Cash boost ‘can save Universal Credit’

MORE than a dozen ministers, government aides and one of the Conservatives’ biggest donors have joined backbenchers lobbying for a cash boost to the Government’s welfare scheme,

The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. A string of senior government figures have privately warned Conservative whips that Philip Hammond must provide additional funding for Universal Credit in next week’s Budget.

The warnings came as a 40-strong group of MPs backed a letter insisting the move was needed to show Theresa May was “committed to social justice”.

Meanwhile, Lord Farmer, a former Tory treasurer who has donated £7.5million to the Conservatives over the last decade, told this newspaper that the Government could “fail millions” if the policy is not fixed.

Mrs May and Mr Hammond are facing growing pressure to provide an additional £2billion a year for the scheme amid concerns its roll-out will leave families £200 per month out of pocket.

Last week The Telegraph disclosed that 27 MPs led by Heidi Allen, a Tory backbencher, were writing to Mr Ham- mond urging him to reinstate work allowances stripped back by George Osborne, his predecessor.

Now, the Conservative parliamentary social justice caucus, comprising around 40 MPs, has put its name to a new letter backing the change and insisting it is “crucial to ensure that work always pays”.

The letter, signed by Iain Duncan Smith, an architect of Universal Credit and chairman of the Centre for Social Justice think tank and Andrew Selous, chairman of the social justice caucus, begins by stating that the scheme is “changing lives for the better” and in- creasing the probability that welfare claimants find work within six months.

Mr Selous, a Tory member of the Commons health and social care committee, added that there was evidence in his Bedfordshire constituency that some claimants had received better mental health support through the scheme than through their local GPs.

But they add: “If this is to be a Government that is committed to social justice, to making work pay, to physical and mental health, and to seeing every citizen flourish, this is the best investment to reflect those aims, at no cost, and indeed with potential savings.” The letter suggests that the Government should delay its plans to raise the income tax threshold to £12,500, in order to fund the increase.

Around 30 members of the caucus have put their names to the letter sent to Mr Hammond, Mr Selous said.

The Government has insisted that Universal Credit was “based on the sound principles that work should always pay and those who need support receive it”.

“We are listening to concerns, improving the benefit, and targeting support to the most vulnerable,” a government spokesman said.