Some families to get a total of £1,200 cash, to support with cost of living crisis.

[flashbac]

Highlights:
All families can now keep the 200 quid energy payment, no longer repayment based. This will be topped up to £400.
Low income families to get £650 straight into bank account.
(Non means tested) disabled benefit recipients to get £150.
All in all some will receive total of £1,200.
Funded by windfall tax.

Same thing applies. They won't give £400 away. Most won't anyway. It's just lip service. Seen it so many times. People saying one thing and then doing (or NOT doing) another.

We cannot just "allow fracking to start".

There's quite fundamental issues with that...

I think it's important that everyone gets the £400, even those who don't need it, but that the vulnerable get a bit more on top.

The risk of not giving it to everyone, is that the squeezed middle and the higher tax payers will start to resent it otherwise. I know it's a bit of a case of "oh, my diamond shoes are too tight", but it's galling to be a net contributor yet to feel that you never ever get anything back. Earn just a bit too much to get child benefit, don't qualify for help with childcare costs, and pay more in taxes than it would cost you to send all your kids to private school and have private health insurance, etc. Its only a psychological balm because I'm sure the government will claw this back in some stealth tax somewhere, but it does make you feel a bit more like everyone is in it together and we're all helping each other, rather than it being "them and us". The net payers and the net receivers. It's a clever move on the government's part.

Can people STOP banging on about this being means tested FFS. Of course principally it should but:

IT COSTS MORE TO ADMINISTER THAT THAN IT DOES TO GIVE TO EVERYONE

Means testing it does not help you get more. It will be eaten up in administration. Plus what delay do you think that would cause for everyone? Those who don’t need it should do the right thing. Many will.

@RaspberryToo The maximum amount they can remove from your UC is 25% of the standard element for living on. Which is cruel and far too high IMO when the standard element is already so low. This brings my UC down from £74 a week to £55 a week.

Many, many debts are not statute barred, so there is no limit on time and they can go back 30 years. My UC was also reduced for the first year due to the 5 week wait for payment loan you have to pay back to them.

I've had a lot of help from welfare rights for this.

People don't like to hear it, but £55 - £74 a week and even less for some with high rents, IS what people are being given to try to live on.

Has it not been taken from your CT bill? Not everyone is getting the cash it's just a credit on your bill and you wait longer if you don't pay by DD.

The £400 payment is per household, not per person. So functioning couples will surely discuss any equivalent donation?

Unless you have access to everyones bank account how do you know what people do or don't give.

Lots of people do things quietly without making a song and dance about it.

Hear hear!

👏

Out of interest, what is the "limit/threshold" these days for things like working tax credits and child benefit? I can never find the actual figures! For example if a couple both worked and had two children, how much can they earn until they cannot claim any benefits?

In one of your posts you inferred that my dad is caring for "his partner"

No I didn’t, read it properly. I put (and partner) when I was talking about whether DF may be eligible for UC if CA is his only income because UC will take any any partner’s income into account to. At no point did I put he was caring for his partner.

I was only trying to help you like @RaspberryToo by saying you should check as it is possible there is a mistake. You don’t want to listen, fine, but don’t accuse me of saying something I haven’t.

Again, I didn’t pass comment on whether £55 or £70 odd is enough to live on, so please don’t accuse me of posting that.

I don't think it will, because it's not a DWP benefit. But it's a good question.

I wouldn't put it past the DWP to treat it as income for benefit purposes and take it off people's UC or other means-tested benefits.

Such as?

It said in one of the articles it will not be counted as income for benefits purposes.

The complete lack of companies willing to take the risk for starters!

EXACTLY @PaddingtonBearStareAgain You just proved my point. The ones parping on about how they will be giving money away because they don't NEEEED the grants are (IMO) very unlikely to do that. It's just virtue signalling lip service. The ones who WILL do it won't say anything/brag/parp on about it/let everyone know they have allegedly done it!

What is the £650 one-off payment?
More than eight million of the lowest-income households will receive the £650 one-off payment, which applies to people on a range of benefits.

It will be paid directly to households in two lump sums, with one paid from July and another in autumn.

The Government advises that the payment will be tax-free, will not affect the benefit cap and will not affect existing benefit awards.

Claimants can ask for a financial hardship decision to reduce the amount of debt they repay each month if they are struggling.

viable companies that should say

I accept that using the term ‘means tested’ was wrong, and I apologise for that. I used it as shorthand for ‘finding some way to make sure that the payments are targeted towards the people who need them’ - and surely there are ways this could have been done - perhaps by giving extra to people in receipt of particular benefits?

Just coming into the thread - haven't RTWT - tbh, it's a good offering - at least everyone will get something. I don't begrudge the £650 payment to Benefits Claimants at all - in some areas you really can't work harder, there isn't a massive increase in jobs, etc. Or health, or many reasons that people have no choice but to claim benefits - they can't magic money out of nothing to pay the bills.

And then there's the unpaid Carers - who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hrs a week for £69.70pw - so technically not 'unpaid' but then Universal Credit describes Carers Allowance as "unearned income" and reduces any UC entitlement £ for £. No Work Allowance either.

You can work and receive Carers Allowance as long as your nett earnings don't exceed £130 pw.

I'm self-employed (the only way I could Care and Work) - some months I do well and some months I don't, bearing in mind no Holiday or Sick Pay when you're self-employed.

So, I gave up claiming UC, not least because my Local Council can't handle UC and varying Incomes.

I stopped claiming UC on 19th May having received £0 again. Since then my Local Council have gone into overdrive sending more forms and huge Bills.

And now, those single adults that receive Carers Allowance have been forgotten again.

It that’s what they are doing.

Paying more if you have certain benefits.

Also having it only attached to benefits means that some families, who earn just enough to not qualify for UC are really struggling too.

Apparently it won't, which is a relief.

They could change their mind though. Wouldn't surprise me at all!

There isn’t one. It’s a much more complex calculation than tax credits or housing benefit, because it replaces both of those and more. I haven’t even seen a “ready reckoner” poster for a while. I presume that’s tied to introduction of UC, though I don’t routinely do calculations myself, do not sure.

If you want to play around with calculations for a notional family, try this (and remember the benefit cap too);

www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=072b46ca-50db-4775-bc35-416b3f0670a8

Exactly. There are many better ways to target the money than give £700 to well off pensioners in band g houses.

Focus on those they have the data on already - In spring they targeted by council tax band. Or those on benefits already.