Thank you for contacting me about the end of the Universal Credit uplift.
I know that my ministerial colleagues have been committed to supporting the British people through the pandemic so that no one was left behind as we faced one of the greatest economic challenges in our history. This has required a comprehensive £400 billion package of support, including a £7.4 billion injection into our welfare system to help lower income families.
As I am sure you are aware, this extra support was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those likely to be facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. Alongside the temporary increase to Universal Credit and Tax Credits, the Government invested hundreds of billions of pounds in measures to create, support and protect jobs and businesses – as well as introduced measures such as mortgage holidays and additional support for renters, and has worked with energy suppliers to protect those struggling with energy bills.
In the 10 years prior to the pandemic, employment was at record high levels, thanks to the Government’s careful handling of the economy. This allowed the Government to provide an unprecedented response during the past 18 months. Now as we open up and our recovery gathers pace, it’s right that focus is switched to getting people back into work and improving their prospects. To support this the Government announced a multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs.
As we move to the next phase of our national economic recovery, I know that the Government's priority is supporting people back into work and helping those already employed to progress and earn more, through the Plan for Jobs. This is an ambitious and comprehensive strategy designed to support people into work as we recover from Covid-19.
The Plan for Jobs includes: supporting long-term unemployed people into work through our £2.9 billion Restart scheme; helping young people into work through the £2 billion Kickstart scheme, with 69,000 young people having already taken up Kickstart jobs; doubling the number of Work Coaches to 27,000, giving jobseekers the personalised and intensive support they need to move back into work; investing over £200 million in the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme, helping jobs seekers into work and launching a Lifetime Skills Guarantee, currently being legislated for through the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, to ensure that people can get the skills they need at every stage of their life.
I believe this is the right approach and will help more people long into the future.
