Fact that the £20 uplift to universal credit came in at all shows that ‘it was not enough to live on in the first place’, Scottish Cabinet Secretary tells MPs

Shirley-Anne Somerville adds that the planned removal of the uplift in six months time will wipe out the benefit of Scottish Child Payment for a family with two children

The fact that the £20 uplift to universal credit came in at all shows that 'it was not enough to live on in the first place', the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People in Scotland Shirley-Anne Somerville has told the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.

As part of its Inquiry into Welfare Policy in Scotland, the Scottish Affairs Committee heard evidence last week from Ms Somerville on topics including how effective inter-governmental co-operation has been in enabling Scottish Government welfare policy ambitions to be met, and the inter-operability of the Scottish and UK social security systems.

Starting the session, Chair of the Committee Pete Wishart sought Ms Somerville's general view on the operation of universal credit in Scotland. In response, Ms Somerville highlighted a number of concerns including the five-week wait, the benefit cap, the two-child limit and the general adequacy of the payment. Referring to the £20 'uplift' that was introduced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms Somerville added  - 

'I would suggest the fact that the £20 uplift came in at all shows that it was not enough to live on in the first place and, therefore, absolutely should remain a permanent fixture and indeed extended to legacy benefits.'

In addition, moving on to the interaction of UK policy with Scottish devolved benefits, Ms Somerville pointed out that while the Scottish Government has introduced the Scottish Child Payment - worth £10 a week for every child under age 6 - the UK Government's planned removal of the £20 uplift in six months time will mean that - 

'... a family of two in Scotland will receive no benefit from the Scottish Child Payment, because what the Scottish Government are giving the UK Government will take away when the £20 uplift goes. That is a real concern for us.'

The minutes of the evidence session before the Scottish Affairs Committee are available from parliament.uk