THE UK Government has been urged to scrap plans to make people apply for benefits online amid fears it would hit the most vulnerable members of society.
A major new study has found that forcing people to apply for jobs and benefits via the internet would exclude many from accessing services they rely on.
The research by Citizens Advice Scotland found that barriers such as age, access to a computer and how to use the internet effectively would all affect people’s ability to apply for benefits.
The organisation has called on the coalition Government to abandon its target of having 80% of benefits claimants applying online by 2017.
That plea has been echoed by Glenrothes MP Lindsay Roy, who said he was dismayed by the study’s findings.
“If this is reflected across the rest of the UK, then it is clear that thousands of people, including many in my own constituency, will either struggle to claim their benefits online or will be unable to do so at all,” he said.
