First Report - Cost of Living Support Payments

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 … Read more 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. Show less

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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 … Read more 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. Show less

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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 … Read more 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 Show less

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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 … Read more 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. Show less

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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.

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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 … Read more 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. Show less

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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 …

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