UK May Switch Base Month for Benefits Rise to Save £2 Billion
- Chancellor studies lower uprating target to free up cash
- Welfare to come under pressure in Hunt’s Autumn Statement
If Stride does go for a lower uplift than September’s inflation number, it would hit 9 million households, many of which are working.
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergThe UK government is considering using October’s inflation number for next year’s rise in working-age benefits, two people familiar with official thinking said, a move that would hit low-income families.
Ministers are waiting to see Wednesday’s inflation data before deciding how much to lift support for the roughly nine million households on working-age benefits from April. Convention is that the September data is used but the government has refused to make that commitment. Using October’s inflation rate — predicted to come in about 2 percentage points below September’s — would save roughly £2 billion ($2.5 billion) a year.