The Treasury Committee is pushing for a £900 cost-of-living support payment to be spread out across six instalments though winter.
The support package helps people on means-tested benefits deal with the rising cost of living. Payments totalling £900 will be given in 2023 and 2024, building on the support which has been made available this year.
But the committee said these payments should be spread across the winter period, with a payment each month for six months. It said the Treasury had told it that its expectation is that payments would be given in a similar pattern to this year.
The government has said there will be more than one payment and further details will be given in due course. The committee also highlighted eligibility “cliff edges”, where those who earn just £1 too much, or become eligible for a benefit a day too late, receive no support.
This has consequences for fairness and work incentives, it said. As the support is the same for all recipients, rather than being tapered off as someone’s income increases, households face missing out on the support if they boost their income through additional work, it added.
Smaller, more regular support payments, with more frequent assessment periods, would help to smooth the cliff edges, the report argued. The report said: “While the additional payments to households in receipt of means-tested benefits are welcome, they will not reach all low-income households.”
The committee recommended that the Treasury provides it with further analysis of low-income households who will not receive cost-of-living payments in 2023–24. Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury Committee, said: “As winter draws in and temperatures drop, many will be worrying about the cost of their energy and heating bills.
“Alongside the support already provided this year, the Chancellor has told us that further cost-of-living assistance will be available next winter to recipients of means-tested benefits. This runs the risk of creating perverse cliff-edges and eroding work incentives, and our cross-party committee is proposing a way of mitigating these risks.”
A government spokesperson said: “We are protecting the most vulnerable households this winter with cost of living support worth at least £1,200 going to millions. Many payments including Cost of Living Payments, Energy Bills Support Scheme and Winter Fuel Payments have been staggered throughout the year and the Household Support Fund is available all year round.”
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