Universal Credit – Page 3 – The NEN

A Tale of Two Pandemics: TUC exposes COVID Class Divide

NEW POLLING reveals the extent to which low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic

NEW POLLING reveals the extent to which low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic
TUC analysis shows three industries furthest away from recovery are all low-paid and have highest rates of furlough use
TUC warns the end of furlough and Universal Credit cut will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers
Union body says without an economic reset post-pandemic the government’s levelling up agenda will be “doomed to failure”

The coronavirus crisis has been “a tale of two pandemics”, the TUC said today as it calls for an urgent “economic reset” to tackle the huge class divide in Britain that has been exposed by the pandemic.

The call comes as the union body publishes new polling which shows how low-income workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic with little or no option to work from home, no or low sick pay and reduced living standards, while better-off workers have enjoyed greater flexibility with work, financial stability and increased spending power.

Pandemic class divide

New TUC polling, conducted by Britain Thinks, has revealed the extent of the pandemic class divide with the high-paid more financially comfortable than before, while the low-paid have been thrust into financial difficulty:

Low-paid workers (those earning less than £15,000) are almost twice as likely as high-paid workers (those earning more than £50,000) to say they have cut back on spending since the pandemic began (28 per cent compared to 16 per cent)
High earners are more than three times likely than low-paid workers to expect to receive a pay rise in the next 12 months (37 per cent compared to 12 per cent).

This Covid class divide isn’t just apparent on personal finances. The polling also shows how low-paid workers are markedly more likely to get low or no sick pay compared to higher earners:

Low-paid workers are four times more likely than high-paid workers to say they cannot afford to take time off work when sick (24 per cent compared to six per cent).
Only a third (35 per cent) of low-paid workers say they get full pay when off sick compared to an overwhelming majority of high-paid workers (80 per cent)

The TUC has long been calling for an increase to statutory sick pay, which stands at a derisory £96.35 a week, and from which more than two million low-paid workers – mostly women – are currently excluded because they do not earn enough to qualify.

The union body recently criticised the government decision to “abandon” these two million workers by failing to expand eligibility of sick pay, as they had previously promised.

This lack of decent sick pay is compounded by the fact that low-paid workers are more than three times more likely than high-paid workers to say they their job means they can only work outside the home (74 per cent compared to 20 per cent).

This means that low-paid workers face greater risk of contracting the virus at work, and when ill, often face the impossible choice of doing the right thing but losing income or keeping full pay but potentially spreading the virus.

Low-paid industries lag

New TUC analysis shows that the three industries furthest away from a jobs recovery – arts and entertainment, accommodation and food and ‘other services’ – are all ‘low paid’ industries.

These are also the three industries with the highest furlough rates according to HMRC stats, and three of the highest according to most recent ONS estimate.

The end of furlough poses a serious threat to low-paid jobs in these industries – and combined with the “senseless” Universal Credit cut – will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers and push many further into hardship, the union body says.

Time for an economic reset

The TUC says its analysis and poll findings paint a picture of stark inequality in the UK, which has been further entrenched through the coronavirus crisis, and show that the country needs an urgent “economic reset” post-pandemic.

The union body warns that without such a reset, the government’s levelling up agenda will be “doomed to failure” as ministers risk repeating the same mistakes which followed the financial crisis, allowing insecure work to spiral even further.

To prevent unnecessary hardship in the coming months, the TUC is calling on the government to:

Extend the furlough scheme for as long as is needed to protect jobs and livelihoods and put in place a permanent short-time working scheme to protect workers at times of economic change
Cancel the planned £20 cut to Universal Credit

And as part of a post-pandemic reset, the TUC says ministers must:

Ban zero hours contracts
Raise the minimum wage immediately to at least £10
Increase statutory sick pay to a real Living Wage and make it available to all
Introduce new rights for workers to bargain for better pay and conditions through their unions

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone deserves dignity at work and a job they can build a life on. But too many working people – often key workers – are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table.

“It has been a tale of two pandemics. This Covid class divide has seen low-paid workers bear the brunt of the pandemic, while the better off have enjoyed greater financial security, often getting richer.

“This should be a wake up call – we need an economic reset. It’s time for a new age of dignity and security at work.

“Without fundamental change, the government’s own levelling up agenda will be doomed to failure. And we risk repeating the same old mistakes of the past decade – allowing insecure work to spiral even further.

“Ministers must start by banning zero-hours contracts, raising the minimum wage with immediate effect and increasing statutory sick pay to a real Living Wage, making it available to all.

