IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Money and Mental Health responds to 2021 budget

 

“The Government has once again overlooked people receiving legacy benefits”.

In today’s budget, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak set out plans to improve financial protections for those in need, by extending the £20 uplift to Universal Credit and offering those receiving Working Tax Credits a one-off payment of £500. 

However, the budget did not include any measures to improve support for people receiving ‘legacy benefits’ — i.e. benefits other than Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits — who have yet to receive additional financial support throughout the pandemic.

 

Responding to the budget, Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute said:

 It’s deeply disappointing that the government has once again failed to offer a much needed financial lifeline to people who have not yet been moved onto the Universal Credit system. This group includes some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in society, such as many with long term mental health conditions. But throughout the pandemic, they have been denied the £20 increase that people getting Universal Credit have received, for no reason other than being on the wrong side of government bureaucracy. 

“The government has shown that when the political will exists, it is prepared to improve financial support for those who need it, and is able to overcome bureaucratic challenges to do it. We urge it to act now to ensure that people receiving legacy benefits are no longer overlooked, by extending to them the same uplift that people receiving Universal Credit have been given, and making it permanent.”

 

ENDS

 


Contact:

To set up an interview, or for any other media enquiries, please contact Brian Semple, Head of External Affairs at Money and Mental Health, on 07935 216 804 or [email protected]

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute

The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute is an independent charity set up by Martin Lewis, and committed to breaking the link between financial difficulty and mental health problems. We conduct research, develop practical policy solutions and work in partnership with both those providing services and those using them to find what really works. www.moneyandmentalhealth.org