New analysis based on the latest Universal Credit data reveals the staggering cost of the Universal Credit cut to local families and the local economy. The cut, which will see 4835 recipients of Universal Credit lose £1,040 a year, will cost £5,028,400. That’s a staggering £29,317,600 across the Tees Valley.

The analysis comes as Conservative MPs including Jacob Young, Simon Clarke, Matt Vickers and Peter Gibson refuse to back a Labour motion in the House of Commons to ditch the cut.

Councillor Carl Quartermain, Leader of the Labour Group for Redcar & Cleveland said,

“The Tories always whitewash over the fact that many working people rely on benefits because their wages alone are not sufficient to live on.

“This cut to Universal Credit comes at a time when the cost of living is dramatically increasing and while the Tories answer to the economic challenges facing this country is to tax the poor. What do the they think is going to happen when they take money away from those most in need at the same time as raising taxes and inflation and costs soar? We are in a crisis. Families in Redcar & Cleveland and across the Tees Valleyare desperate and if this cut goes ahead the effects will be on view with increased homelessness, service demands, crime and suicide rates.

“Hitting families with a £1,000 cut in support doesn’t only hurt them, it will hammer the local economy too. These proposals will take over £5 million out of the local economy.

“The Conservatives hammer working people yet allow big business to avoid paying their fair share. They found £2bn for crony contracts for their friends and donors and are now forcing those on the breadline to pay for it. That tells you everything you need to know about this government and who they care about – and it isn’t struggling families.”

Notes to Editors

4835 people in Redcar & Cleveland receive Universal Credit and are set to see a £20 a week – £1,040 a year – cut at the end of September.

That’s a combined total of £5,028,400

The latest UC claimant count data is published here

Claimants across Tees Valley equate to;

Redcar and Cleveland     4,835

Middlesbrough                  8,020

Stockton-on-Tees             7,030

Darlington                           4,120

Hartlepool                           4,185

Labour’s motion was passed by 253 votes to zero. Just 4 Conservative MPs joined Labour in opposing the cut. The motion read: That this House calls on the Government to cancel its planned cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit which from the end of September 2021 will reduce support for many hardworking families by £1,040 a year.

Universal Credit – the facts:

· There is a growing consensus in opposition to these plans, including Labour, the public, the House of Commons, dozens of charities and campaign groups and now, the 6 former Conservative Work and Pensions Secretaries of State all agree that this money must remain in place.

· In September 2020, analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that the withdrawal of the uplift will risk bringing 700,000 more people, including 300,000 more children into poverty. It could also bring 500,000 more people into deep poverty (classified as being more than 50% below the poverty line). · 5 million families claim Universal Credit, including over 3.5 million children. Combined with those claiming Working Tax Credits, this cut will impact 6.2 million families