“And we know that the best way for workers to win better pay and conditions at work is through their union.”

On the risk to low-paid workers this autumn, Frances said: “The imminent end to the furlough scheme and cut to Universal Credit this autumn will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers and could plunge millions into hardship, many of whom are already teetering on the edge.

“The government must reverse its senseless decision to cut Universal Credit and extend the furlough scheme for as long as is needed to protect jobs and livelihoods.”

Cancel the Cut: ONE HUNDRED organisations urge Prime Minister not to cut Universal Credit

The largest coalition of organisations to date on this issue has signed a joint open letter to the Prime Minster calling on him not to go ahead with the planned £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit, due to come into effect on 6 October.

The joint letter, coordinated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is signed by a wide range of 100 organisations that operate at a national level as well as in communities across the UK. Among the signatories are leading voices on health, education, children, housing, poverty, the economy and other aspects of public policy.

OPEN LETTER

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to collectively urge you not to go ahead with the planned £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit at the beginning of October.

Many of us provide frontline support in communities up and down our country and see first-hand the importance of our social security system. Life is full of crises that we cannot plan for, such as job loss or illness, and periods of lower earnings or caring responsibilities. We all need the security and stability of a strong lifeline, not just during a national crisis, but every day.

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.

At the start of the pandemic, the Chancellor rightly said that he was introducing the £20 increase to “strengthen the safety net” – a tacit admission that a decade of cuts and freezes had left it unfit to provide the support families need. We all strongly supported this crucial improvement in support.

We are at risk of repeating the same mistakes that were made after the last economic crisis, where our country’s recovery was too often not felt by people on the lowest incomes. The erosion of social security support was one of the main drivers of the rise in in-work and child poverty, and contributed to a soaring need for food banks, rising debt and worsening health inequalities.

We deeply regret that the Department for Work & Pensions has not published its assessment on the impact of cutting Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit. However, the latest independent analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows it risks plunging 500,000 people into poverty, including 200,000 children. It will take the main rate of out of work support down to its lowest levels in real terms since around 1990.

This is not a question of having to choose between a recovery based on getting people into jobs or investing in social security, in fact most families impacted by this cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit are already in work. The reality of the UK labour market means that to improve living standards, we need to both improve job quality and strengthen the social security system. We also must never lose sight of the need to provide adequate support to families who are not able to work so they can meet their needs with dignity.

Six former Conservative Work & Pensions Secretaries believe previous cuts to social security spending went too far and oppose this cut, and your own Conservative MPs are warning that it will have deep and far-reaching effects in their constituencies.

Recent analysis from JRF shows that 413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit on 6 October 2021. Of these 413 constituencies, 191 are Conservative – 53 of which were newly won at the last general election or in a subsequent by-election.

This looming cut would fundamentally undermine the Government’s mission to level up. Citizens Advice has identified that people are one and a half times more likely to claim Universal Credit in places the Government has prioritised for levelling up investment. They also found for every £1 that could be invested from the Levelling Up Fund in England, £1.80 would be taken from these local economies if the Government presses ahead.

Furthermore, it is unacceptable that legacy benefits, such as Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support, continue to be excluded from this crucial improvement in support, mostly impacting people who are sick, disabled or carers.

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.

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.

Yours sincerely,

Action For Children

Advice NI

APLE Collective

The Association of Charitable Organisations

Become

Bevan Foundation

The Big Issue

Bright Blue

The British Association of Social Workers

British Psychological Society

Business in the Community

Carers UK

Caritas Social Action Network

Centre for Cities

Centrepoint

Child Poverty Action Group

Children England

Christians Against Poverty

Church Action on Poverty

Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice Scotland

Citizens UK

Communities that Work

Crisis

Disability Benefits Consortium (a network of over 100 disability organisations)

Employment Related Services Association (ERSA)

End Child Poverty Coalition

End Furniture Poverty

The Equality Trust

The Faculty of Public Health

Family Fund

Feeding Britain

The Food Foundation

Generation Rent

Gingerbread, the charity for single parent families

Greater Manchester Poverty Action

The Health Foundation

Homeless Link

The Hygiene Bank

Independent Food Aid Network

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Jubilee Debt Campaign

Learning and Work Institute

Little Village

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales

Macmillan Cancer Support

Mental Health Foundation

Mind

Money Advice Trust

The MS Society

National AIDS Trust

National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)

