News – 3 August 2021
The Government has announced that, in October, they will be cutting back the extra £20/week on Universal Credit (UC) which was introduced in April 2020. This affects the ‘standard allowance’ part of the UC calculation, which is for basic living costs.
These are the proposed changes to the standard allowances:
| Single under 25 |
£344.00 |
will reduce to £257.33pcm |
| Single 25 or over |
£411.51 |
will reduce to £324.84pcm |
| Couples under 25 |
£490.60 |
will reduce to £403.93pcm |
| Couples 25 or over |
£596.58 |
will reduce to £509.91pcm |
This is a huge cut for anyone on these benefits, so if the Government does go ahead with its plan, you will need to prepare for it by considering ahead of time how you can reduce your outgoings.
Get in touch with our dedicated
Financial Wellbeing team if you think you will be affected. They can help check for other benefit entitlements and provide debt advice. Please note that the team won’t be able to oppose the cut-back for you.
We fully support the ‘
Keep the lifeline’ campaign, led by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, calling for the Government to reconsider cutting back this extra payment which has been helping millions of families throughout the pandemic, as we believe a cutback will push thousands of households into poverty.
