Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to allocate funding to maintain the £20 per week uplift to universal credit beyond spring 2021.

The £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element is specifically aimed at providing significant temporary support to low income families who have seen their income fall as a result of the immediate impact of the crisis, and will run until the beginning of April. It is right that we wait for more clarity on the economic and health context before making any further decisions, particularly given how quickly things can move, as demonstrated by recent developments on a vaccine.

The increase is just one part of wide-ranging Government measures to support people through the Covid-19 crisis, which are worth £280bn this year. Low income families are also benefiting from higher Local Housing Allowance rates, mortgage holidays, a temporary suspension of the UC Minimum Income Floor, a £500m local authority Hardship Fund, a £170m local authority Covid Winter Grant scheme, and £500 payments to help people self-isolate under NHS Test and Trace.

In recent years the Government has invested significantly in UC, including by raising work allowances by £1,000 from April 2019, benefitting working parents and people with disabilities by up to £630 per year.

While social security policy is devolved to Northern Ireland, the Executive will continue to be appropriately funded to deliver in NI any changes to GB benefits such as UC.