National Children’s Bureau

National Education Union

National Housing Federation

National Residential Landlords Association

National Survivor User Network

Neighbourly

New Economics Foundation

North East Child Poverty Commission

Northern Housing Consortium

Octavia

One Parent Families Scotland

Oxfam GB

PlaceShapers

Policy in Practice

The Poverty Alliance

The Poverty Truth Community

Rethink Mental Illness

RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People)

RNID

The Robertson Trust

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Royal College of Psychiatrists

Royal Society for Public Health

The Runnymede Trust

The Salvation Army

Save the Children

Scope

Scottish Out of School Care Network

Shelter

St Mungo’s

Standard Life Foundation

StepChange

Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming

SVP Northern Ireland

Transforming Lives for Good (TLG)

The Trussell Trust

Trust for London

TUC (Trades Union Congress)

Turn2us

UCL Institute of Health Equity

UK Women’s Budget Group

Women’s Regional Consortium Northern Ireland

Working Families

Young Lives vs Cancer

Young Women’s Trust

Z2K

4in10 London’s Child Poverty Network

“An investment in the people of Scotland”

Scottish Government’s £5.2 billion for social security support

Social security expenditure in Scotland will total £5.2 billion in 2026-27, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s latest forecast report published today/yesterday.

The amount spent is projected to increase by £1.5 billion over the five years due to a variety of reasons including an increase in benefits provided, inflationary rises to payments, Scotland’s ageing population increasing caseloads for payments to support the pension age group and more children and working-age people receiving disability benefits.

It is expected that more people will access financial support in the coming years as the Scottish Government continues the roll out of devolved benefits. This includes Adult Disability Payment which will replace Personal Independence Payment for disabled people of working age in Scotland in 2022.

The Scottish Child Payment will also be extended to children up to the age of 16 from the end of 2022 if data relating to this benefit is received from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said: “Social security is an investment in the people of Scotland and is a fundamental human right. With the devolved social security powers and limited resources that we have, we are committed to making sure everyone can access the financial support they are entitled to.

“By understanding people’s experiences of accessing UK Government social security support, we have sought to ensure that our new Scottish Government service is easily accessible and that people have a good experience when interacting with the Scottish social security system. If someone is eligible for support then it is our responsibility to make sure that they know about available payments, and help them get the money they need and that they are due.

“As well as the introduction of our new disability benefits in 2021 and 2022, in the coming years, we will also introduce Scottish Carer’s Assistance, which will replace the UK Government’s Carer’s Allowance in Scotland.

“In 2023-24 it is forecast that nearly 300,000 children will benefit from the Scottish Child Payment. This will be the first full year of the planned rollout of Scottish Child Payment to 6 to 15 year olds. We also plan to significantly increase the value of Scottish Child Payment, doubling it to £20 per week within the lifetime of the Parliament and lifting more children out of poverty.

“It is vital that the UK Government matches our efforts. We need UK Ministers to take decisive action in the areas where they have power and responsibility and to reverse their welfare cuts which are hitting households harder than ever.

“I call again on the UK Government to end their benefit cap, bedroom tax and two-child limit, and to maintain the £20 Universal Credit uplift.”

Campaigners call for doubling of Scottish Child Payment

More than 120 organisations from across Scotland are urging First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to double the Scottish Child Payment in this year’s Programme for Government.

The campaigners say the 1 in 4 children living in poverty in Scotland cannot wait.

In an open letter the End Child Poverty coalition is calling on The First Minister to “do the right thing” to help thousands of poverty-stricken children and families.

The letter in full:

Dear First Minister,

As a broad coalition of national organisations, community groups, academics, trade unions and faith groups, we are writing to you to urge you to use the upcoming Programme for Government to commit to doubling the Scottish Child Payment in this year’s budget.

We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling child poverty, evidenced in the setting of statutory child poverty targets, introducing the Scottish Child Payment and the upcoming incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These steps have laid the foundation for tackling child poverty in Scotland and we have been delighted that they have been supported across Scotland’s political spectrum.

This cross-party agreement was also evident in May’s Holyrood elections, when all Scotland’s five main political parties committed to doubling the Scottish Child Payment. Such political consensus is welcome, and provides the opportunity for your government to act quickly and decisively in doubling the payment now.

To do so would provide a lifeline to families who are struggling to stay afloat. Even before Covid-19, people across Scotland were being swept up in a rising tide of poverty, with child poverty rising in every Scottish local authority. And the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities in Scotland and pulled many more people – particularly women, disabled people, and Black and minority ethnic people – into hardship.

