ABC Press Release Following Minister Will Quince & Neil Couling of the DWP With the Economic Affairs Committee and the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee

ABC Press Release - Following an appearance by Colchester MP Will Quince, Minister for Welfare Delivery at the Department for Work and Pensions along with Neil Couling, Senior Responsible Owner at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Simon Collyer the Founder and CEO, of the Association of Pension & Benefit Claimants CIC (The ABC), has called on the government to make the £20 Universal Credit uplift permanent and address the five-week waiting period issue for new social security claimants.

It is rare for the Economic Affairs Committee and the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee to meet together with the DWP to hold a joint evidence session examining the Government’s disappointing response to both committees’ recent reports on Universal Credit.

The £20 Universal Credit uplift the government claims was a temporary pandemic measure. Both committees in their reports have been concerned about rising foodbank use

The committee’s wanted to know why is this uplift being dropped in September when the government’s figures show that unemployment could grow by half a million people in the latter half of this year.

Minister Will Quince claims the government are planning to spend over £30 billion in employment measures, but the ABC is saying that the person on an average salary of £30,000 is paying…along with his employer's contribution, over £100 a week in National Insurance. This money should go to the National Insurance fund, which is separate from the General Fund. People believe they are paying for sick pay, disability benefits, out of work benefits and a state pension, not financing government schemes.

As an example, the ABC points out that a single person on £409.89 every four weeks could see this cut by £80 without the uplift. Many claimants find that the standard allowance does not cover all their housing costs which could mean a deduction of £11 for housing and if they have a loan or an advance because of the five weeks wait, this means this figure could be reduced still further. A single claimant might therefore have to live on as little as £369.63 every four weeks.

The ASSOCIATION of PENSION & BENEFIT CLAIMANTS CIC is saying that this is impossible. Gas and electricity during the winter could account for half of this amount. Many claimants give up mobile phone time and broadband without enough income, however, without communications, claimants lose contact with the job market and some slip into mental health issues due to isolation.

The ABC is warning of a humanitarian crisis. There were no food banks in the UK before the Conservative government in 2010. Foodbank parcels are a stop-gap, they are not designed to be lived on.

Minister Quince refused to recognise the direct connection between the five weeks wait and inadequate benefits and argued that the government could not carry out its research as money and resources where being channelled into the Covid response.

This is ironic as Colchester Foodbank have just moved to a new substantial premises as next-door neighbours to PC World points out the ABC.

Hardly a sign of static or declining demand.

New claimants can face a decision to manage without an income for five weeks or take an advance that will be deducted over two years.

Under David Cameron Prime Minister the Queen was found an extra 5 million pounds plus and David Cameron also proposed a privately funded private yacht.

A new poll just out by the Social Mobility Commission reveals a growing gulf between social classes and a mental health crisis that needs to be addressed. Nearly six in ten people believe the pandemic has increased the gulf between social classes, according to a new poll from the Social Mobility Commission.

Reducing the masses to starvation levels can hardly help social cohesion says, Simon. The ABC is calling on the government to rethink.

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