ENDING the £20 uplift in Universal Credit is already having an impact on families across Monmouthshire, councillors have warned.

Monmouthshire council will write a letter to the UK Government to express ‘disappointment’ over the decision after a motion was passed by councillors at a meeting on Thursday.

The letter will also outline the “negative consequences” of the policy on low-income households in the county.

The uplift, which ended last month, was introduced as a temporary measure at the start of the pandemic, but charities and opposition parties have warned over the impact of withdrawing it amid sharp rises in the cost of living.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, Monmouthshire council’s Labour group leader, said the decision will see around £4.8-million per year withdrawn from low income households across Monmouthshire.

Calling on councillors to support his motion, Cllr Batrouni said writing a letter to express disappointment was “the bare minimum” which the authority could do.

“We are genuinely talking about some of the most struggling families and people in our communities,” he said.

“We have to support them and we should make a stand.”

Abergavenny councillor Martyn Groucutt said he had been in contact with residents in his ward who were already feeling the impact of the decision.

One, a single mother who worked as a nurse during the Covid pandemic and is now claiming Universal Credit, was having to decide between putting on the heating and making a meal for her children, he said.

Cllr Groucutt said that at the Monmouthshire Citizens Advice centre, people were coming in on “an almost daily basis”, saying that they were “struggling to cope now that the uplift has been cut back”.

Cllr Jo Watkins, Liberal Democrat group leader, said that as a volunteer at a local foodbank she had already seen an increase in people attending.

“This uplift was vitally needed at the start of the pandemic and I see no reason why it is still not vitally needed now,” she said.

Conservative councillor Paul Pavia said the UK Government could have looked to delay the withdrawal of the uplift until the end of the financial year given rises in the cost of living.

But he said that he understood the issues around the cost of financing the uplift.

Cllr Sara Jones added that the uplift is “just one lever” to support households, and that it should be considered in the context of other packages in place.

The motion was passed.

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