News from Krupesh Hirani: 38% Universal Credit claimants in Harrow in jobs

38% of the 2,1373 people relying on Universal Credit in Harrow are already in employment, according to the latest Government figures. Local London Assembly Member, Krupesh Hirani AM said that the “endemic issue of low pay” is “underpinning” the cost of living crisis and is calling for more action from the Government to help his hard-pressed constituents.

Analysis published by Centre for London shows that in the lead-up to the pandemic, almost three quarters (74%) of adults in poverty in London, were in working families.

The latest stats show that, during the first quarter of 2022, the UK unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in fifty years. However, over the same period, regular weekly pay decreased by 1.25% in real terms with the surge in inflation.

Mr Hirani is now joining the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to encourage more companies and businesses to sign-up to the voluntary London Living Wage scheme, which is set by the Living Wage campaign and is available to all adults.

The latest data from City Hall suggests that over 2,500 employers in the capital pay their staff the London Living Wage of £11.05 per hour. The number of accredited employers is set to increase in November.

The National Living Wage, set by the Government, is currently £9.50, but is only available to workers who are 23 years old and over. For younger employees, lower rates of the National Minimum Wage apply.

The Government has now U-turned on their opposition to bring in a windfall tax on oil and gas companies after coming under significant pressure. This came as Ofgem announced that the energy price cap will be lifted to £2,800 next year.

The tax will help to fund a £400 discount on energy bills for all households.

The Chancellor also announced that households receiving means-tested benefits will get an additional grant £650 – over two instalments. Pensioners will receive a £300 payment and people who claim disability benefits will receive £150.

However, City Hall estimated that even before April this year, when the energy price cap rose by 54%, an estimated 575,000 Londoners were living in fuel poverty.



The Mayor and local authorities are now writing to 4,500 households across the capital, eligible for funding from the Warmer Homes Scheme to register to apply for grants of between £5,000 to £25,000.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has also warned that 120,000 households will fail to see the boost to welfare payments scheduled for this April, unless the benefit cap is raised.

Local London Assembly Member, Krupesh Hirani AM, said:

“The endemic issue of low pay is underpinning the cost of living crisis, so the need for a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work has never been so urgent.

“Ministers have insisted that the scrapping of the £20 Universal Credit uplift is key to getting more people into work. But the Government’s own figures have consistently shown that a large proportion of local people claiming Universal Credit are already in jobs.

“My constituents have been crying out for some solutions to the financial pressures they face and it has been welcome to see the Government finally U-turn and provide some desperately-needed support. But in the time it has taken for them to act, tens of thousands of Londoners could have been saved from being pushed into poverty.

“It’s now time that the Government matched the Minimum and National Living Wages, which they set, with the higher rates of the Real and London Living Wages”.