£20 Universal Credit top up must be permanent

Last week, Slough & District Trades Council supported Unite Community (part of Unite the Union) in its National Day of Action (NDOA) for the #Universal Discredit campaign.

The campaign has continued for many years to draw attention to the flawed system of Universal Credit (UC), introduced to amalgamate benefits into one. It has been fraught with problems from the start and Unite Community has been demanding it be ended, alongside other unions and campaign groups – including Unison, the Trussell Trust in its ‘#5weeksTooLong’ campaign, the Sun’s ‘Make Universal

Credit Work’ and Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) in its ‘Scrap Universal Credit Alliance’.

Since the pandemic, thousands more people have been forced to claim benefits as a result of losing their jobs and income. Given the ongoing closure of companies, shops, pubs, restaurants, etc. these figures will continue to rise when the furlough comes to an end next year and people don’t have jobs to return to. The rise in food banks, as reported by the local press, indicates the increasing needs of so many in our communities.

Unite Community is making three demands: to end the five-week wait before payment is made, put an end to sanctions and make the £20 increase permanent.

New claimants in particular will have experienced the difficulties in working their way through the application process. Without financial help from families and relatives, the five-week wait can be the most challenging time when awaiting assessment.

A particular focus is on the £20-a-week boost to UC introduced in March 2020 as an integral part of the financial package at the onset of the pandemic. This is due to end in April 2021 and the Chancellor has not relented in any way on that decision. Although UC remains far too low a level for claimants to live on, it makes a difference to those trying to pay for rent, food and other essentials and should not be withdrawn.

Unite Community is taking the lead in putting pressure on local authorities to be in the vanguard in asking the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to make the £20-a-week uplift a permanent feature of Universal Credit. As “…a small step in easing the already immense burden of thousands of people struggling financially to pay for the essentials of life on a daily basis, we urge the councillors to back this campaign.”

We in Slough & District Trades Council call upon our local councils to follow this drive and ask the chancellor to do just that.

MARGERY THOROGOOD, Secretar y,

Slough & District Trades Council