With women’s poverty being inextricably linked to child poverty, the pandemic’s impact has pulled children across Scotland ever deeper into poverty. It has hit lone parents – the overwhelming majority of whom are women – particularly hard, a group already disproportionately affected by years of social security cuts.

Unlocking people from this poverty requires long-term work to tackle the structural inequalities around the labour market – particularly for women, disabled people and Black and minority ethnic people – and it will also require action like further expanding childcare provision. But we also need action now to boost incomes in the short term.

Every level of government has a duty to boost incomes where it can, and we are clear that the UK Government must scrap its planned and unjust £20 Universal Credit cut. But just as the UK Government has a moral responsibility to do the right thing, so too does the Scottish Government have a moral responsibility to use all of the powers at its disposal to loosen the grip of poverty on people’s lives.

We have the powers, we have the urgent need, and we have the cross-party consensus to double the Scottish Child Payment. If your government is to truly make ending child poverty a ‘national mission’, and if we are to ensure that a more just Scotland emerges from the pandemic, then we must not delay. Children growing up in the grip of poverty right now – as well as their parents and care-givers – simply cannot endure until the end of this Parliament to be unlocked from poverty. Their lives and life chances are too important for this action to wait.

The evidence is clear that if it is doubled now, it will represent the single most impactful action that could be taken to help meet the interim child poverty targets in 2023, and would signal that ending child poverty will be a defining priority for this Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament. If it is not, more and more children will be pulled into poverty and the opportunity to meet the interim child poverty targets will be missed. Under the current roll out plan and value, the Scottish Child Payment will reduce poverty in Scotland by between 2 and 3 percentage points. This could leave child poverty rates as high as 26% in 2023/24, when the interim target in legislation for that year is 18%. We cannot allow that to happen.

We therefore urge your government to do the right thing, to capitalise on the cross-party consensus that already exists, and to commit to doubling the Scottish Child Payment in this year’s budget. We look forward to your response.

Kind regards,

Peter Kelly, Director, Poverty Alliance

Claire Telfer, Head of Scotland, Save the Children

Paul Carberry, Director for Scotland, Action for Children

SallyAnn Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Aberlour

John Dickie, Director, CPAG Scotland

Martin Crewe, Director, Barnardo’s Scotland

Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland

Satwat Rehman, Director, One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS)

Amy Woodhouse, Joint Interim CEO, Children in Scotland

Christine Carlin, Scotland Director, Home-Start UK

Clare Simpson, Manager, Parenting Across Scotland

Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director, Close the Gap

Polly Jones, Head of Scotland, The Trussell Trust

Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive, Children 1st

Eilidh Dickson, Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Engender

Hugh Foy, Director, Xaverians UK Region

Russell Gunson, Director, IPPR Scotland

Dr Patrycja Kupiec, CEO, YWCA Scotland – The Young Women’s Movement

The Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Tankerness QC (Jim Wallace), Moderator of the General Assembly, The Church of Scotland

Emma Cormack, Chief Executive Officer, The Health Agency

Gillian Kirkwood, Chief Executive, Y sort it Youth Centre

Agnes Tolmie, Chair, Scottish Women’s Convention

Linda Tuthill, CEO, The Action Group

Steven McCluskey, CEO, Bikes for Refugees

Trishna Singh OBE, Director, Sikh Sanjog

Professor Adrian Sinfield, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, University of Edinburgh

Jimmy Wilson, CEO, FARE Scotland

Ian Bruce, Chief Executive, Glasgow CVS

Revd Gary Noonan, Minister, Houston and Killellan Kirk

Jacqui Reid, Project Lead, EBI Unites

Innes McMinn, Manager, Independent Living Support

Suzanne Slavin, CEO, Ayr Housing Aid Centre

Fiona Rae, Interim Chief Executive, Community Food Initiatives North East

Mhairi Snowden, Director, Human Rights Consortium Scotland

Juliet Harris, Director, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights

Tressa Burke, CEO, Glasgow Disability Alliance

Martin Wilkie-McFarlane, Director, Wellhouse Housing Association

Morna Simpkins, Scotland Director, MS Society

Kara Batchelor, Operations Manager, Alexander’s Community Development

Murray Dawson, Chief Executive, Station House Media Unit

Ashli Mullen, Creative Director, Friends of Romano Lav

Professor John McKendrick, Co-Director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University

Justina Murray, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Families Affected by Drugs and Alcohol

Rob McDowall, Chair, Welfare Scotland

Karen Birch, Chief Officer, Abundant Borders

Liane Coia, Operations Manager, Maryhill Integration Network

Annie Tothill, Project Worker, Kairos Women+

Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity, Govan Community Project

