County Durham residents react after Universal Credit £20 cut

Stark figures reveal the devastating toll the decision to end the Universal Credit uplift on Tuesday will have on the region.

There were 51,204 people claiming Universal Credit in County Durham in July in the latest available data, according to Government figures. Of those, 65 per cent were not in work.

'It's a pretty slippery slope'

Father-of-two Lee Bailey, from Newton Aycliffe, said his whole family will be affected by the change in payment.

“I work full time, support a family of four and pay child support,”he said, “the Universal Credit top up is a big help.

“We had no idea we were getting extra due to Covid, we only started claiming Universal Credit six weeks into lockdown after having a baby in week one as we didn’t think we would qualify.

“An £87-a-month drop is quite a kick in the teeth when you’ve adjusted and budgeted based on that additional income. National insurance going up, gas and electricity going up, food bills going up, it’s a pretty slippery slope.”

In Darlington, 10,677 people claimed the benefits in the same time period, with 61 per cent of claimants not in work.

Read more: Increase in foodbank usage if Universal Credit is cut

'It’s really hard times'

Danny Greenall, from Darlington, worries that he will soon have to choose between heating his home or eating.

The 40-year-old currently works as a cleaner but said he is working to pay for living costs.

He said: “I’m only on minimum wage, which I use for living on, and I still rely on the Universal Credit for paying my bills.

“I’m panicking now because when it’s snowing in the winter it will be a choice between heat or eat.

“It’s really hard times for people and I’m scared I’m going to end up skint and out of a job again.”

Mr Greenall admitted he didn’t realise he was receiving an uplift when he first started receiving Universal Credit but is now having to re-budget to cope with the £20 loss.

“Gas, electric and the cost of living is going up, and if you’re already struggling now how are you meant to cope when spending more a month?,” he said.

Danny Greenall, from Darlington, worries that he will soon have to choose between heating his home or eating

Mr Greenall quit his job at the start of the pandemic after a breakdown, but has since re-entered employment as he “couldn’t survive” on the basic benefits package.

He added: “A lot of people say that those on Universal Credit are scroungers but we’re not. I work very hard and I’m only scraping the barrel with minimum wage.

“The only way I can get more money is by doing more hours, but the work is physically that hard that I would make myself ill by doing more.”

The decision to end the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift has faced strong opposition.

Politicians and campaigners spent months fighting the cut, urging the Government to reverse its decision, but claimants are expected to receive final payments containing the uplift up to October 13.

Campaigner and former Tees Valley mayoral candidate Jessie Joe Jacobs

Campaigner and former Tees Valley mayoral candidate Jessie Joe Jacobs said she had recently spoken to affected families at a local foodbank and found one woman is having to feed her three children with four chicken nuggets and a tin of baked beans.

She said: “There’s a real sense of dread among the foodbank workers and the families. People are really worried about what these next few weeks will look like.

“It brings home the reality of how stretched people are and how much food and child poverty there is.

“One thing that people don’t think about as much is the children - they suffer too. I’ve ran foodbanks and I’ve seen it, but you can see all around the prices of everything are rising and now the £20 is being taken away when people most need it.”

Ms Jacobs said people are “petrified” about balancing living costs and branded the Government’s decision as “cruel”.

She added: “These people are bringing up their kids to do the right thing. We can’t be punishing them, they need support.”

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