The Work and Pensions Select Committee has launched a new inquiry to look at whether working age benefit levels in the UK are adequate to meet the needs of the people claiming. The cross-party Committee of MPs, chaired by Sir Stephen Timms MP, will ask if it is possible for the UK Government to reach consensus around what an ‘adequate’ benefits system would look like and how it would operate.
The Committee said that in recent years, the adequacy of current benefit levels have been called into question. Citizens Advice have found that a record number of people are receiving crisis support, such as help from food banks or other charities.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns coupled with the cost of living crisis has also led to the UK Government providing emergency financial support packages, including specific interventions for those already receiving benefits.
The inquiry will look at the “principles underpinning the benefits system, how it assesses the level of basic needs it seeks to support, whilst still ensuring fairness.” It will look at the processes involved with reviewing, uprating and scrutinising benefit levels in response to the changing economic environment and issues relating to the administration and adequacy of benefits, such as the five-week wait for the first Universal Credit.
The Committee will also examine the impact of measures designed to incentivise work, such as the benefit cap, conditionality and the use of sanctions.
Launching the inquiry, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms, said: “The covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis have placed severe pressures on the benefits system and required extraordinary intervention from the Government.
"The need for a raft of emergency measures to support those in need of benefits has highlighted broader questions about the adequacy of the benefits system in guaranteeing a basic standard of living. If it requires such frequent sticking-plaster measures, is it fit for purpose?”
He added: “This inquiry will look at the fundamental principles governing the benefits system to find out if they are working as they should be. Most importantly, we will investigate if a consensus can be reached for what an ‘adequate’ level of support provided by the benefit system should be.”
You can read more details about the ‘Benefit levels in the UK’ inquiry online here where you can also submit evidence to the Committee.
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