Our response to the Autumn Budget

After a flurry of leaks and briefings, we finally heard the new UK government’s spending priorities in its first Budget. It gives us our first real sense of how quickly we might see a shift in the tide of hunger and hardship that we see every day in the Trussell community. 

We know we need action in a range of areas if we’re to see a future without the need for food banks. But first and foremost, we need a social security system that’s fit for purpose, ensuring we can all afford the essentials. There was a real concern in the run-up to this first Budget that social security would be overlooked.

Moving towards a more supportive social security system

That’s why it’s a welcome relief to see the UK government make a first step towards a more supportive social security system, introducing what it’s calling a Fair Repayment Rate in Universal Credit. This will reduce the amount that can be taken off payments to repay debts – often to the DWP itself for things like loans to cover the five-week wait for a first payment, but also to third parties like utility companies.  

It’s a significant change – where 25% of a basic payment (‘standard allowance’) can currently be clawed back, this will be limited to 15%. At Trussell, we’ve been calling for this change for years. For a person over 25 facing the maximum rate of deductions, that’s nearly £40 more a month in their pocket than they’d have otherwise. The government estimates people will gain around £420 a year on average. This isn’t the full solution to ensure people can afford essentials, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Other income boosts

We heard other good news that will start to put in place the other building blocks we need to end the need for emergency food. The Chancellor confirmed a full year’s funding for the Household Support Fund. This is a move away from repeated short-term funding pots, giving more certainty for councils in England to deliver proper cash-first support. In the Trussell community, we see every day the difference that well-delivered crisis support can make, preventing financial shocks and difficult life events leading to spiralling hardship.

The government also started to make much needed changes to Carer’s Allowance. Changes to rules will mean carers can earn around £180 more a month before they lose their Carer’s Allowance entitlement – so more people can increase their incomes by keeping working alongside caring for loved ones.

The minimum wage is set to increase more than expected, by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour, as part of a move to make sure it becomes a “genuine living wage”. 18-20 year olds also see a big boost, as the new government moves towards creating a single adult minimum wage, across young and older workers. 

Long-term investment

Perhaps the most significant investment that will help turn the tide of hunger and hardship in the long term is confirmation that an extra £500 million will go to building social housing. Alongside this, reducing Right to Buy discounts and allowing councils to keep 100% of the money from sales should help to bolster the availability of social homes in many places. More generous long-term funding is also expected in the full Spending Review next Spring.

These are hugely welcome steps. We’re still far off the 90,000 social homes a year that we need – the additional Budget money will cover around 5,000 new homes. But we’ve had virtually no progress for far too long. The increasing lack of social housing has forced more and more people into the private rented sector, where sky high rents and insecurity has driven up homelessness and pushed people to the doors of food banks. Any step towards more people accessing an affordable, decent, and secure home, is a step towards no longer needing emergency food. 

A dose of realism

We know this is just a first step. There is much more to do. We need investment in Universal Credit so that payments are truly sufficient to cover the cost of life’s essentials.  

And we’re very concerned to see huge cuts to disability benefits still on the books. Without change, the previous UK government’s plans to reform the Work Capability Assessment  will limit eligibility for additional Universal Credit support for disabled people from September 2025. It will mean around 450,000 disabled people will miss out on over £400 a month by 2028/29. We urgently need clarity on the new government’s plans for disability benefits. And we need certainty that reductions to the cost of disability benefits will be achieved by genuine improvements to employment support and access to healthcare, and by opening up new opportunities, not by cutting disabled people’s already precarious incomes.

There was also no announcement on the Local Housing Allowance, which means it’s likely rates will be frozen next year as planned. That means support for private renters won’t keep pace with rising rents, putting more pressure on people’s finances and risking driving up homelessness and hunger even further.

Next steps on the journey

Beyond this, we need to see more details of various announcements. The ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper, confirming plans of how the UK government will overhaul employment support, is due later this autumn. Promises of a more integrated and localised approach are positive, along with an announcement today of more funding for local ‘trailblazers’ testing out this approach, but need fleshing out. 

The UK government has also confirmed a significant investment in tackling fraud and error in the social security system. We know this is an issue the DWP is grappling with, particularly due to a rise in organised criminal activity. Encouragingly, it looks as though the proposed legislation includes stronger safeguards than originally set out under the last government. The legislation is also an opportunity to ensure a more supportive approach to managing debt repayments to DWP. We want to see the DWP introduce a much better affordability assessment to agree repayment plans, which includes people’s ability to afford the essentials. 

And there are major reviews coming which will set the direction for a whole raft of policies that will be crucial to reducing the need for emergency food  – a review of Universal Credit, a new child poverty strategy, a Carer’s Allowance review, and more. 

This Budget’s first steps are hugely welcome – at Trussell, we wanted the UK government to recognise the need for support now and they have listened. But there is no time to lose. This Budget was only a start on the journey towards ending the need for food banks. It must be followed swiftly by much greater action, particularly on social security.  

Our key test for the UK government over the next year will be whether it can place our social security system on an equal footing to our other public services, making it part of the foundations of our society. We urgently need the government to value the role our social security system plays in providing people the financial security to prepare for and seek work, sustain work, manage health conditions and disability, and caring responsibilities.  

This will ensure we live in the society we all want to see; one where everyone can afford the essentials and is protected from hunger and hardship. Updating social security must be central to a clear long-term plan from the UK government, setting out how it will fulfil its pledge to end the need for emergency food. This is vital to fulfil its promises to the country of renewal, tackling hardship, easing pressure on public services, and boosting economic growth.