Toby Perkins MP has urged the government to rethink their £20 a week cut to Universal Credit as DWP figures emerged which showed that 8,140 families in Chesterfield will be affected by the decision.

The statistics from the Department for Work & Pensions have revealed that 40% of the Chesterfield residents hit by the £20 cut are already in work and that there are 5,163 children locally who live in households which rely upon Universal Credit to make ends meet.

Toby has been contacted by hundreds of constituents who have expressed concerns that the government’s axing of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit will force people to choose between eating and heating this Winter. He is calling upon the Prime Minister and Chancellor to rethink their decision and cancel the cut.

Toby stated “I worry that many people in Chesterfield will be in a perilous situation during this harsh period and that is why Labour demanded that the uplift should stay beyond the pandemic. This cut would impact 6.2 million families nationally, including those on working tax credits. This £20 is what enables some of them to put food on the table at the end of the week”.

He added “The Government’s chronic mismanagement of the pandemic has caused Britain to suffer the worst recession of any major economy. Now the Government is trying to make low-income families pay as a result of their incompetence. Along with this, the Government has shown it has had the wrong priorities throughout the pandemic. They wasted £22bn of taxpayers’ money on a testing system that doesn’t work and spent billions on contracts to Tory donors – but now can’t find the money to support families”.

Since Ministers announced their decision to scrap the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, it has emerged that food prices have increased and energy costs are set to soar as inflation has reached its highest level in a decade.

Labour have called two Opposition Day Debates about the cut to the Universal Credit uplift however the Conservatives refused to vote during either debate.