Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 101
101
Many of the witnesses we heard from recommended to the UK Government that the £20...
Conclusion
Many of the witnesses we heard from recommended to the UK Government that the £20 a week uplift be made permanent for Universal Credit claimants. Many stakeholders wanted to take this further as well and said the increase should also be extended to legacy benefit claimants (people who claim benefits such as Job Seekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit). Organisations such as The Joseph Rowntree 240 Q31 241 Q31 242 Scottish Affairs Committee, Welfare Policy in Scotland survey, March 2021 243 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (WPS0019) 244 HM Treasury, The Chancellor Rishi Sunak provides an updated statement on coronavirus, 20 March 2020 245 Q64 246 Q83 247 Citizens Advice Scotland (WPS0014) 248 Q109 249 The benefit freeze here refers to the period between April 2016 and April 2020 when most working age benefits and tax credit elements were kept at the same cash amount as in 2015/16 via the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.For more information on this see: Benefits uprating 2019, House of Commons Library, March 2019 250 Q24 40 Welfare policy in Scotland Foundation,251 One Parent Families Scotland,252 Southside Housing Association253 and the Trussell Trust254 explicitly told us in their oral evidence that they wanted to see the £20 uplift extended to legacy benefit recipients.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the UK Government announced the temporary uplift as part of a £400 billion package of measures put in place that will last well beyond the end of the roadmap. The UK Government focused support on Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit claimants because they were more likely to be affected by the sudden economic shock of Covid-19 than legacy benefit recipients. There was never any plan to extend the uplift to legacy benefits. As the economy recovers, the UK Government’s ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The UK Government’s ambitious Plan for Jobs is already delivering for people of all ages right across Great Britain and includes new schemes such as the £2 billion Kickstart Scheme.