Matthew Dorrance Our Local Voice | Ein Llais Lleol
The Leader of Powys County Council’s Labour Group, Cllr Matthew Dorrance, is calling on the UK Government to cancel its planned cut to Universal Credit. His calls come after figures released by the Wales TUC show more than eight thousand families in Powys will lose more than £1,000 a year.
The Government has confirmed that £20 a week will be cut from Universal Credit in October. A decision that Cllr Matthew Dorrance says will “hit low paid working families in the run up to Christmas.”
The TUC has warned that many of those affected by the cut will be key workers and more than 40% of people claiming Universal Credit in Powys are working people. That figure is above the 37% Welsh average.
County Councillor Matthew Dorrance said:
“The UK Government’s plans to cut Universal Credit will hit the lowest paid hardest and hurt our economic recovery. Thousands of families in Powys are set to lose more than £1000 a year while out of work support will be left at its lowest level in decades.
“The Universal Credit cut comes as furlough ends for thousands of workers and energy bills rise because the price cap is being lifted. The UK Government needs to act now to protect the incomes of the lowest paid in our county.
“Charities, Trade Unions, the devolved administrations and prominent Conservative MPs all oppose the planned cut to Universal Credit. The UK Government needs to show some humility, back hard-pressed families in Powys and cancel the cut to Universal Credit.”