The rise in Universal Credit seen during the coronavirus pandemic “is not going to return” to help people through the cost-of-living crisis, according to a minister. There have been calls from Conservatives and the private sector for the £20 weekly increase to be reinstated.
Michael Lewis, chief executive of energy giant E.ON UK, said on Sunday that increasing benefits payments would ease the pressure on those dealing with ballooning energy bills and soaring inflation which is driving up shop prices. But Simon Clarke, chief secretary to the Treasury, said ministers will not be returning to the uplift, which was scrapped in the autumn as part of a winding-down of state Covid support.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “On that question, we were always explicitly clear that was a temporary response to the pandemic. That is not going to return. The question is how we best now look at the next range of solutions to deal with the challenges we’re facing.”
