‘We don’t want people to have to choose between eating or warmth’

A COUNCIL also calling on the government to rethink the end of the £20 uplift in universal credit says almost 7,000 families in its area will be impacted.

The Lib Dem majority Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has voted to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer requesting that the coronavirus uplift be made permanent in light of the current economy.

Currently, 6,790 families in Hinckley and Bosworth are on universal credit, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a charity seeking to beat poverty in the UK.

The proposal was put to the council by Lib Dem councillor Michael Mullaney on the eve of the end of the uplift scheme, which was introduced by the government in April last year as temporary additional support for families during the economic difficulties of the pandemic.

Labour and Lib Dem councillors argued that the uplift remained as necessary as it was a year ago due to the increasing cost of living. Coun Mullaney said: “With a bitter economic winter approaching it is vital this uplift be made permanent to support people through difficult times.

“Some of the families struggling the most locally will really be hit if the universal credit cut takes place when it happens in line with all the increases in prices and tax increases next year.”

Hinckley Lib Dem Councillor Ann Pendlebury said: “Our food banks have seen a rise in people attending of 33 per cent in the last 12 months, energy prices are rising, especially for people on pre-payment meters who are often the worst off.

“It is absolutely vital as winter approaches and the cold weather sets in that we do not force even more of our elderly, our unpaid carers, those on zero-hour contracts and the poorest in our towns and villages to choose between eating and warmth.”

But Conservative members of the council voted against the proposed motion, saying the increase was only ever intended as short-term support.

Councillor Ozzy O’Shea said: “The £20 a week increase was only a temporary measure during the Covid pandemic and this week the chancellor has set out a £500 million lifeline for hard-hit families.

“He says the £500 million package will be a lifeline for the people struggling to pay for food and meet the rising energy costs and the bills we will all be facing. It’s not just that the chancellor is taking away, he is also giving.”

Councillor Russell Roberts added: “I would like to remind councillors of the bigger picture here. The government has spent trillions of pounds supporting the UK economy, businesses, families and individuals during the pandemic and it’s still doing so.

“But this is going to come at a cost in the long term. It’s not going to be a short-term fix. Nothing is free.

“We must be prepared to protect our children and our children’s children for the future.”

The motion passed with Labour and Lib Dem councillors voting in favour of it and the Conservative members against.