Children’s czar urges Hammond to stop Universal Credit roll-out
THE Children’s Commissioner for Wales has joined with her counterparts across the UK to sound the alarm bell about the damaging impact of tax and benefit changes ahead of next week’s Budget.
Sally Holland and her fellow commissioners will leave Chancellor Philip Hammond in no doubt about the scale of their concerns as the UK government presses ahead with sweeping changes to how benefits are delivered.
They warn that the government may be in breach of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.
Their demand for a change of course comes on the heels of warnings from some of the UK’s most influential think-tanks about the financial hit families could suffer, with Wales considered particularly at risk of a rise in child poverty.
The four commissioners are making a direct plea to Mr Hammond to reverse changes to the benefits and tax credits system.
They have requested an “urgent review of the freeze on benefits, with a particular focus on the impact on families with children”.
The commissioners warn that three-quarters of the expected increase in child poverty will be due to benefit changes and affect 400,000 children across the UK.
Earlier this month the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that Wales could see the biggest rise in “absolute poverty” of any UK nation or region. It predicted the absolute child poverty rate in Wales would increase from 28% to 34.9% between the 2013-15 period and 2019-21.
The commissioners also want the UK government to “reconsider the decision to restrict entitlements to Universal Credit to only two children per family”.
The UK government’s decision not to pay an additional amount through Universal Credit for a third or subsequent child born on or after April 6, 2017, “unless special circumstances apply” comes under fire.
The commissioners state: “A significant factor in the projected rise in child poverty is the restriction of benefits to only two children. It is the commissioners’ views that this measure constitutes a breach of children’s rights to an adequate standard of living under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.
“Giving all children the same entitlements to state support would be a significant step in protecting our most vulnerable children and reducing the projected impact on child poverty.”
They want an “immediate pause in the roll-out of Universal Credit to families with children, pending a review of the impact of the six-week gap in income when transitioning to Universal Credit”.
Reports that in some cases people are waiting six weeks for Universal Credit payments has intensified concern about how this controversial service is being rolled out across the UK.
The commissioners say: “The piloting of Universal Credit in some areas has provided the opportunity to assess the potential impact of its implementation on individuals’ lives.
“It has become clear that the absence of income for a number of weeks while Universal Credit payments are authorised and implemented presents an almost impossible challenge to families to provide basics such as food and heating to themselves and their children.
“Amelioration measures must be put in place before there is further roll-out of Universal Credit.”
In a joint statement, the commissioners press the UK government to follow their advice.
They say: “We believe these steps are essential to prevent hundreds of thousands more children experiencing poverty and the consequential impact on their future life chances... We urge you to take the opportunity of this budget to provide a brighter future for our children.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “We’re committed to supporting families and there are now 200,000 fewer children living in poverty than in 2010. Children from working households have better life chances and under Universal Credit people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer than the old system.
“The number of children growing up in homes where no one works has fallen by half-amillion since 2010, and UC offers parents tailored support to move into work that fits around their caring responsibilities and gets up to 85% of childcare costs back for working parents.”