Ex-PM calls for urgent action on cost of living

REPORT SHOWS THE GAP BETWEEN SUPPORT AND BILLS IS INCREASING

FORMER Prime Minister Gordon Brown, faith groups, charities and politicians have called on the government to take urgent action to bridge the cost of living gap faced by the lowest income families.

The call was in response to a report by Loughborough University professor Donald Hirsch which revealed a gap between the support the government is offering to households and the anticipated rise in living costs.

It concluded the flat-rate payments offered by the government will fall at least £1,600 short of making up for recent changes to living costs and benefits faced by a couple with two children.

The report said millions of lowincome families will face three major blows: cuts in universal credit, benefits rises not matching inflation and the further rise in the energy cap anticipated in October.

The groups, supported by Mr Brown, are urging the government to consider appropriate measures to bridge the shortfall in family finances.

Some charities are calling for benefits to be raised in line with inflation and for debt deductions from universal credit to be paused.

The report is endorsed by 56 charities, faith groups and politicians, including the Trussell Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Child Poverty Action Group, Methodist Church, the Bishop of Durham, Hindu Council UK and Muslim Council of Britain.

Prof Hirsch said: “The shortfall families are facing between skyrocketing costs and the support government has offered continues to grow.

“Families were falling behind with the anticipated rise in costs even when the measures were announced, and since then the food and energy costs forecast for this winter have continued to rise sharply.

“The flat rate emergency payments announced so far leave families with children particularly far behind, because they are not sensitive to the extra costs that children bring.

“A new package needs to address the fact that by the autumn, living costs could have risen by as much as 14 per cent for low-income families, who have received only a 3 per cent increase in benefits.

“An additional across-the-board uprating to universal credit and other benefits would address family need far more effectively than further flat rate payments.”

Mr Brown, pictured, said: “This is a crisis Britain hasn’t seen in decades. The most urgent and immediate challenge for the incoming Prime Minister is to ensure families with children and disabled people aren’t neglected to struggle through the challenges ahead.

“We need targeted support for families on the lowest incomes, not just cuts in taxes or flat rate payments which don’t account for the specific needs of people on the brink of poverty.

“There should be no argument that a permanent increase in universal credit is the only way to take a sure step towards a solution.

“This crisis goes far beyond politics; this is a moral issue – our responsibilities to our neighbours and in particular to those who have the least and whose needs are the greatest.

“We cannot be at ease when millions are ill at ease and cannot rest content as long as there is so much discontent.

“Our society will be stronger when we help the weak and will be richer when we help the poor.”