The Autumn Statement earlier this month confirmed that, from April 2023, millions of people receiving benefits, pensioners, and others will be able to receive payments to help them through the ongoing cost of living crisis. Read on for more.
Benefit Claimants To Receive Payment Of Up To £900
This payment of up to £900 will be available to anyone claiming the following benefits:
- Child or working tax credits
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Income support
- Pension credit
- Universal credit
The payment will be made in more than one instalment. It will also not be taxed, and will not count towards any benefits you are receiving. At present BuDS is unable to confirm when these payments will be made – more information will follow as we have it.
Pensioners To Receive A £300 Payment
Pensioner households will get an additional £300, cost of living payment in 2023/2024. This is in addition to any of the above means-tested benefit payments, so if you are a pensioner and receiving one of the above benefits, you could receive up to £1200 in 2023/24. This payment will not be taxed, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. More information will follow as we have it.
Disability Benefit Claimants To Receive One-Off £150 Payment
About six million people across the UK on certain disability benefits will receive a one-off payment of £150 in 2023/24 to help with the cost of living crisis. This is in addition to the above means-tested benefit and pensioner cost of living payments. As such, if you meet the criteria for multiple payments, you will receive all the payments and not just one.
The eligible disability benefits are:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Scottish Disability Benefits
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
This payment will not be taxed, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. BuDS do not yet know when or how these payments will be made – more information will follow as we have it.
Benefits & Pensions To Increase In Line With Inflation
From April 2023, pensions, working age, and disability benefits will increase by 10.1% to keep in line with inflation. In addition, the migration from ESA to Universal Credit has been paused for a further 2 years.
On average, a family receiving Universal Credit will benefit by around £600 per year. To increase the number of households who can receive help from this, the benefit cap will also be increased in line with inflation, next year. It is important to remember, however, that this change will NOT make you any better off financially. Because these changes are only matching inflation, the net financial change in your benefits is zero.
Pension Increases
Pensions will increase by 10.1% from April 2023, in line with inflation.
The full basic State Pension will increase from £141.85 to £156.20 (£748.75 p.a.), and the full weekly rate of the new State Pension will increase from £185.15 to £203.85 (£975.75 p.a.).
Pension Credit will also be increased by 10.1% from April 2023 to match this.
Benefit Cap Levels Increase
The Benefit Cap will also be increased by 10.1% in line with inflation from April 2023.
The benefit cap levels will rise from £23,000 to £25,323 for families in Greater London, and from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally. The levels for single households without children will rise from £15,410 to £16,967 in Greater London, and from £13,400 to £14,753 nationally.
Other Support
The Government have also announced a series of further support measures to target the Cost of Living crisis. These are outlined below.
Household Support Fund Extension
The Household Support Fund will be extended from April 2023 to 31 March 2024, to provide further support for eligible families. There is very little information available about this extension currently – more information will be added as it becomes available.
National Living & Minimum Wage Rises
From 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7%, to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over. This is intended to bring the national living wave more in line with inflation, but it still lags slightly behind the theoretical ideal living wage nationally.
The National Minimum Wave is also being increased to benefit young people and apprentices. The increases are as follows:
- For people aged 21-22 – by 10.9% to £10.18 an hour
- For people aged 18-20 – by 9.7% to £7.49 an hour
- For people aged 16-17 – by 9.7% to £5.28 an hour
- For Apprentices of any ages by 9.7% to £5.28 an hour
Ongoing Energy Price Guarantee
The Energy Price Guarantee is to continue from April 2023, but at a higher level. Currently, the Price Guarantee is fixed at £2500 per year, but from April 2023 it will increase to £3000 per year. The support for households that use alternative fuels, such as heating oil, LPG, coal or biomass, to heat their homes, will double to £200 from April 2022.
It is important to remember that the Guarantee is NOT an absolute cap on the price of energy bills. The headline £2,500 a year figure you see quoted is based on what a ‘typical’ household would pay over a year assuming ‘typical’ energy usage. If you use more than that, you will pay more, and if you use less, you will pay less.
Currently, the £400 cost of living payment that every household has received this year will not be extended to cover next year. This means that support will now only be available to those claiming the above benefits and pensioners.
More Information
To find out more about the changes to individual benefits from April 2023, visit: https://buds.org.uk/benefit-increases-from-april-2023/
To read the full Government summary of the cost of living changes in the Budget, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-statement-2022-cost-of-living-support-factsheet/cost-of-living-support-factsheet#contents
To find out more about the Autumn Statement and Budget, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/autumn-statement-2022