PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Universal Credit (18 January 2021)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the temporary increase in universal credit; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on (a) fuel duty and (b) income tax in the event that that increase was maintained by raising those taxes.

Asked by:
Mr Richard Holden (Conservative)

As we have done throughout this crisis, the government is continuing to assess how best to support people and the economy, taking into account the health and economic context as it develops.

Extending the temporary £20 per week increase in Universal Credit and Tax Credits by a further 12 months would cost over £6 billion. To illustrate the scale of this cost, it would take a 1p increase to the basic rate of income tax and a 3p increase in fuel duty combined to raise £6 billion.

Answered by:
Steve Barclay (Conservative)
25 January 2021