PEOPLE on Universal Credit are being told their payments will be cut by almost £100 come October. 

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has sent messages to claimants this week to tell them that the £20-a-week uplift, introduced in response to the pandemic, will be cut.

The move by the Tory Government will see people plunged into further poverty, with a loss of at least £80 each month. 

A spokesperson for the DWP said the government will not inform claimants of the cut in writing and will instead be providing updates through online accounts.

Earlier this month, a survey by the charity Turn2us found that around 36 per cent of people were unaware of the cut.

Welfare advice worker, Maria Morgan, who oversees the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service, said many of the most vulnerable will be blindsided by the move.

"People aren't always listening to the news, they're not always switched on as to what's happening, particularly if you're vulnerable or experiencing difficulties," she said.

She said the move couldn't come at a worse time.

"Families with children are struggling with uniform grants because the Education Authority are dragging their heels. People who applied in June haven't got their grants yet, so they'll have a difficult period going back to school, they'll have a difficult period coming up to Christmas.

"They're taking – depending if it's a four or five week month – anything between £80 and £100 off those people without physically announcing it to that person.

"It's like your employer taking £20 a week off you and not telling you that your pay cheque is going to be short by £80 to £100 per month. I don't know anybody working at the minute who could afford to lose that out of their income, never mind people who are on a low income and who are struggling. 

"This is going to have a massive financial impact. People are already relying on food banks. If you have a young family you have the extra burden of uniforms, and coming into the school year that's schoolbags, shoes, and everything else."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the removal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift "is yet another example of Tory government punishing the most vulnerable in our society".

"To take away up to £100 from those who need it most is unconscionably cruel. 

"Welfare Reform has already driven thousands into poverty and the parties at Stormont who agreed to its implementation also need to shoulder the blame.

"We need a welfare system that protects people rather than punishing them."