#KeepTheLifeline: BASW mentioned in Universal Credit uplift debate

Prior to the debate, BASW wrote to every MP listed for the debate urging them to vote to extend the uplift

Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Stephen Timms MP referenced a BASW briefing in yesterday’s Opposition Day Debate on the Government’s plans to axe the £20 uplift to Universal Credit in April.

The Labour MP for East Ham told the House: "If the cut goes ahead, it will push child poverty up to levels we have not seen since 1997. There is no justification for going back to £72 per week.

"There was one very telling point in the briefing circulated by the British Association of Social Workers: the sharp increase in children in care, up from 60,000 to 80,000, with the enormous cost that that imposes, began when the cuts to benefits began. It is a false economy. The £20 a week should be left in place."

Prior to the debate, BASW wrote to every MP listed for the debate urging them to vote to extend the uplift.

Yesterday BASW published a letter from CEO Ruth Allen to both the Department of Work and Pensions and the Chancellor, stating that the collective voice of BASW’s 21,000 members was in firm support of retaining the uplift.

In a statement last week BASW affirmed its support for the #KeepTheLifeline campaign, led by the Joseph Roundtree Foundation and supported by over 60 civil society organisations.

BASW continues to back the campaign and urges Government to retain the £20 Universal Credit uplift. It is a lifeline to many people and families across the country during these difficult times.