Universal Credit claimants to earn £630 more under Budget boost – here’s how to get it

UNIVERSAL Credit claimants will get a £630 boost to their incomes next year, Philip Hammond has announced today.

The Chancellor revealed in his his Budget that he will put extra funding into the welfare system to help those struggling.

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Mr Hammond said today that he would increase the work allowances in Universal Credit by £1,000 - allowing millions of people to earn £630 more automatically from next April.

2.4 million households are set to benefit from the change, which are applicable if a claimant or a partner has responsibility for a child or limits capacity for work.

And he will pump £1billion into the new system overall for the next five years to help those going onto the flagship programme get eased in.

Other measures will cost him £1.7billion - including reducing debts for those on benefits, and giving them more upfront before switching over.

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The Sun has called for the Chancellor to plug the gap in the flagship benefits system, which emerged after George Osborne cut the work allowance back when he was in charge.

But critics are saying this cash doesn't go far enough - think tanks said around £3billion was needed to reverse all the gaps in the system.

The small print said:

• People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, ESA and Income Support will get an extra two weeks worth of support during their transition to Universal Credit [From July 2020]
• The Chancellor will slash the rate at which Brits have to pay back advance loans from 40 per cent to 30 per cent each month, giving a big boost to the Universal Credit payments they will be able to get [from October 2019]
• Extending the length of time to repay debts from 12 to 16 months [from October 2021]
• He will extend the 12-month grace period from next July to all self-employed people, not just those running their own businesses [From July 2020]
• Universal Credit won't be fully rolled out until 2023

Torsten Bell, Director of the Resolution Foundation said of today's news: "The Chancellor has also delivered a welcome boost to families on Universal Credit worth £630 a year. This will mean that the government’s flagship welfare reform is now more generous than the benefit system that it is replacing.

"While today’s reforms certainly won’t end all the problems some recipients have faced with Universal Credit, they should ease the rollout in the months and years ahead."

But Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd said it wouldn't cover all the costs of the Osborne cuts., and there were still issues with the new system.

He raged: "UC’s serious design flaws were also not addressed, from long waiting times that are pushing people into indebtedness, to problems in how landlords are paid housing benefit.

"The pain caused by the roll-out of UC is not over yet."

Today we revealed how a single mum is at risk of homelessness after going on to the new system - and isn't eligible for help with her mortgage debt payments.

Tina Davidson says she feels "tossed aside" by the system and has had to put the house she's lived in for 20 years up for sale to pay off debts.

The new system is designed to try and get more Brits into work and less reliant on the welfare system, but it's been beset with problems.

Many say it's pushing them into debt as the wait for the first payment is at least five weeks.

Others say they were driven to payday loans and even prostitution to try and make ends meet.

Ministers say they are constantly trying to fix the system's problems as they go along - and the new system is much less complicated than the old one.

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It was reported earlier this month that ministers are planning moves to slow down the roll out to try and fix some of the issues.

They can take out emergency loans, but have to start paying them back immediately so they get deducted from their benefits.

Highlights of today's Budget include:

• The national living wage rising to £8.21 per hour, up 4.9 per cent on last year
• A £500million pot for No Deal Brexit preparations
• Fuel duty frozen for the ninth year in a row - in a victory for The Sun
• Duty on beer, cider and spirits frozen while tobacco tax goes up again
• An extra £2billion for mental health, with specialists installed in every school and hospital, and £650million for social care
• The Ministry of Defence will get another £1billion to keep Britain's military in shape
• New funding to repair crumbling roads across the country and end the country's pothole epidemic, adding up to £30billion over five years
• £400million for schools - adding up to £10,000 per primary and £50,000 for every secondary
• An increase of £160million for counter-terror policing
• The end of PFI contracts in the wake of Carillion's collapse
• £1.5billion more to help out the struggling High Street - including a cut to business rates
• Interest-free loans to Brits who can't repay their debts to payday lenders
• Tweaks to the law on weddings which will allow many more venues to host cut-price ceremonies
• Visitors from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan will be able to use e-gates at airports - currently open only to EU citizens
• A new 50p coin commemorating the moment we quit the EU in March next year

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