Single mother says Hunt’s welfare reforms ‘won’t really help people like myself’

A single mother who is reliant on food banks said her first impression of Jeremy Hunt’s autumn budget was “wow”, as the proposed increase in benefits would only equate to roughly £10 extra a week for her.

In his autumn statement, Mr Hunt said that universal credit and other benefits will increase by 6.7% next year in line with September’s inflation figure.

The Government had already announced that welfare recipients who do not get a job within 18 months would need to take on work experience under plans to get more people into employment, which has left those on benefits asking the Government to put themselves in their shoes.

Charlene Hughes, 36, has a six-year-old daughter and relies on universal credit as she is medically unable to work due to mental health issues and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

She watched the statement and said the rise would only equate to around £10 extra a week for her.

“As a single parent, £10 a week would basically buy bread, butter, milk and juice – that’s pretty much all I could get,” Ms Hughes, who lives in Barnstaple, Devon, told the PA news agency.

“I watched [the statement] and I thought ‘wow’ – it hit home a little bit.

“My heating bills are around £2,500, which are in arrears, so £10 a week doesn’t really go very far.

“I basically live off what my daughter doesn’t eat and food bank stuff.

“The thought’s nice, but it doesn’t really help people like myself.”

Ms Hughes said she had “always worked” until she got Covid.

“I was poorly, I lost my dad and got into debt,” she said.

“I had the flu, I was put into intensive care and my COPD is never going to get any better and I suffer with my mental health – I’m going through a schizophrenia assessment.”

She has relied on help from charity Action for Children for the past six years, who she said has been “amazing”.

“They obviously get (some) funding from the Government and if they didn’t, people like me would fall under the radar,” she said.

She said she gets around £400 every two weeks, which includes “mental health money” and benefits payments.

On the Government’s plan for welfare recipients who do not get a job within 18 months to take on work experience, Ms Hughes said: “It’s incredibly unfair to expect people that they don’t really know the ins and outs of their lives and mental health to do paperwork and CVs.”

Aidan Wood, 43, who has neurofibromatosis, is a left below knee amputee and a wheelchair user, and receives new style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and housing benefits, told PA that he would roughly receive an extra £100 a month when the increase comes into effect.

“That’s nice, that can make a bit of a difference,” Mr Wood, who also has autism and is going through the diagnosis process for ADHD, said.

“At the moment, to try and enjoy life as much as I can, I scrimp on some things that I probably shouldn’t like my grocery bill.”

Mr Wood, who lives in Pentrebane, Wales, added: “It will be interesting to see how much everything else goes up by to see if I’m actually £100 a month better off.”

He said news about people on benefits that have not found work after 18 months being “sanctioned” and put on a mandatory work scheme lacks clarity.

“It doesn’t say which benefits are being targeted, so I’m hoping against hope that those of us on the higher rate of ESA in terms of the protected category are still protected.”

He added that Mr Hunt’s plans for more “opportunities” for those on benefits, as a means of getting more into the workplace, is a “euphemism for a stick” due to the lack of opportunities available for those with disabilities.

He previously worked in the retail industry for around 14 years until he was found not fit for work in a Work Capability Assessment.

“I used to have a prosthetic but can’t wear that anymore and I’m in a wheelchair, so physically there’s not a lot I can do,” he said.

“As I have autism, when I was working in retail in a local supermarket, and probably shouldn’t have, I would frequently make mistakes because I would get stressed out, feeling rushed on the checkouts.”