This Council notes:-

Universal Credit was increased by £20 a week (or £1,040 a year) in April 2020 as part of a government support package when the country first went into lockdown. This was paid to all working age residents in receipt of Universal Credit and other means tested benefits. This has continued for the last eighteen months and has had a positive impact on residents and the economy of the city.

The government has now withdrawn this additional payment from 6 October 2021. This withdrawal will have a negative impact on low-income households in the city, including those that are working, and is also expected to have an impact on discretionary budgets including the Welfare Provision Scheme and the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme.

This will have a devastating impact on residents across our city. It has been calculated that the withdrawing of the £20 per week uplift will result in a loss of approximately £4.96m per month to families across our city. This will impact an estimated 58,339 households across Manchester.

Many of these households are working households in low paid jobs who rely on Universal Credit to make ends meet on a daily basis. We are talking about carers, shop workers, cleaners the roles that got us all through the pandemic. The roles that had previously been described as low skilled became some of the most important roles in society when Covid hit.

In Manchester we have a long standing commitment to creating good jobs for Manchester residents, proudly paying the real living wage and promoting the GM Good Employment Charter. We must continue to work to create good, sustainable jobs that all Manchester people can access.

This Council moves to:

·                Call upon the Conservative Government not to scrap the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit.

·                Call upon the Government to increase the minimum wage to the real living wage that reflects the cost of living.

·                To support our residents impacted by government changes to benefits.

·                To continue to work to ensure jobs in our city are sustainable, secure and fairly paid.

·                To continue to support our residents through training and upskilling to make sure that jobs in this City are accessible to all of our residents.

Proposed by Councillor S Judge, seconded by Councillor Taylor and also signed (via email) by Councillors Baker Smith, Newman and Russell.

Motion proposed and seconded:

This Council notes:

Universal Credit was increased by £20 a week (or £1,040 a year) in April 2020 as part of a government support package when the country first went into lockdown. This was paid to all working age residents in receipt of Universal Credit and other means tested benefits. This has continued for the last eighteen months and has had a positive impact on residents and the economy of the city. The government has now withdrawn this additional payment from 6 October 2021. This withdrawal will have a negative impact on low-income households in the city, including those that are working, and is also expected to have an impact on discretionary budgets including the Welfare Provision Scheme and the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme. This will have a devastating impact on residents across our city. It has been calculated that the withdrawing of the £20 per week uplift will result in a loss of approximately £4.96m per month to families across our city. This will impact an estimated 58,339 households across Manchester. Many of these households are working households in low paid jobs who rely on Universal Credit to make ends meet on a daily basis. We are talking about carers, shop workers, cleaners the roles that got us all through the pandemic. The roles that had previously been described as low skilled became some of the most important roles in society when Covid hit. In Manchester we have a long standing commitment to creating good jobs for Manchester residents, proudly paying the real living wage and promoting the GM Good Employment Charter. We must continue to work to create good, sustainable jobs that all Manchester people can access.

This Council moves to:

· Call upon the Conservative Government not to scrap the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit.

· Call upon the Government to increase the minimum wage to the real living wage that reflects the cost of living.

· To support our residents impacted by government changes to benefits.

· To continue to work to ensure jobs in our city are sustainable, secure and fairly paid.

· To continue to support our residents through training and upskilling to make sure that jobs in this City are accessible to all of our residents.

Resolution

The motion was put to Council and voted on and the Lord Mayor declared that it was carried unanimously.

Decision

This Council notes:

Universal Credit was increased by £20 a week (or £1,040 a year) in April 2020 as part of a government support package when the country first went into lockdown. This was paid to all working age residents in receipt of Universal Credit and other means tested benefits. This has continued for the last eighteen months and has had a positive impact on residents and the economy of the city. The government has now withdrawn this additional payment from 6 October 2021. This withdrawal will have a negative impact on low-income households in the city, including those that are working, and is also expected to have an impact on discretionary budgets including the Welfare Provision Scheme and the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme. This will have a devastating impact on residents across our city. It has been calculated that the withdrawing of the £20 per week uplift will result in a loss of approximately £4.96m per month to families across our city. This will impact an estimated 58,339 households across Manchester. Many of these households are working households in low paid jobs who rely on Universal Credit to make ends meet on a daily basis. We are talking about carers, shop workers, cleaners the roles that got us all through the pandemic. The roles that had previously been described as low skilled became some of the most important roles in society when Covid hit. In Manchester we have a long standing commitment to creating good jobs for Manchester residents, proudly paying the real living wage and promoting the GM Good Employment Charter. We must continue to work to create good, sustainable jobs that all Manchester people can access.

This Council moves to:

· Call upon the Conservative Government not to scrap the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit.

· Call upon the Government to increase the minimum wage to the real living wage that reflects the cost of living.

· To support our residents impacted by government changes to benefits.

· To continue to work to ensure jobs in our city are sustainable, secure and fairly paid.

· To continue to support our residents through training and upskilling to make sure that jobs in this City are accessible to all of our residents.