Universal Credit 'uplift' extension fails to protect low income families says Salisbury charity
The Trussell Trust says the extension to the £20-a-week rise only delays hardship
The 6-month extension to the Universal Credit £20 uplift isn't good enough, according to a Salisbury charity.
The Trussell Trust, which runs Foodbanks across the country, says the Chancellor's announcement in yesterday's Budget only delays people's hardships.
The Fabian Society is also calling for Rishi Sunak to permanently extend the top-ups – which were introduced last Spring – or risk hitting "family finances in every corner of the country".
The think-tank's concerned tens of thousands of households in Wiltshire could be impacted.
27,153 household received Universal Credit across our county in November last year, and 4,300 were claiming Working Tax Credit in December.
Both benefits were temporarily increased for one year – worth £1,000 per claimant over this time – as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in April last year.
The weekly top-up was set to end after March 31, but has now been extended for 6-months, but the Fabian Society is calling for it to be made permanent for "the sake of communities across the whole of Britain".
Andrew Harrop, general secretary of the organisation, said:
“These devastating figures show how the chancellor’s planned cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit will hit family finances in every corner of the country.
“Removing £1,000 per year from so many households will reduce how much people can spend and suck millions of pounds out of local economies.
“Postponing the cut by another six months just kicks the can down the road, probably to a time when local unemployment will be even higher than today."
The think tank estimates the end of the benefit increases would take £6 billion out of household finances across Britain.
In Wiltshire, £32.1 million in social security income would be lost.
Department for Work and Pensions figures show more than a third of claims lodged since Universal Credit began have been made during the coronavirus pandemic.
There were 4.5 million claims for the benefit between March 13 last year and January 14 this year – 39% of the 11.4 million claims made since it was introduced in April 2013.
Jamie Grier, director of external affairs at anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said:
“The Government did the right thing by introducing the uplift in the first place, and they must now do the right thing by making it permanent and extending it across our social security system.
"Otherwise, be in no doubt, poverty will rise, and the economic recovery will be slower.”
Minister for welfare delivery Will Quince said Universal Credit continues to support millions of people "during their time of need".
He added:
“It is a vital safety net that has stood up to the challenge of the pandemic, and with thousands of new work coaches we are helping claimants across the country get back on their feet with one-to-one tailored support."
Wiltshire Council reacts
Today’s Budget, announced in Parliament by the Chancellor, brings welcome news of more support for businesses and potential investment in Wiltshire.
To help support businesses, the Chancellor announced an extension to the furlough scheme until the end of September, along with a £5bn restart grant scheme to support high street businesses in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants are worth up to £6,000 for non-essential retail, and up to £18,000 for hospitality businesses such as pubs and hotels.
Also announced was an extension of the Business Rate Relief Scheme for those in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors until the end of June, plus an extension to business grants.
The Chancellor also gave details of the Levelling Up Fund, that will allow local authorities to bid for funding for capital projects.
Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said:
“It’s great news that the Chancellor has announced further funding for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in today’s Budget, plus increased opportunities for investment.
“The restart grants and extension of the VAT holiday are welcome news for Wiltshire businesses, and the extension in the Stamp Duty holiday will enable our Land Charges teams to help more people to buy property in the county.
“We’re awaiting more information on the business funding, including guidance on eligible businesses and how much we will be able to grant to support Wiltshire businesses, so we’d ask that people please do not contact us to find out more about this at present, as this will delay the payment of current grants.
“Our team is currently working hard to assess all Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) applications and are processing payment where businesses meet the criteria. They are also currently processing payments for the Local Restrictions Support Grant payments, for the period of 16 February 2021-31 March 2021.
“We will share more information on any business grants, including any future rounds of funding, when we have it. In the meantime, I’d urge all businesses to sign up on our website for our business newsletter to be kept up-to-date with any new developments.
“So far during this pandemic we have paid 21,105 business grants totalling more than £126m, and we will continue to do all we can to support Wiltshire businesses.
“We will also look closely at the Levelling Up Fund to see how we can bid for our fair share of this funding, and we will of course continue to look at how we can bid for other Government funding opportunities to secure more investment in Wiltshire.”
To keep up-to-date with business grants, and to sign up for the business newsletter, people can go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/business-advice-support-covid19-grants.