Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 105
105
We have heard in evidence that there are other levers that the DWP could pull...
Conclusion
We have heard in evidence that there are other levers that the DWP could pull to change the Universal Credit system to help to tackle poverty in Scotland alongside increasing adequacy of payments. One option that Citizens Advice Scotland and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recommended was that the DWP could increase the work allowance a claimant receives and extend work allowances to everyone on Universal Credit.273
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Universal Credit aims to reduce the number of workless households by reducing financial and administrative barriers to work. The 63% single earnings taper rate ensures that payments reduce in a transparent and predictable way as earnings increase. A work allowance is an amount that claimants can earn before their Universal Credit starts to reduce by the taper rate. The work allowance is targeted on those claimants with the greatest barriers to the labour market namely those responsible for children or who have limited capability for work. The UK Government has no plans to extend the work allowance to single adults. The work allowance is increased each year as part of the normal benefits uprating process. In addition, at the Autumn 2018 budget, an extra £1.7 billion a year was put into work allowances to increase them by £1,000 in April 2019, strengthening the Universal Credit work incentives even more and providing a boost to the incomes of the lowest paid. This resulted in 2.4 million families keeping up to an extra £630 per year of what they earn.