Overview

This bill, proposed as amendments to the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill, aims to adjust the uprating of social security benefits to reflect the unusual impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings. The changes focus on incorporating pandemic-related economic distortions into the calculation of benefit increases.

Description

The amendments modify the original bill's method for calculating annual benefit increases. Instead of using the standard earnings-based measure, the amendments propose a revised approach:

• Amendment 1: Replaces the original method of calculating benefit increases with a process that accounts for the exceptional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings in Great Britain.
• Amendment 2: Further clarifies this adjustment, stating that the calculation should consider "reasonable adjustments" to account for pandemic effects, using official Office for National Statistics (ONS) earnings data.

Government Spending

The impact on government spending is not explicitly stated in the provided text. The amendments could potentially lead to higher or lower increases in benefit payments depending on how the ONS data is interpreted and applied to the calculations, but no specific figures are given.

Groups Affected

The bill directly affects:

• Recipients of social security benefits: The level of their benefits will be influenced by the adjusted uprating calculations, potentially resulting in higher or lower increases than would have occurred without these amendments.
• UK Government: The final cost of social security will be determined by the adjustments made.

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