Tag: benefits

Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill: Bishop of Durham calls for further action on benefits issues

On 13th October 2021, the House of Lords debated the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill in its second reading. The Bishop of Durham spoke in the debate, urging the government to do more to support those in poverty:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, when I read the title of the Bill I thought, “Good: we will have before us a measure that covers the wide issues of the uprating of the wide range of social security benefits we have, most notably pensions, universal credit and perhaps the question of legacy benefits.” So I was very disappointed to discover that, actually, the scope of the content was purely to do with pensions.

In relation to pensions, I have sympathy with the proposals tackling a specific issue that appears to have emerged as something of an anomaly, given our recent experience of the pandemic. I think the triple lock was probably the right move when it was introduced and it has served pensioners well. However, I now have questions as to whether having such a lock in one part of the social security system actually prevents both the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions from truly looking at the system and its funding as a rounded whole—although I note with care the comprehensive and careful input of the noble Baroness, Lady Drake, and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Greengross, just now on the double lock. But this is an uprating Bill for the system, it is not about changing the system, so with some reluctance I accept the proposals in the Bill.

However, I now turn to my deep disappointment with the Bill. I join many noble Lords in raising a concern that the Bill does not address the universal credit uplift cut. I recall the debate in this Chamber back in February, in which many Peers expressed their concern that a Bill would not address what is historically one of the most significant cuts to social security benefits. The letter sent by the Minister outlining the content of this Bill began by stating:

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Bishop of Portsmouth responds to budget on issues of tax, benefits, and social care

On 12th March 2021, the Bishop of Portsmouth spoke in a debate on the state of the economy, following the delivery of the new Budget by the Chancellor:

The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth [V]: My Lords, I welcome from the Bishops’ Bench the noble Lords, Lord Beynon, Lord Cruddas and Lord Khan of Burnley, and congratulate them on their speeches. I am looking forward to hearing them. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, and my namesake, the noble Baroness, Lady Foster of Oxton.

Every Budget has consequences in every community, including those I serve as Bishop of Portsmouth. In these last comments that I shall make on a Budget Statement, I have four points on how this Budget is likely to make the sharp end sharper still for many, with little slack, even in better times. A decade on from the Dilnot report, there is still no proposal to address the social care challenge, even though apparently the Government have a package ready. We should have bitten this bullet years ago. We must bite it now.

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Bishop of Leeds asks about social cost of benefit cuts

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on the long term social costs of cutting benefits on 2nd March 2021, during a discussion on support for those receiving universal credit during the COVID-19 Pandemic:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I congratulate the Government on what they have done in this respect in supporting so many vulnerable people during the pandemic. However, does the Minister agree that the danger of the cut that taking away the £20 a week would be is that the Government would get a short-term saving, but would pay far more in the longer term because of some of the social costs? Given the number of people we see using food banks in my diocese and around the country—including working people—and the number of children in poverty and likely to go deeper into it, the remedial costs of supporting them into the longer-term future will far outweigh anything paid now.

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Votes: Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Claimants previously entitled to a severe disability premium) Amendment Regulations 2021

On 11th February 2021, the House of Lords debated the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Claimants previously entitled to a severe disability premium) Amendment Regulations 2021. A vote was held on a regret motion to the regulations, in which Bishops took part.

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Bishop of Durham asks about universal credit and support for low income families

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 11th January 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government:

  • what key (1) economic, and (2) health, indicators they plan to use to inform their planned assessment of how best to support low-income families; and whether such any such assessment will include determining whether to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent.
  • what is the timeline for their assessment of (1) how best to support low-income families, and (2) whether to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent.
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