Dear [insert name of MP]
I am writing to ask you as my MP to call for the £20 Universal Credit uplift to be extended to legacy benefits.
This concerns/personally affects me because… [insert]
More than 2.2million claimants who have not yet been moved on to UC missed out on the £20 uplift when it was introduced in March. This is despite the fact that many of those claimants are disabled with underlying health conditions and their expenditures have significantly increased as a direct result of the pandemic and the need to shield for almost a year now.
UK social security payment levels also represent only a relatively small percentage of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). This is the amount calculated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as what is needed for an acceptable standard of living. After the uplift, UC payments are just 43.4% of the MIS.
For those still on legacy benefits, as they have been throughout the pandemic, the amount they continue to receive in benefits represents just 33.9% of the MIS.
Many of the more than 2.2 million benefit claimants who have not received the uplift are disabled. Disabled people have been badly hit by increased expenditures as a direct result of the pandemic and the need to shield. Many have been self-isolating for nearly a year now. Higher spending has been caused by, for example, the need to purchase PPE for social care support workers coming in and out of their homes, costs of online food deliveries and increased energy costs.
Research carried out by the Disability Benefits Consortium found that:
- The majority (82%) of disabled people surveyed said they had spent more than they normally would – due to greater food shopping and utility bills, as well as having to pay for taxis to attend essential appointments – since the COVID-19 crisis began.
- Two thirds (66%) said they had to go without essentials like food, heating or medication as a result of increased costs since the pandemic started.
- Nearly half (44%) said they had fallen behind on financial commitments like rent, mortgage payments, or household bills.
In response to this research, the government says that benefits will be increased by 37p per week in April 2021 and that claimants still on legacy benefits have the option of moving over to Universal Credit.
Neither of these points provide a suitable remedy to the situation.
The benefit increase is designed to reflect higher costs of living due to inflation, not the pandemic. It is also below the level that is realistically needed to cover inflation, being linked to the CPI and representing a mere 0.5% increase while state pensions will rise by 2.5%.
Many disabled people are financially worse off on Universal Credit which for example removes both Severe and Enhanced Disability Premia and would have more to lose than to gain by moving off legacy benefits.
There is also the question of how disabled people without access to the internet or support to navigate the benefit system are supposed to be able to make the move over to Universal Credit with the operations of welfare advice and community support organisations so heavily restricted by the pandemic.
Keeping and extending the £20 uplift is vitally important to prevent greater poverty, debt and misery and to help those currently out of work to find employment.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[name]
[address]
I have. I money this£20 would make a big difference
We all need to action this. We want it back dated as well! They can send out CHEQUES, so there is no excuse!