleading ads about universal credit rather than ending the harsh, punitive policies that are causing such severe hardship,” said Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Margaret Greenwood.

“They can’t hide the truth that if people are being forced in ever-increasing numbers to turn to food banks to survive, the social security system is not protecting people from poverty as it should.”

The advert also promoted “advance payments”, failing to explain that these were a loan and came with conditions attached.

“The reality is that advances are loans that need to be paid back, often on top of other debts and rent arrears built up during the five-week wait, leaving many people at risk of destitution,” Ms Greenwood added.

The ASA received 44 complaints in total, which alleged that six separate adverts published in the Metro in the space of several weeks, and a webpage advertised on the MailOnline and Metro website, were misleading, not obviously identifiable as marketing or could not be substantiated.

Three of the four allegations, which related to the veracity of claims made within the adverts, were upheld and the other partially upheld, in that the webpage advert was not sufficiently signposted as marketing.

In the ruling’s wake, campaigners at the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, an anti-poverty charity, demanded an independent inquiry into the DWP’s decision to approve the adverts.

Parliamentary co-chair of the DBC, Jonathan Blades, said the government’s “attempt to provide inaccurate information to vulnerable people” was indefensible.

“The fact is that universal credit is leaving disabled people significantly worse off, and in some cases forcing them to turn to food banks,” he said.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in April found the “persistently poor” were hit hardest by universal credit reforms, and suggested nearly 2 million people would be more than £1,000 a year worse off under the switch to the new payment.

Meanwhile, ministers are still being urged to address the number of claimants turning to prostitution in order to pay for their most basic survival needs. When the problem first came to light last autumn, then-work and pensions secretary Esther McVey told the independent MP Frank Field that he should “tell these ladies that now we’ve got record job vacancies – 830,000 – and perhaps there are other jobs on offer”.

The ASA ruling was confirmation the DWP cannot easily gloss over the realities of universal credit, said the Trussell Trust’s chief executive, Emma Revie.

“What we need now, as the country heads into an election, is a pledge from politicians on all sides to protect people from hunger by making sure everyone has enough money for the basics,” said Ms Revie.

“We must start working towards a future where no one needs a food bank by ending the five-week wait for universal credit, ensuring benefit payments cover the cost of living and investing in local emergency support for people in crisis.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are disappointed with this decision and have responded to the Advertising Standards Authority.

“We consulted at length with the ASA as we created the adverts, which have explained to hundreds of thousands of people how universal credit is helping more than 2.5 million people across the country.”