Boris Johnson faces calls to scrap looming £20 Universal Credit cut

Boris Johnson faces fresh calls to scrap looming £20 Universal Credit cut in open letter from 100 charities and think tanks warning that it risks ‘immediate hardship’

• Boris Johnson urged to abandon looming cut to £20 Universal Credit uplift
• One hundred groups warned the cut risks ‘immediate hardship’ for UK poor
• The £20 increase was introduced temporarily during the Covid pandemic
• Government plans to start phasing out the increase from the end of this month

The Prime Minister has been urged to abandon the looming cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit, which 100 organisations have called ‘the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since World War II’.

Axing the £20-a-week uplift introduced temporarily during the Covid pandemic risks causing ‘immense, immediate and avoidable hardship’, the coalition which includes children’s charities and a Tory think-tank warns.

The Government plans to start phasing out the increase from the end of this month, based on individual claimants’ payment dates.

However, move is opposed by six former Work and Pensions secretaries, charities, think-tanks, teachers and MPs across the political spectrum. New academic research also found 63 per cent of people supported the £20 increase, and 50 per cent supported making it permanent.

Work and Pensions Secretary Dr Therese Coffey resisted calls this week to maintain the uplift, saying the time was right to focus on supporting people back into work and helping workers to progress in their careers.

The 100 groups – which include Oxfam, Save the Children, the Trussell Trust, Business in the Community, the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, and Tory think-tank Bright Blue – have warned that most people who will be affected by the cut are already in work and warn it will ‘fundamentally undermine’ the Government’s mission to level up.  

In their open letter to Boris Johnson, they write: ‘We are rapidly approaching a national crossroads which will reveal the true depth of the Government’s commitment to improving the lives of families on the lowest incomes.

The Prime Minister has been urged to abandon the looming cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit, which 100 groups have called ‘the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since World War II’

Ending the higher payment will cause hardship, campaigners say (stock image)

Dozens of ‘Red Wall’ seats won by the Tories at the last election will be among the areas worst hit by Boris Johnson’s decision to end a £20 a week uplift in the value of Universal Credit, a charity has said.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found 413 parliamentary constituencies will see at least a third of working-age families with children hit by the reduction in benefits in October.

Of those constituencies, some 191 are represented by Conservative MPs with 53 seats having only been won by the Tories at the 2019 general election.

Senior Tories have repeatedly warned the Government not to go ahead with the planned £1,040 a year cut.

But ministers have stressed the extra cash was only made available to help families during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest research published by the JRF, a charity which campaigns to end poverty, is likely to reignite calls for the Government to keep the support in place.

However, making the increase permanent would cost the Government an additional £6billion a year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank.

The JRF also revealed that in some Labour constituencies more than three-quarters of families with children will be affected by the cut.

The reduction is expected to have the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West, and West Midlands.

‘We all want a social security system that supports families to escape poverty rather than pulling them deeper into it.

‘However, this cut risks causing immense, immediate, and avoidable hardship. A strong social security system is a crucial first step to building back better. We strongly urge you to make the right decision.’

The Department for Work and Pensions has not published its impact assessment for the move.

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows it risks plunging 500,000 people into poverty, including 200,000 children. It says that 413 parliamentary constituencies across Britain will see at least a third of working-age families with children affected.

The groups add: ‘Imposing what is effectively the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since World War II will pile unnecessary financial pressure on around 5.5 million families, both in and out of work.’  

The Prime Minister could face a Commons vote on a planned cut to universal credit two days after MPs return from summer recess. A source told The Independent that Labour was ‘likely’ to force a vote on the issue, but this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. 

Ben Baumberg Geiger, the joint leader of the project and a social policy lecturer at the University of Kent, said: ‘It would be easy to conclude that despite Covid-19, the public has little appetite for a more generous welfare system – but this would be wrong.

‘Before the pandemic, attitudes had become more pro-welfare than the UK has seen in 20-30 years, and support for more generous benefits is even higher if this is linked to Covid-19. 

‘Public attitudes depend on how politicians talk about welfare, which means that the impact of Covid-19 on welfare attitudes and policies is all to play for.’

The open letter follows calls from politicians in each of the four UK nations this week.

Cross-party committees from Westminster, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish Parliament had written to Dr Coffey calling on the Government to make the higher rate of payment permanent.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘As announced by the Chancellor at the Budget, the uplift to Universal Credit was always temporary.

‘It was designed to help claimants through the economic shock and financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic, and it has done so.

‘Universal Credit will continue to provide vital support for those both in and out of work and it’s right that the Government should focus on our Plan for Jobs, supporting people back into work and supporting those already employed to progress and earn more.’

Ms Coffey previously resisted calls from politicians in each of the four UK nations to halt the planned cut.

She said it was right to focus on supporting people back into work now the economy was getting back on track. 

The Work and Pensions Secretary was responding to a letter issued by cross-party committees from Westminster, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish Parliament.

Work and Pensions Secretary Dr Therese Coffey resisted calls this week to maintain the uplift, saying the time was right to focus on supporting people back into work and helping workers to progress in their careers 

They had called on the Government to make the higher rate of payment permanent.

In her reply, Ms Coffey said: ‘Now the economy has reopened it is right that the Government should focus on supporting people back into work and supporting those already employed to progress in their careers.

‘Our ambition is to support two million people move into and progress in work through our comprehensive £33billion Plan for Jobs.’

Stephen Timms, Labour MP and chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, said the Government must ‘change course to prevent severe hardship for many thousands of families’.

He continued: ‘The £20 cut will plunge hundreds of thousands, including children, into poverty. Instead, the Government should extend the lifeline beyond September.

‘The Secretary of State’s dismissive response to our letter suggests that the Government is still in denial about the impact of ending the increase.’

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: ‘The Government’s £1,000 a year cut will be a hammer blow to millions of working families, hitting the lowest paid hardest and hurting our economic recovery.

‘Time is running out for the Conservatives to see sense and cancel their cut to Universal Credit.

‘Almost half of those hit by this cut are in work – to claim there is a choice between cancelling this cut and getting people back into work is simply wrong.

‘Labour would maintain the uplift until we can replace Universal Credit with a fairer social security system.’

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