Emma Jackson, National Director Scotland, Christians Against Poverty

Alison Bavidge, National Director, Scottish Association of Social Work

Mairi McCallum, Project Manager, Moray Food Plus

Zoe Jordan, Stepping Stones North Edinburgh

Chris Birt, Deputy Director Scotland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Martin Dorchester, CEO, Includem

Bethany Biggar, Director, Edinburgh Food Project

Rachel MacDonnell, Bureau Manager, East & Central Sutherland Citizens Advice Bureau

Larry Flanagan, General Secretary, EIS

Shona Blakeley, Executive Director, Women’s Fund for Scotland

Rhona Willder, Development Manager, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance

Joan McClure, Manager, Easterhouse Citizens Advice Bureau

Roy O’Kane FRSA, Chief Officer, Kanzen Karate

Craig Samuel, Scotland Representative, National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers

Margaret Caldwell, Chairperson, Care for Carers

Louise Hunter, Chief Executive, Who Cares? Scotland

Derek Mitchell, CEO, Citizens Advice Scotland

Emma Walker, Director, Camphill Scotland

Claire Burns, Director, CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection)

Moira Tasker, Chief Executive Officer, Inclusion Scotland

David Nallaratnam, Director, Cross Ethnic

Professor Ian Welsh OBE, Chief Executive, Health and Social Care Alliance (the ALLIANCE)

Louise Morgan, Director for Scotland, Carers Trust Scotland

Teresa Sutherland, Interim Executive Manager, Community Help and Advice Initiative

Graeme McAlister, Chief Executive, Scottish Childminding Association

Roz Foyer, General Secretary, STUC

Rachel Adamson, Co-Director, Zero Tolerance

Susan Capaldi, Manager, Home Start Cowdenbeath

Sabine Goodwin, Coordinator, Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN)

Pat Rafferty, Scottish Secretary, Unite Scotland

Gavin Yates, CEO, Homeless Action Scotland

Lorraine Kelly, Scottish Policy Officer, Magic Breakfast

Rosyn Neely, CEO, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity

Biddy Kelly, Managing Director, Fresh Start

Professor Annette Hastings, Professor of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow

Margo Uprichard, Chief Executive Officer, The Louise Project

Alison Watson, Director, Shelter Scotland

Frazer Scott, CEO, Energy Action Scotland

Jane Brumpton, Chief Executive, Early Years Scotland

Alan Thornburrow, Country Director, Business in the Community Scotland

Pete Ritchie, Executive Director, Nourish Scotland

Elaine Downie, Co-ordinator, Poverty Truth Community

Jen Broadhurst, Bureau Manager, Argyll & Bute Citizens Advice Bureau

David Walsh, Public Health Programme Manager, Glasgow Centre for Population Health

Ewan Aitken, CEO, Cyrenians

Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive, Scottish Women’s Aid

John McIntyre, Principal Trustee, Ferguslie Community Development Trust

Elodie Mignard, Programme Manager, Scottish Refugee Council

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT

Genevieve Ileris, British Psychological Society

Tanveer Parnez, Director of National Development, BEMIS

Sebastian Fischer, Chief Executive, VOCAL (Voices of Carers Across Lothian)

Professor Nick Bailey, Professor of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow

Professor Sharon Wright, Professor of Social Policy, University of Glasgow

Rami Okasha, Chief Executive, CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland)

Kate Polson, Chief Executive, Rock Trust

Jimmy Paul, Director, WEAll Scotland

Claire Cairns, Director, Coalition of Carers in Scotland

Jan Savage, Director of Campaigns and Membership, ENABLE Scotland

Alison Wright, CEO, Carers of West Lothian

Frank Mosson, Manager, Bridgeton Citizens Advice Bureau

Sharon McAulay, Chief Executive, STAR Project

Professor James Mitchell, Professor of Public Policy, University of Edinburgh

John Cassidy, Chair, Scottish Communities for Health and Wellbeing

Brian Reid, Manager, Scottish Christian Alliance

Lesley Ross, Project Manager Youth Work Services, Pilton Youth and Children’s Project

Sally Thomas, Chief Executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

Duncan Cuthill, CEO, Edinburgh City Mission

Marguerite Hunter Blair, Chief Executive, Play Scotland

Sharon Colvin, CEO, 3D Drumchapel

Paul Stuart, Branch Secretary, UNISON Housing & Care Scotland Branch

Kelly McCann, Clackmannanshire Women’s Aid

Public Health Scotland supports retaining uplift to Universal credit

Public Health Scotland supports retaining the £20 a week uplift to universal credit and working tax credits, brought in by the UK Government in April 2020, to help create a Scotland where everybody thrives.

