THE SNP is today calling on the Government to act on the “disastrous” roll-out of universal credit as the staff charged with making it work go on strike.

Angela Crawley MP is calling on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to stop staff “suffering” as they implement the change.

The Government says the means-tested benefit, which replaces jobseeker’s allowance, income support, tax credits and help with housing costs, will make three million people better off by the time its phased introduction is completed in spring 2016.

Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan-Smith said the move will bring welfare “into the 21st century by restoring fairness to the system and making work pay”.

However, critics of the scheme say it is not working and DWP staff in Glasgow and Bolton will today begin two days of strike action in protest at the impact on their conditions, including restrictions on flexible working.

The PCS Union says staff have complained of a lack of resources, poor training, staff shortages and targets that are difficult to reach.

The strike, which will include almost 1,500 workers at the Glasgow Benefits Centre and a similar site in Bolton, will begin ahead of a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare in London today.

The group, co-chaired by Scottish social justice secretary Alex Neil and Scottish secretary David Mundell, was set up earlier this year to oversee the transfer of welfare powers from Westminster to Holyrood.

The Government’s controversial Welfare Reform and Work Bill will also receive its second reading in the House of Commons today.

It seeks to make up to £13 billion in cuts and campaigners say it will have a disproportionate impact on young people.

It is understood that as many as 40 per cent of DWP staff currently claim in-work benefits and are themselves likely to receive universal credit.

A total of one million people were supposed to be collecting the credit by 2014, but new figures reveal only 3,500 Scots have been switched.

Crawley, who represents Lanark and Hamilton East, said: “The roll-out of universal credit has been a shambles and the disastrous figures showing only 3,500 people in Scotland are currently receiving the benefit highlights the abject failure of these Tory plans.

“Now we can also see how the staff have been suffering at the hands of the DWP.

“My constituents tell me that this dispute has been caused by the imposition of new ways of working — changing long-standing working arrangements for staff, made without the agreement of PCS.

“The rollout of universal credit was years behind schedule and substantially over budget. Problems introducing a computer system to manage the policy saw £40 million spent on software completely written off and a further £90 million spent on IT that will only be of use for five years.

“Those working on universal credit have already been suffering from sub-standard IT systems, inadequate training and high levels of stress.”

Neil says he will use today’s meeting to urge Mundell to stop the Government’s “inexcusable attack on low-paid families” through its austerity programme and said continued welfare cuts will “push more and more families into desperate situations”.

A spokesperson for DWP said that plans are in place to ensure the smooth running of the service during the industrial action, adding: “Universal credit is already transforming lives, with people moving into work faster and staying in work for longer.

“Only a small minority of universal credit workers will be taking part in strike action. The fact is staff are already administering universal credit in almost 50 per cent of Jobcentres, and feedback shows they feel supported and confident in delivering this major welfare reform.”