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20 April, 2020 Open access

Urgent action needed to strengthen the social security safety net during the coronavirus crisis, says Shadow Secretary of State

Jonathan Reynolds sets out five key measures to improve support, including conversion of universal credit advances into grants and uprating JSA and ESA in line with universal credit

Urgent action is needed to strengthen the social security safety net during the coronavirus crisis, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds has said.

While Mr Reynolds welcomes the emergency social security measures that have been introduced by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he warns that these do not go far enough and calls for five additional changes -

Commenting on the measures, Mr Reynolds said -

‘The Covid-19 crisis is causing serious financial suffering for people and their families. At this stage, with no clear end to the lockdown, we must urgently find ways to strengthen the safety net so our society can emerge from the crisis with the least damage possible.

While we welcome the Government’s emergency measures so far, we do not believe they go far enough. By taking these additional steps immediately, we can prevent families and individuals from sliding further into hardship from which it will be extremely difficult to recover.’

Urgent action needed on social security during coronavirus crisis is available from labour.org.uk