The social security top-up payment was introduced in April 2020 to help low-income households deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is due to expire in October.

The evidence is becoming stronger that increasing the incomes of the poorest, including by increasing means-tested benefits, can help narrow the gap in life expectancy and improve mental health and wellbeing.

All of those families affected claiming working tax credits are already in employment, as are 35% of people claiming universal credit. Another 31% of people claiming universal credit have health problems or caring responsibilities which compromise their ability to secure and retain jobs. Therefore, focusing on getting people into work, in itself, will not be sufficient.

Martin Taulbut, Public Health Intelligence Adviser at Public Health Scotland said: “People with higher incomes are healthier and live longer. Experiencing material hardship can have a profound direct impact on health by affecting our ability to buy the goods and services that support good health and underpin healthy life expectancy.

“The increase in value of universal credit and tax credits has reduced poverty, protecting the physical and mental health of low-income families and supporting working-age adults’ ability to find and keep good work. Decreasing the value of means-tested benefits is likely to result in a decline in the (already poor) health of the unemployed and low-income families, particularly after the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As well as enabling families to live healthier lives now, action taken to improve and protect the health of children from early in life pays dividends for decades. By embedding health and wellbeing into policy decisions across areas of economy, employment and mental health, Scotland has an opportunity to make real progress on national outcomes.”

First Minister to meet trades unions to discuss fair recovery

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and representatives from Scotland’s trades unions led by STUC General Secretary Rozanne Foyer will meet later today (Thursday 12 August) to discuss key issues affecting workers as Scotland recovers from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Matters such as the need for the UK Government to extend the furlough scheme and reverse plans for damaging cuts to Universal Credit that will see households lose out on over £1,000 per year are on the agenda, as well as discussions on how to ensure workers’ needs are protected as Scotland’s economy undergoes transformation to net zero.

The Scottish Government has written to the UK Government on seven occasions to call for the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit to be made permanent and extended to legacy benefits.

Analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation indicates that cutting Universal Credit at the end of September will pull 500,000 people across the UK, including 200,000 children, into poverty.

Speaking ahead of her biannual meeting with the STUC, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “We are committed to a just transition to net zero, making sure we don’t leave individuals or communities behind – and we must ensure we incorporate the same fairness as we emerge from the pandemic to deliver greater, greener and fairer prosperity as the economy recovers.

“Partnership with unions is key to making sure that workers are represented as part of that process, therefore communication and collaboration between unions and Government is absolutely essential.

“How we emerge from the pandemic – and support workers and employers through that economic recovery – will not only be crucial to safeguarding the livelihoods of people hit hardest by the impacts of COVID, but will inform our work as we plan for a just transition to a net zero economy.

“As economic activity is restored, businesses and workers will still require support from the furlough schemes as they move through recovery. Our focus is on helping them to doing this.

“Not all of the levers are in our hands however, and clarity is urgently needed from the UK Government on whether it will reverse its plans for harmful welfare cuts, extend furlough, and protect jobs as restrictions ease and the economy recovers.

“If not we must see the detail on what support will be put in place to ensure those hit hardest by the economic impacts of COVID aren’t left out in the cold.”

STUC General Secretary Rozanne Foyer said: “We are meeting the First Minister at a critical moment. Our focus is on building a recovery from COVID that creates a more equitable Scotland with fair work as a driver of economic transformation and sustainable economic growth. To achieve this and to bring about a just transition we need to create well-paid, unionised, green jobs in the public and private sectors.

“Our priorities include public sector pay, transport and a future Scottish National Care Service and we look forward to raising these issues with the First Minister.

“We share the Scottish Government’s call for an extension of the furlough scheme, for the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit to be made permanent and for the devolution of further borrowing powers to drive a fair recovery.”

TUC: Universal  credit cut will hit millions of working families  and key workers

The UK Government has now confirmed that £20 a week will be cut from Universal Credit in October. By removing this lifeline, poverty will increase among the 6 million claimants of Universal Credit, says the TUC.

40 percent of these claimants – over two million people – are in work.

Number of people on Universal Credit 2020/21 (including in work and out of work breakdown):

Source – TUC analysis of stat explore data using May 2021 data

Our new analysis reveals the regional and local impact cutting Universal Credit will have on low-paid workers.

