First Report - Cost of Living Support Payments

We welcome the automated nature of the payment system, which enabled the swift issue of cash support to many of those most in need. However, we recognise that it is limited in its ability to target payments and therefore meet the additional needs of certain groups.

We are concerned by the cliff edge nature of the cost of living payments which creates a fundamentally unfair income gap where a person is financially penalised for earning just over the qualifying threshold, being in receipt of a sanction or not receiving an eligible payment during the qualifying period. For example, a person earning just £5 over the qualifying threshold would lose nearly £300 if they are ineligible for a cost of living payment and would be significantly worse off than someone just under the threshold.

People who receive Universal Credit and are paid on a non-monthly basis, even if their earnings follow a consistent pattern, can fail to meet the eligibility criteria in a qualifying period. We recognise that the Government has taken steps to mitigate the risk of an individual missing more than one cost of living payment if they are paid fortnightly or weekly. This mitigation is not enough given a recipient of Universal Credit on such a pattern would still miss one of the cost of living payments and a considerable amount of support. Anyone who misses a cost of living payment due to receiving regular earnings on a non-monthly basis should be issued the missed payment in the mop-up system.

The Government should change the eligibility for the final cost of living payment in 2023/24 and for any possible future payments so that Universal Credit (UC) claimants who receive a nil UC award in the qualifying period, but received a payment in the previous and subsequent assessment period, qualify for a cost of living payment. This could be incorporated into the mop-up payment system.

We are concerned that support payments do not reach all low-income households in receipt of benefits as some households only receive housing benefit. The Government should consider adding Housing Benefit as a qualifying benefit for future cost of living support payments and set out the practicalities of doing so.

We are concerned that some people with no recourse to public funds could be denied Household Support Fund (HSF) support from local authorities, despite potentially being eligible for such support, due to a lack of clarity in the guidance. We are also concerned that some people with no recourse to public funds will not be able to access support through the HSF because there are no specific powers or duties which can be used to enable their access to funding. The Government should clarify in the Household Support Fund guidance the circumstances when a local authority can use the Household Support Fund to assist those with no recourse to public funds. We certainly hope this would explicitly include families with children who otherwise meet HSF’s eligibility criteria. (Paragraph 40) Cost of living support payments 47

The Household Support Fund has enabled the provision of support to vulnerable households who are not eligible for the cost of living support payments or for whom the payments are not sufficient. However, we are concerned by the uneven nature of support offered by the Household Support Fund which can be a postcode lottery dependent on the local authority in which a person lives. A lack of awareness of the fund seems to have resulted in those eligible, and in need, not applying for support. As a result of this we reiterate our concern, raised in our cost of living report in 2022, that a question remains as to whether or not the fund is supporting the most vulnerable households effectively.

If the Government continues to issue cost of living support payments in the next financial year, it should maintain the Household Support Fund as it is an important safety net for those ineligible for these payments and other means tested benefits. In doing so, ahead of the next financial year, the Government should better communicate and advertise the fund to make sure that people are aware of its existence. The accessibility of the application process should be improved to enable people who may be disabled, do not speak English, do not have access to the internet, or may struggle to access support during working hours, to apply. (Paragraph 42) The impact of the cost of living support payments

The cost of living payments have had an important impact and boosted the finances of low-income households. However, one-off payments were not a sufficient response to the scale of the issue, and many people in receipt of the payments still could not meet essential costs or only had a temporary reprieve. The Government has stated it will conduct an evaluation of the cost of living payments next year. The Government should bring forward its evaluation of the cost of living support payments so that preliminary analysis can be fed into decisions on possible future payments ahead of the next financial year. The evaluation should be published before the start of financial year 2024/25.

While the UK support has been relatively generous compared to other countries, other countries have issued specific support for families and children, which the UK Government has not. Given the flat rate nature of the cost of living payments, the Government should conduct an analysis of the value of the support received by low- income families with children compared to the support received by single people and couples. Further, future cost of living support payments should take account of family size.

We commend the Government’s efforts to promote Pension Credit to those entitled to it, though there is still more to do to increase take-up as we remarked on in our July 2022 Cost of Living report. We remain concerned that there are low-income pensioner households who may just miss out on Pension Credit and as a result are significantly worse off compared to those who receive it and its passported benefits, including cost of living payments. The Government should devise and implement a policy to address this unfairness.

The cost of living payments do not provide a suitable level of support for vulnerable groups who are impacted to a greater extent by the cost of living crisis, such as those with disabilities, and do not cover the additional costs these people face. 48 Cost of living support payments This is especially true if those who receive the £150 cost of living payment are not entitled to any of the other cost of living payments. We have not seen an adequate explanation for how £150 was determined as a suitable bridging payment for those with disabilities. The Government should set out a detailed reasoning as to why a payment of this size was considered correct.

Should there be future cost of living payments, or similar ad hoc support, the Government should increase the financial support for those with disabilities in proportion to the additional costs that they incur.

It is clear that an uplift of regular working age benefits received would be more beneficial than ad-hoc cost of living support payments as it would better enable households to budget and reduce the chance of a recipient losing out on a major one-off payment. The Government have explained it is not possible to quickly uprate legacy benefits, however it can quickly uprate Universal Credit. We also note this problem will disappear once the transition to Universal Credit is complete. The Government has explained it is not possible to quickly uprate legacy benefits, however it can quickly uprate Universal Credit. We also note this problem will disappear once the transition to Universal Credit is complete. The Government should clarify the legal position as to whether it can uprate Universal Credit and only maintain the one-off payment system for those on legacy benefits. If this can be done, and should further cost of living payments be required next year or in the future, the Government should uprate Universal Credit and only maintain the one-off payment system for those on legacy benefits.

We recognise that the Government is concerned that publishing exact payment windows could encourage fraud and disincentivise people from taking work opportunities. However, the irregular nature of these payments, along with the uncertainty of when they will be received, continues to make household budgeting a challenge. If the Government decides to issue further cost of living payments in the next financial year, it should announce the payment dates (but not the qualifying period) in advance. This would improve the ability of households to budget whilst still mitigating the risk of fraud and risks to work incentives. (Paragraph 87) Cost of living support payments 49