The second episode of a new BBC documentary exploring the issues behind the Universal Credit system aired last nght.
The three-part series is designed to explore the government's much maligned move from six 'legacy benefits' to a new system where claimants receive one monthly payment.
The new system and the problems associated with it have been blamed for rising poverty levels and foodbank use in the country.
Last night's episode was filmed in and around the Toxteth Job Centre - but not everyone was happy about it.
It was reported last year that there were problems in the filming of the Liverpool episode of the documentary because staff at the Job Centre didn't want to be involved.
As The Guardian first reported, a memo from the Public and Commercial Services Union- that represents Job Centre staff - said: "It is our understanding that there have been no volunteers to take part in the filming.”
The internal note explained that staff were unhappy about being identified on screen.
With the volume of hardship and problems associated with Universal Credit in the city of Liverpool - it is thought staff didn't want to be publicly associated with a documentary that the government is pushing forward.
A leaked memo from the DWP issued last year suggested the department are fully on board with the filming.
It said: "We have just signed a contract with the BBC to allow them to do more extensive filming inside some of our job centres around the country," before stating what a 'fantastic opportunity' this will be and how the department has 'been involved in the process from the outset.'
In its bid to improve the image of Universal Credit, the DWP last year used public money to fund a nine-week advertising campaign in the Metro newspaper.
The DWP note said that the 'myth busting' features were designed to 'provide a timely rebuttal to some of the negativity we see' and were part of a 'more confident, front-footed strategy to tackle misconceptions and improve the reputation of UC.'
But this 'more confident' approach landed the department in trouble with the Advertising Standards Agency who ruled that the Metro campaign 'exaggerated and misleading.'
Responding to a complaint from anti-poverty charity Z2K, the ASA said that there was "simply no evidence to back the Department for Work & Pensions’ (DWP’s) claims about people being better off on Universal Credit."
