30,000 people in Fife could lose ‘lifeline Universal Credit top-up funding
Since March 2020, Universal Credit claimants have been receiving an extra £20 a week to help them mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19.
Despite calls to make the uplift permanent, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed recently that it would be scrapped this autumn as it had always been intended as a temporary measure.
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Hide AdData from the Department of Work and Pensions shows that in May, there were 36,186 Universal Credit claimants in Fife – 12,964 (36%) of whom were in employment.
That figure has grown by 70% since February 2020 – shortly before the coronavirus pandemic hit – when there were 21,262 people in the area claiming the benefit.
Six former Conservative work and pensions secretaries wrote to the Government in a bid to urge ministers to rethink the contentious cut, which is likely to impact nearly six million people in the UK.
Anti-poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation described the impending end of the uplift as a "terrible mistake" that would push half a million people below the breadline.
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Hide AdPaul Spencer, from mental health charity Mind, said the cuts, coupled with the "mental health consequences of the pandemic", could have a significant and long-term impact, adding: "Too many people are already struggling to stay afloat with the current rate, so it’s appalling that the UK Government is planning to cut it at this time.”He added: "We must keep the lifeline."