RUTHERGLEN AND CAMBUSLANG TO BE HIT HARD BY UNIVERSAL CREDIT CUTS

New analysis released on the 26th August shows that almost half of families with children in the Rutherglen Westminster Constituency are set to become poorer.

Earlier in the pandemic, the UK Government increased the standard allowance in Universal Credit and the basic element in Working Tax Credit by £20 per week to help families. However, this extra payment will be removed in September – leading to calls from politicians and campaign groups to make the uplift permanent.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has analysed which UK Parliament constituencies will be most affected by the cut.

Across Scotland, the research found 37% of working-age families with children would lose £1,040 per year.

In the Rutherglen and Hamilton West Constituency, this figure rises to 40% of all families with children. This correlates to an estimated 5,270 families that will be hit.

Last month, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that the changes to Universal Credit would “reverse the effects” of the doubling of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Child Payment which is planned in the next few years.

The SNP have launched a campaign urging the UK Government to U-turn on Universal Credit and instead make the uplift permanent and extend it to legacy benefits.

Commenting, Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey said:

“The £20 uplift has been a lifeline for millions and is currently preventing half a million families across the UK from falling over the edge into poverty.

“At a time when many are still suffering from the triple whammy of Brexit, the pandemic and a decade of Tory austerity cuts, the last thing the UK Government should be doing is slashing people’s benefits.

“These new figures are a true eye-opener of the scale of the impact locally. It’s clear that Boris Johnson, backed by the Scottish Tories, does not care about the people of Rutherglen and Cambuslang – instead they are happy to snatch over £1,000 from 5,000 families with children in this Westminster seat.

“If they go ahead with these brutal cuts, it will be another example of the Scottish Government putting money in people’s pockets, through game-changing policies like the Scottish Child Payment, only for the Tories to shamelessly take it away again.”

ENDS

Notes:

August 26th JRF report on ‘Universal credit cut – impact by constituency’: https://www.jrf.org.uk/universal-credit-cut-impact-constituency

Date published: 26th August 2021