Spring Budget: sanctions on Universal Credit claimants to be applied ‘more rigorously’
Sanctions on people without a health condition claiming Universal Credit will be applied “more rigorously”, the government has announced.
Delivering the Spring Budget to the House of Commons on Wednesday, chancellor Jeremy Hunt also announced that the Administrative Earnings Threshold will increase from 15 hours to 18 hours.
This means Universal Credit claimants working the equivalent of between 15 and 18 hours must now take action to increase what they earn or risk having their benefits cut.
The government is also removing the threshold for couples, which means they will be treated as individual claimants and are therefore subject to a higher threshold.
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Mr Hunt said: “The next set of reforms affects those on Universal Credit without a health condition who are looking for work or on low earnings.
“There are more than two million job seekers in this group, more than enough to fill every vacancy in this economy.
“Independence is always better than dependence, which is why a Conservative government believes those who can work should.
“So sanctions will be applied more rigorously to those who fail to meet strict work search requirements or choose not to take up a reasonable job offer.
“For those working low hours we will increase the Administrative Earnings Threshold from the equivalent of 15 hours to 18 hours at National Living Wage.”
The last increase to 15 hours in January affected 120,000 additional people.
According to the Spring Statement, the government’s package of welfare measures aims to “incentivise work and provide even more job support for Universal Credit claimants”.
“The government will increase work coach support and work search requirements for a greater number of Universal Credit claimants to help them move into work and onto high earnings.
“This includes increasing the Administrative Earnings Threshold, which determines how much support and work coach time a claimant will receive based on their earnings, for an individual claimant, and removing the couple’s Administrative Earnings Threshold,” it states.
As it stands, the threshold for a couple’s combined earnings is lower compared to an individual claimant.
For example, when the threshold was raised in January, it stood at £988 per month for a couple and £617 for an individual claimant.
Now that the threshold is removed, more people in couples will be required to get work coaching and prove they are searching for work.
The Spring Statement says: “This will provide intensive work coach support to claimants in work and on lower earnings and non-working or low-earning partners on Universal Credit.”
Spring Budget 2023: housing headlines at a glance
- A discount of 0.4% on Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates for local authorities building new affordable housing
- New ‘deeper devolution deals’ for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, which will allow them to “set the strategic direction” for Affordable Housing Programme funds in their regions
£200m for local regeneration projects including Tipton town centre and the Marsden New Mills redevelopment scheme
£161m for regeneration projects with mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority
£400m for new levelling up partnerships in areas including Redcar and Cleveland, Blackburn, Rochdale, Oldham, Mansfield and South Tyneside
Prepayment meter bills to be brought in line with direct debits
Increasing the availability of veterans’ housing through a £30m package to the Office for Veterans’ Affairs
Sanctions on Universal Credit claimants in search of work to be applied “more rigorously”
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