AQW 10249/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 13/11/2020
Answered On Date: 23/11/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities whether there are any plans to mitigate the impact if the £20 a week uplift in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit is ended in April 2021 as planned.

Answer:

On 9 November I advised Executive Colleagues of my intention to join the Scottish and Welsh Administrations in issuing a joint Ministerial letter to Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for a new welfare strategy to ensure help is reaching those most in need given the financial pressures many households are likely to be experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a request for the £20 weekly increase to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit to be made permanent.

On 12 November the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People, the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government and I jointly sent a letter to Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and asked her to make the £20 uplift permanent, and to announce this without delay in order to avoid causing further anxiety.