The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has rejected a new call from Conservative MP, Richard Holden, to widen eligibility for the second instalment of the £650 means-tested cost of living payment to include people receiving contributions-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and other benefits. The DWP recently announced that over eight million households are set to receive the second payment, worth £324, between November 8 and 23, 2022.
Responding to Mr Holden’s policy request, Minister of State for Work and Welfare. Victoria Prentis MP, explained: “The Cost of Living Payment is rightly being targeted at low income households who are in receipt of a means-tested income replacement benefit.
“Non-means tested benefits are not qualifying benefits for the Cost of Living Payment in their own right because people receiving these benefits may have other financial resources available to them. We have no plans to change the current eligibility criteria.”