Are benefits about to be cut?

Nearly nine million households could see a cut to their benefits according to an article in The Sun today.

The newspaper says that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has hinted that benefit claimants face a real terms pay cut in the Autumn Statement to be announced on Wednesday.

Benefits payments usually rise in line with September’s inflation figures – a figure that stood at 6.7%. However, experts are predicting that the government will instead use a lower figure to uprate benefits payments.

The following year’s rise in payments is usually confirmed each year in the chancellors Autumn Statement.

But things are playing out differently this year, which is what has led experts to believe it won’t be as generous as predicted, with the DWP issuing a notice stating that’ll release an ‘ah hoc’ document on Wednesday to confirm the increase figure.

According to The Sun, the department usually publishes this document as soon as the Autumn Statement is delivered and hasn’t, in the past, given prior announcement about its intention.

The statement reads: “Advance notice that an ad hoc statistical release called ‘Benefit uprating – estimated number and type of families and individuals in families benefitting from the uprating of benefits in 2024 to 2025’ will be published on 22 November 2023.

The unusual move could signal that the government is forgoing September’s inflation figure and replacing it with the lower CPI rate of 4.6% when upping benefit payments next April.

For universal credit claimants receiving the standard allowance under the age of 25 – a rise of 4.6% - would see payments increase from £292.11 a week to £305.55.