Calls for struggling Universal Credit claimants to be given £700 emergency cash boost amid cost of living crisis

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

An independent think tank founded by former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on the government to provide an £700 emergency cash boost to help poorer families struggling under the pressures of soaring household costs.

A report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has urged the Policy in Practice to consider the costs and consequences of three options that could give DWP benefits a much-needed rise as the cost of living crisis bites.

The first option the centre put forward proposes increasing DWP benefits as though they had been given a 10 per cent rise instead of the 3.1 per cent that was applied in April this year.

The move would cost the government £31. billion and would enable 4.2 million households to gain an average of £729 a year - equivalent to an extra £60 a month, BirminghamLive reports.