UC cut as child poverty rises in Clacks

A draft report discussed by elected members last Thursday, August 26, shows the proportion of children living in poverty increased from 24.2 per cent to 27.3 per cent between 2015 and 2020.

This is despite efforts by council staff to fight destitution close to home.

In the last two years the authority has sought to identify and tackle factors that contribute to child poverty – from hidden costs associated with sending children to school to, more recently, coping with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Council leader Ellen Forson therefore greeted the latest figures with a degree of downheartedness.

She said: "Have the investments we've put in and spent so much time on made a difference? Sometimes you feel it's quite futile.

"It's no surprise to anyone that this is the reason I probably got into politics in the first place.

"I am disappointed because we have gone from 24 per cent in poverty to 27 per cent and, for me, personally, that's just not good enough."

However, the SNP group leader believes that the local authority can only do so much on its own and external factors such as the £20 Universal Credit (UC) cut will hamper efforts to improve people's quality of life.

She added: "I know the external factors influencing this are way out of our control.

"The reason this report is here today is statutory, because the Scottish Government has child poverty targets.

"But the UK Government, in my view, is not even interested.

"Taking £20 a week off of families shows they're not bothered about people in poverty. It will only put more people into poverty."

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will reduce UC to its pre-pandemic average of £374 a month from October 6 – reducing income for some claimants by £20 a week, or £1,040 a year. The Citizens Advice Bureau estimates the cut will affect nearly six million people in the UK.

More than 5,000 people in Clackmannanshire are on some form of UC, which was gradually introduced into the area from 2015 as an all-in-one replacement for housing benefit, employment and support allowance (ESA) and jobseekers' allowance (JSA). As of May, a third of people claiming UC are also employed.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government rolled out the Scottish Child Payment, paying low-income families with children under six years old £10 per child per week, using the devolved powers that enable it to create Holyrood-funded benefits.

Critics of the scheme say it should be raised to £20 a week to help offset the impending cut to Universal Credit – but Cllr Forson insists Scotland can only do so much with the resources it has.

She noted: "In doubling that to £20 that we will have to come from another devolved area in Scotland.

"Does it come from health, roads, transport? That's the stark reality we have to face.

"I am absolutely positive that the work we've done here that it will start to make a difference. It's a long-term strategy, but I can't help wishing we had been able to make more an impact for our young people.

"I'm hopeful to be here moving forward through the next electoral cycle to keep an eye on this. It's when people care that things really make a difference and I think we've got a good team and a real willingness to make that difference."

Labour leader Dave Clark, a former social worker, is a fierce critic of the Conservative UK government's insistence on cutting the benefit back.

"I stand four-square with the administration on child poverty and the efforts local authorities have made," he said.

"What the Tories are doing with Universal Credit is quite shameful just now.

"We in Clackmannanshire understand the issues far more comprehensively than anywhere I've ever seen in my career."

Discussion on UC, made at Clackmannanshire's partnership and performance committee, came as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that the reduction will send low-income families into "deeper poverty and debt".

Analysis by the think tank suggests it will negatively affect 31 per cent of UC-claiming households with children in the parliamentary constituencies that cover Clackmannanshire, and around 17.5 per cent of households on benefits in the area overall.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "The temporary uplift to Universal Credit was designed to help claimants through the economic shock and financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic, and it has done so.

"Universal Credit will continue to provide a vital safety net and with record vacancies available, alongside the successful vaccination rollout, it's right that we now focus on our Plan for Jobs, helping claimants to increase their earnings by boosting their skills and getting into work, progressing in work or increasing their hours.

"The Scottish Parliament has significant welfare powers and can top-up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits in areas of devolved responsibility."