Stop £20 UC boost early & hurt North

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EXTENDING the £20-a-week Universal Credit boost for just six months will “level down” family finances and clobber the North, Rishi Sunak has been warned.

The Chancellor is considering extending the temporary rise for six million people until October.

Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found 1.7 million families across the North would lose out on the £1,040-a-year boost, including 800,000 in the North West, 600,000 in Yorkshire and the Humber and 300,000 in the North East. Sheffield City Region Mayor

Dan Jarvis said: “A six-month extension is wholly inadequate.

“Universal Credit was far too low before the pandemic and cutting the £20 as unemployment rises would undermine the economic recovery – pushing families into debt and depressing consumer spending.

“The Chancellor should do the right thing, end the uncertainty and make the uplift permanent.

“Or he risks levelling down family finances and the North’s economic recovery.” Mr Sunak would not be drawn on whether the uplift would be scrapped saying it was only “one part of a comprehensive plan” to protect those on low incomes.

THE chairs of Northern Ireland’s health and social care bodies have criticised the services proposed budget, saying it falls short of what is needed.

In a joint submission, the 17 heads of all the health trusts and HSC bodies have raised concerns that the proposed funding for next year is non-recurrent.

They say this impacts on the ability to recruit staff and make long-term plans for the system.

In a significant intervention, the group of public health officials outlined their key concerns over the Department of Finance’s draft budget for 2021/2022.

In a response to the department’s budget consultation, the group said the proposed budget fails to meet existing deficits and cost pressures.

The HSC Chairs’ Forum said they are unable to recruit and train new nurses and doctors with one-off allocations as there is uncertainty around the following year’s budget.

The submission said the health budget will get a £495.2 million uplift for the year, but “only £52.1million of the total

£495.2 million will be allocated on a recurrent basis”.

The joint submission stated: “This will not be sufficient to even cover pay [to include national minimum wage] and price inflation, which are recurrent inescapable pressures and are estimated to cost around £150million.”

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