CHARITY bosses are urging the UK Government to release internal analysis on the impact of scrapping the £20 Universal Credit uplift.
Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, insisted it was "clearly in the public interest to know whether this decision will deepen poverty for thousands of people across our country".
He has now written to Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey calling on her to "sanction the release of this analysis so that the public understand the likely impact of this decision".
The uplift was introduced in April last year in the wake of the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, Ms Coffey confirmed it will be withdrawn at the end of September.
It comes amid cross-party calls for the uplift to be retained, including from six former Tory work and pensions secretaries.
Mr Kelly told The Herald: "Governments have a moral responsibility to take decisions that protect people from poverty.
"The UK Government increased Universal Credit by £20 because they knew it would otherwise fail to meet people's needs. That was the right thing to do.
"Yet ministers are now planning to cut that £20 at a time when so many are struggling to stay afloat, and are compounding that decision by refusing to be straight with the public about what the impact of that decision will be.
"That is because they know that it will sweep hundreds of thousands of people across the country into poverty.
"To allow this to happen would be a moral failure; this is a simple case of right and wrong.
"It is not too late for the UK Government to change course.
"If it is serious about 'levelling up' then it will keep the £20 lifeline, and begin to build a social security system that protects people from, rather than drives them into, poverty."
The Poverty Alliance submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in May, requesting analysis on the potential impact on poverty of withdrawing the £20 uplift, alongside other issues.
The DWP confirmed it held some of the information requested but refused to release it, citing exemptions around the formulation or development of government policy.
SNP work and pensions spokesman David Linden said: "If the UK Tory government is going to press ahead with these callous cuts, against widespread warnings and overwhelming evidence that it is the wrong thing to do, then they must at least publish a full impact assessment for complete transparency - so that MPs can scrutinise the effect these cuts will have before it is too late.
“We already know that 700,000 – 300,000 of which are children – have been lifted out of poverty as a result of the uplift.
"To take that away from so many in just a few months when people will still be reeling from the effects of the pandemic, a decade of austerity and Brexit is unthinkable – particularly when we don’t know the extent of the damage it could cause given the UK government refuse to publish the information.
"It must, instead, be made permanent and extended to legacy benefits.
"While the SNP government is putting money in people's pockets by doubling the Scottish Child Payment, mitigating the bedroom tax and delivering Best Start Grants, the Tories are taking it away again - dragging our efforts to tackle poverty backwards.
"Scotland is increasingly vulnerable under Westminster control and the only way to keep Scotland safe from the long-term damage of Tory cuts is to become an independent country."
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and we announced the temporary uplift as part of a £400 billion package of measures put in place that will last well beyond the end of the roadmap.
“Our focus now is on our multi-billion pound Plan for Jobs, which will support people in the long-term by helping them learn new skills and increase their hours or find new work.
“The Scottish Government has significant welfare powers and can top-up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits in areas of devolved responsibility.”
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