Numbers on Universal Credit in work by region/nation (May 2021):

Region/nation	Number in work receiving UC	Total number receiving UC	% Of UC recipients in work
North East	100,437	281,759	35.6%
North West	282,131	755,400	37.3%
Yorkshire & Humber	194,344	518,269	37.5%
East Midlands	166,265	403,272	41.2%
West Midlands	214,730	585,069	36.7%
East of England	199,459	494,271	40.4%
London	375,426	1,015,321	37.0%
South East	274,235	677,609	40.5%
South West	184,983	439,612	42.1%
Wales	103,609	279,068	37.1%
Scotland	176,935	481,263	36.8%
Total	2,274,976	5,938,914	38.3%

Source – TUC analysis of stat explore data using May 2021 data – for constituency level data see press release

The impact on poverty

The government justifies the £20 cut by saying its focus is to move people into jobs, but this misses the point. Many of those on Universal Credit (40 percent of claimants) are already in work.

2.3 million workers, many of which are key worker households, will be worse off as a result of the government’s plans to cut universal credit.

The working tax credit is also being cut, having also been raised by £20 per week in early 2020. This cut to crucial in-work support will push more families below the breadline. 

Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows the majority of families that lose out will be working families.

These cuts are likely to worsen already record-high levels of poverty.

Just before the pandemic hit, poverty was at a record high, with 14.5 million people in poverty. The majority of these (57 per cent, or 8.3 million people) were in working households. The idea that work is a guaranteed route out of poverty is now simply not true.

Low standard rate

Even with the increase in the rate by £20 a week – the basic rate of universal credit is worth around a sixth of average weekly pay.

The UK system is strikingly less generous than in most other European countries, where unemployment benefits are related (at least in the initial period of unemployment) to previous wages to cushion income shocks, ranging from 60 per cent of previous wages in Germany to 90 per cent in Denmark.

The TUC believes that rather than being cut, Universal Credit should be increased to at least 80 per cent of the level of the living wage, around £260.

And the temporary £20 top-up excluded those on legacy benefits all together, many of whom are disabled or carers, and cannot work. This should be extended to these claimants too.

Change is needed

The UK safety net is failing as a result of years of deliberate attacks on the social security system, with around £34 billion of cuts made to social security since 2010.

The reason for increasing Universal Credit and Working tax credits was that previous rates were too low. Removing this increase makes no sense. The pandemic might – hopefully – be going away, but the need for social security isn’t.

The £20 increase in universal credit has been a “vital lifeline” for low-paid workers: having £20 a week less to spend will mean going without the essentials in life.

An ambitious agenda to tackle in-work poverty would include decent pay, secure work, progression opportunities for those on low incomes, and affordable childcare and housing costs.

It would not include a cut to the lifeline support that working families across the country are relying on.

Committees unite to call for UC uplift to be made permanent

The UK Government should make the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit permanent, according to a joint letter issued by cross-party committees from Westminster, the Northern Irish Assembly, the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish Parliament.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak and Work Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey, have confirmed that the uplift will come to an end in October.

However, if the uplift is removed, the 6 million people claiming Universal Credit will lose £1,040 in annual income overnight. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation this could force 500,000 people, including 200,000 children, into poverty.

The letter also raises concerns that the benefit will be removed from families at the same time unemployment is due to peak as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme comes to an end.

The Committees call on the uplift to be extended to legacy benefits, to make sure those in need do not miss out.

The letter was signed by Neil Gray MSP, Convener of Holyrood’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee, Stephen Timms MP, Chair of Westminster’s Work and Pensions Select Committee, Paula Bradley MLA, Chair of Stormont’s Committee for Communities, and Jenny Rathbone MS, Chair of the Senedd’s Equality and Social Justice Committee.

Neil Gray MSP, Convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, said: “The UK Government did the right thing at the start of the pandemic to increase Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit to give better support to people during these incredibly challenging times.

“But removing the uplift in October would have devastating consequences for our most vulnerable in society, who have been hit hardest by this pandemic.

“This risks sending many more people into poverty at a time when we should be doing all we can to support them.

Mr Gray added: “All four of our Committees agree that by spending this money now on social security, we can avoid putting more people into poverty, helping save more money in the longer term on health, education, justice and other social services.”

Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, said: “To sweep away such a vital lifeline from people who have felt the very worst effects of the pandemic risks plunging hundreds of thousands of people into poverty at a time when they will have had little or no chance to get back on their feet.

