Essentials guarantee and minimum income guarantee

Early day motion 782, tabled 22 May 2024 by Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party). Signed by 19 members.

That this House supports calls to implement an essentials guarantee into Universal Credit to ensure no one goes without life’s essentials; commends the Trussell Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on their Essentials Guarantee campaign; congratulates these organisations on securing more than 150,000 petition signatures in support of the campaign; recognises an essentials guarantee would create a standard allowance for Universal Credit which always covers the cost of essentials including food, fuel, essential travel, communications, and sundries; regrets the existing Universal Credit standard allowance is exacerbating experiences of poverty; believes that while everyone’s needs are different, an essentials guarantee would provide baseline support to the benefit of all claimants; acknowledges that an essentials guarantee would guarantee a baseline income which, at a minimum, guarantees affordability for the cost of essentials; notes that relative needs would be further supported on top of the standard allowance for Universal Credit; recognises that benefit levels in the UK are insufficient in supporting families; further commends the efforts of the Scottish Government in exploring the possibility of a minimum income guarantee for all; and further calls on the Government to reform the UK welfare system to adequately support those who are unemployed or in low paid work.

Signatures by party: Scottish National Party 11, Plaid Cymru 3, Independent 2, Labour/Co-operative 2, Labour 1.