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Call for the government to reverse the cut to the £20 Universal Credit uplift

Following a motion agreed at the Council meeting on 7 October, Cllr David Rouane, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, will write to the government to call on it to reverse the cut to the £20 Universal Credit uplift.

In March 2020, the government increased Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £20 a week to support families whose income had been affected as the country faced the economic fallout from the pandemic.  However, from 6 October 2021, the government ended this payment, resulting in the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since the modern welfare state began, more than 70 years ago.

Removing the uplift in Universal Credit could directly impact more than 7,200 families across the district, and local and national charities, including Elmore, Citizens Advice Bureau and The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have raised significant concerns about the potential impact this cut will have on the financial security and well-being of those effected.  Many of these families will also be seeing an increase in National Insurance costs, and in the cost of basic essentials, such as food and utilities. 

The move will also put extra pressure on our public services, with more people expected to need help from our teams such as housing and community support; as well as from organisations we support, like Citizens Advice and locally run community foodbanks.

Cllr David Rouane, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Cutting the £20 Universal Credit uplift will have a serious impact on a significant number of families in South Oxfordshire.  Many of these families who receive Universal Credit are employed but are on low income.  Removing the uplift will not help them in any way, but will make life harder, resulting in even more people struggling to buy essential food or to pay their bills.”

Notes for editors:

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have calculated that 21 per cent of all working-age families will experience a £1,040-a-year cut to their incomes.

As of July 2021, the total number there were 7,205 households on Universal Credit in South Oxfordshire. Of those:

  • 3,275 were in employment and 3,929 were not in employment because they are off sick, full-time parents, or just temporarily unemployed.