Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Universal Credit: Adequacy

Monday 13 September 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Secretary of State is legally required to conduct an annual review of benefits and pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices and earnings.
  • There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be, as everyone has different requirements.
  • The Government have always been clear that they stepped forward at the beginning of the pandemic to put in place the largest cash increase in the welfare safety net to support people.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Martyn Day SNP
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP seeks an evaluation of the current universal credit levels for claimants and whether they are adequate.

Question

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of universal credit received by claimants. The Secretary of State is legally required to conduct an annual review of benefits and pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices and earnings. Universal credit was increased by CPI of 0.5% in April 2021.

Answer from Will Quince

The Secretary of State is legally required to conduct an annual review of benefits and pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices and earnings. The uprating process for working-age benefits has traditionally relied on the September consumer prices index figure and, in April 2021, universal credit was increased by CPI of 0.5%.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific assessment requested is not provided, only a general statement about the process and recent adjustment.

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Q2 Richard Thomson
Scotland Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

Concerns have been raised that cutting universal credit will plunge many families with children into poverty, despite the existing uplift.

Question

If the UK Government plough ahead with their planned cut to universal credit, it will result in one in three families with children in Scotland losing over £1,000 overnight and plunge 20,000 children into poverty. Does the Minister understand why so many people in Scotland think that it is the uplift that should stay and the Government snatching away that financial lifeline that should go instead?

Answer from Will Quince

There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be, as everyone has different requirements. Income-related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts of specific items of expenditure, such as food or fuel charges. The Government have always been clear that this uplift was a temporary measure, and I gently remind the hon. Gentleman that we spend over £110 billion on benefits for working-age people.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific understanding requested is not addressed, only general principles about benefit adequacy are stated.

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Q3 Martyn Day SNP
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP questions whether the government has listened to evidence from the Work and Pensions Committee about the impact of universal credit cuts on hard-pressed families.

Question

I wonder whether the Ministers can tell us whether any of them actually listened to the evidence of the Work and Pensions Committee last week about hard-pressed families and the effect that universal credit was having on them. If they did, what would they say to their faces about taking £1,040 away from them?

Answer from Will Quince

What I would say is that I am proud that this Government stepped forward at the beginning of the pandemic to put in place the largest cash increase in our welfare safety net to support people through an unprecedented period of economic shock and financial disruption, but as our economy opens up, we have record numbers of vacancies in our labour market—we know that work is the best route out of poverty—and it is absolutely right that we tack our approach to support and empower people into work and to progress in work.

Not addressed: The specific impact requested is not addressed, instead emphasis on broader economic recovery is given.

How: Changing The Subject To Broader Economic Measures

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