The government is plugging its £6bn cut with a £500m one-off bung. How many people will struggle for food and heating?
Working in frontline NHS mental health services during the darkest days of the pandemic, I often encountered people in crisis who did not know where their next meal was coming from. Fortunately during that period, I was able to call on a rapid response from local services and community groups who did everything they could to catch those who fell through the cracks. It made sense that emergency funding was devolved to local authorities to coordinate these efforts.
Frontline services are about to face another wave of demand as a result of the government’s deliberate decision to cut £20 a week from the incomes of the country’s poorest households, just as they are facing a cost-of-living crisis. Ministers’ recent announcement of an emergency £500m fund to support people who are struggling to “afford the essentials” is tantamount to an admission that the universal credit cut will make many people destitute. Rather than taking responsibility for the consequences of ripping £6bn from the social security system, the government is handing local authorities less than 10% of that amount to deal with the impact.