The survey asks:
- Whether you have received cost of living support payments
- Which types of payments you have received, if any, and how these impacted on your situation
- Whether or not the Government did a good job of making the public aware of these payments
- Whether you would like to opt into updates about our inquiry
The deadline for completing the survey is 16 April 2023 and you can learn more about the cost of living support survey on the Gov.uk website.
In relation to its new associated inquiry, the Work and Pensions Committee said: “In response to the cost of living crisis, the Government announced a series of measures to provide emergency cost of living support, including the Energy Bill Support Scheme and a £150 Council Tax rebate for bands A–D.
There are additional cost of living support grants for pensioners, and those already in receipt of disability or means tested benefits. While initial support consisted of one-off payments, Cost of Living Payments are scheduled to be made until Spring 2024. It is these additional cost of living support payments that the Committee will examine in this inquiry.
There are concerns that the design and delivery of the support packages is unfair and may not provide sufficient support for all low-income families who need it.”
For example:
- by linking cost of living support to existing benefits, the emergency measures risk missing those who aren’t already claiming benefits they are entitled to.
- it can also act as a ‘cliff edge’ where those who narrowly fail to meet eligibility criteria for a benefit will miss out on support entirely.
- the systems and processes used to make payments can also result in people missing out on payments - such as those subject to sanctions for Universal Credit effectively punished twice by missing out on emergency support as a result.
The Committee will now examine the Government’s cost of living support payments for 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 to include:
- how effectively they have supported those most in need of additional support
- what lessons have been learned from the initial roll-out
- what plans are in place to improve the operation and fairness of the system.
For more information see New inquiry: Are cost of living support payments reaching everyone in need of help? (evidence deadline 12 May).
Note: the Committee has also launched another related new inquiry: Benefit levels in the UK (evidence deadline 3 May 2023).