Millions on Universal Credit not yet sent letters warning about £20 a week benefits cut that’s just weeks away

MILLIONS of Brits have not yet been sent letters warning of a £20-a-week cut to benefits.

Universal Credit claimants will lose cash from an uplift first introduced by the government to provide support through coronavirus.

That help is set to be scrapped by the end of September, but notifications through online Universal Credit accounts and letters have still not been finalised.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) boss Thérèse Coffey told MPs at the start of July that letters or phone calls letting people know would start going out within the coming weeks.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds has now written to Ms Coffey today, calling it "deeply troubling" that six million families who will lose £1,000 a year have not been told yet - and that letters will land in school summer holidays.

He said: “If your department is to proceed with this cut, families need to know about it as soon as possible.

"Many will have spent the last 18 months anxious about their family’s finances. They do not deserve to find out about this substantial change at the very last minute.”

He added: “Sending letters to claimants during the summer holidays informing them that the Government will be slashing their income will come as a shock for many families." 

DWP minister Will Quince last week said details of the process notifying claimants about the change to the uplift "are currently being finalised".

Mr Quince was responding to a written question in parliament put forward by Mr Reynolds asking when the letters will be sent out.

Claimants are expected to get notifications via their Universal Credit journals and statements online, while letters will go out to the most vulnerable.

Six former Conservative work and pension secretaries recently urged the Chancellor to keep the uplift to Universal Credit in place.

Charities have warned that removing the uplift could plunge more families into poverty.

The number of people claiming benefits has risen from three to six million because of Covid.

Former Tory leader and instigator of Universal Credit Sir Iain Duncan Smith wrote a letter to try and persuade chancellor Rishi Sunak to stick with the £5 billion benefits investment.

Five of his successors - Stephen Crabb, Damian Green, David Gauke, Esther McVey and Amber Rudd - have also written arguing that the uplift needs to continue once restrictions are lifted.

Labour also called again for the Government to reconsider its plans to end the uplift.

“The best outcome would be for these families would be to not to face a £1,000 a year drop in their income at the end of September.

"I feel your Government are making a profound mistake in cutting support for working families.”

The emergency measures were first launched in April 2020 among a range of support that also included furlough.

It was extended in the March Budget, when the closing date was shifted from April 1 to October 1.

Cold-calls pressuring vulnerable people into accepting lower benefit amounts will end after the DWP agreed to change its rules.

Families have been dealt a major blow affecting millions of children, after the courts dismissed a case fighting against the two-child cap on benefits.

Two million Brits on benefits could be in line for a payout worth £1,560 if the Government loses a legal challenge after excluding them Covid support.