Recommendation 102

We are also aware of other Parliamentary Committees and statutory bodies that have investigated the issue of making the £20 uplift permanent and extending it to legacy benefit claimants. The Work and Pensions Select Committee recommended in their Report into DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak that the DWP should ‘increase the rates of relevant legacy benefits by the equivalent amount’255 as Universal Credit has been. This was preceded by a letter written in May 2020 to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by the Social Security Advisory Committee, an independent statutory body which advises the Secretary of State on social security and related matters. Their letter stated that it was ‘of the strong view that it is increasingly untenable for this group of claimants [legacy benefit recipients] to be excluded and to continue to have a lower level of income than those in receipt of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.’256 It went on to recommend that legacy benefits should be ‘brought up to the same level as those in receipt of Universal Credit as soon as it is possible to do so.’257 The House of Lords Economics Affairs Committee commented on the uplift recommending that ‘The Government should commit to making the increase in the standard allowance permanent’258 in their Report into the economics of Universal Credit.