THe new Universal Credit is being piloted this week and for once the guinea pigs are not in Scotland.

The benefit, which will replace housing benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance and four other income-related benefits with a single monthly payment, is being trialled in Tameside, Greater Manchester.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith's original ambition was to have four pilots, but launches in Oldham, Wigan and Warrington have been put back. It is nevertheless a landmark in the progress of this controversial reform, which has been dogged by auguries of catastrophe and doubts about the ability of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to deliver the complex changes and an IT system to handle them.

The pilot may reveal whether that IT system can cope, and answer other questions about how well families will budget, whether housing payments will make their way to landlords safely, and whether it is wise to pay all benefits to one person in a household.

But in Scotland, advice agencies and welfare rights workers may be particularly interested in what it tells us about the way the Government's "digital by default" policy affects claims. The intention is that most claimants will apply for the new benefit and manage their claim through an online account.

Yet surveys have repeatedly shown limited broadband take-up in parts of Scotland, particularly among welfare recipients. By 2017 the Government expects 80% of universal credit claims to be made online. People are already being told they must apply online and agencies such as Citizen's Advice Scotland (CAS) have serious concerns.

CAS warned last year that Scots are being denied benefits they should be getting, or having them taken away, because they cannot access or use the internet. Its bureaux are surveying clients about how the digital rule will affect them and the word is that the responses indicate problems ahead.

Thinktank the Social Market Foundation points out that 45% of respondents in the DWP's own survey believe they will need help going online, even though 78% said they had internet access. That is much higher than in parts of Glasgow where a recent Carnegie UK Trust report found that 60% of those in the city with an income under £17,500 have no internet access at home.

Early on it was assumed rural and remote areas would be worst affected by the policy. It's becoming clear that even in urban areas agencies now fear it is a far more significant problem than they had first thought.

One of the issues to look out for from Tameside is what happens if applicants are can't finish the lengthy forms in a sitting – anecdotal evidence suggests they may have to restart from scratch.

But the biggest issue is simply access. Although the DWP has said this could be provided through a high street outlet or telephone service, advice agencies envisage thousands of applicants looking for assistance in their offices or queuing to use library computers.

The pilot will also show how realistic this is, against a background of reducing libraries budgets and opening hours.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/author/isociety