“Six Conservative former welfare secretaries have warned the Chancellor of the grave consequences of his proposed course of action. The strength of feeling on all sides of the political divide, and across the UK, could not be clearer. The Government must change course.

“At the same time, the Government must also increase support for the people who, through no fault of their own, are still claiming older benefits and have received no pandemic-related increases at all – despite their living costs rising during the pandemic.”

Jenny Rathbone MS, Chair, Equality and Social Justice Committee, said:

“Whilst, in Wales, policy relating to Universal Credit and other social security benefits is reserved to Westminster, we are deeply concerned about the impact removing the uplift might have on widening social inequality in Wales; growing indebtedness as a result of the economic impact of Covid; and the ability of low income families to eat as well as pay their rent.”

Children’s Commissioners appeal to UK Government to end ‘discriminatory’ two-child limit on benefits

The Children’s Commissioners of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have today published a letter they have sent to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions calling for an end to the two-child limit on Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit.

In the letter, the Commissioners state that the policy, which disallows benefits payments to the third and subsequent children born after April 2017 in most circumstances, is ‘a clear breach of children’s human rights’ that “is inconsistent with the commitments made by the UK through the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The UK Parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee will today hear evidence from Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland who will present the collective views of the Commissioners in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, that the efforts of their devolved governments to tackle child poverty are being restricted by UK benefits rules.

He will talk about the impact of current welfare benefits on child poverty in Scotland and explain that even before Covid-19, poverty represented the greatest human rights issues facing children.

Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, Bruce Adamson, said: “With more than a quarter of a million children affected, poverty is the most significant human rights issue facing children in Scotland. Living in poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life, including their educational attainment and mental and physical health.  

“The UK’s approach to poverty was examined in 2019 by the United Nations’ top expert on poverty and human rights who highlighted that it is political decisions by government that are leading to disastrous levels of poverty.

“When Professor Alston came to Scotland to meet with children and their families he heard from them about the serious impact that poverty is having on their human rights. Now after over a year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation for children in Scotland has become much worse.”

The open letter from the Commissioners to the Right Honourable Thérèse Coffey, MP states that the two-child limit breaches children’s rights to an adequate standard of living and is contributing to a rising gap in poverty levels between families with three or more children and smaller households.

The Commissioners note that the policy also has disproportionate impacts on social groups where larger families are more common, such as some minority faith and ethnic groups and in Northern Ireland where families are larger than the rest of the UK.

Bruce Adamson added: “The Scottish Government has taken some action to reduce the number of children in poverty including rolling out the Scottish Child Payment during the pandemic, however I remain concerned that children’s rights are continuing to be breached in Scotland by the two-child limit on child tax credit and universal credit. That is why we have taken the step of writing to the UK Government to urge that this policy is reversed.

“We will continue to hold our devolved governments to account in relation to their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights, but these governments can only go so far in their efforts to ensure children and their families get the support they are entitled to while this discriminatory policy also remains in force at a UK level.”

The Commissioners conclude their letter by stating that the ‘levelling up’ agenda signalled in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month must start by discontinuing the two-child policy: ‘With the focus in the Queen’s speech in May 2021 on ‘levelling up’, there can be no excuse for continuing to breach children’s rights through this discriminatory policy that will continue to harm and prevent children and families from moving beyond the impact of the global pandemic.’

Letter-from-CCommissioners-to-TCoffey Download

Concern over delays to Workplace Capability Assessments

The Work and Pensions Committee Chair Stephen Timms has written to Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson asking what action the Government is taking to address delays to Workplace Capability Assessments (WCA).

The letter raises concerns about the ‘exceptionally long waits for assessments’ some people applying for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit have been experiencing since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the suspension of face-to-face assessments more than a year ago.

This affects people who DWP has decided cannot have their claims assessed on paper or by telephone.

Previous correspondence from the Minister failed to answer the Committee’s specific questions on the number of people affected, waiting times and the reasons behind the lack of progress on conducting remote assessments for these claimants.

Rt Hon Stephen Timms, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “DWP has left some disabled people in an impossible situation: they can’t have a face-to-face assessment, while they are also told a decision on their claim can’t be made over the phone.

“Instead, they’ve simply been left in limbo, forced to get by on less money than they are entitled to, in some cases for more than a year—at a time when we know living costs have been higher than ever for disabled people. So far, the Minister hasn’t even told us how many people have been affected.

“We all know that DWP has been under enormous pressure this year. But there has been a disappointing lack of urgency in addressing this problem. It’s high time the Government fixed this.”