A top Tory has opened the door to extending the £20-a-week Universal Credit boost beyond September 30.
DWP minister Will Quince hinted the benefit could continue at its current rate for longer than planned if coronavirus takes a turn for the worse.
He told MPs and peers an extension beyond September 30 "would be premature" to announce now - but pointedly did not rule it out later in the year.
Mr Quince added the Chancellor would need the "agility" to act later in the year if case rates soar or a new variant takes hold in the UK. And he suggested Rishi Sunak will "take a view in the end of the summer, or perhaps as we approach the last quarter of this year" on how to continue support.
It comes despite Rishi Sunak explicitly denying last week that he would extend the benefit uplift any further.
Asked if he would spare families a cut in October, the Chancellor said: "No, we put this in place at the beginning of the crisis last year to help people in the national lockdown... six months’ extension to the Universal Credit uplift means it will be in place well beyond the end of this national lockdown."
Claimed by 6million Brits, Universal Credit was made £20 a week more generous in April 2020 - a boost that had been due to run out next month. The Budget created a new end date of September but charities and MPs blasted the £2.2bn extension for being too short.
The Resolution Foundation warned the cut-off will cause a 7% fall in income for the poorest households.
Lord Forsyth, chairman of the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, slammed the proposed cut at a joint session with the Commons Work and Pensions Committee today.
The peer told Mr Quince unemployment was set to rise by 500,000, adding: “Is that really a sensible moment to cut people who are amongst the poorest in the country, to cut their income by 7% when it’s going to be harder for them to find jobs?”
Mr Quince replied: "We very much hope that the vaccine rollout will continue at pace and be as successful as it looks like it is going to be.
"But we don’t know about other things such as new variants. So I think it’s right that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will continue to look at the economic, societal and health picture going forward.
"And [he will] be able to take a view in the end of the summer, or perhaps as we approach the last quarter of this year, on how best we continue to support some of the lowest paid, most vulnerable, poorest and most disadvantaged in our country.
“And I think ensuring the Chancellor and the Treasury have the agility to do that without casting in stone the measures they want to take I think is actually very important.”
Asked if that was a hint the £20-a-week might be extended further, Mr Quince replied: "That sort of decision is well above my grade.
"But all I would say is I make recommendations to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State has ongoing discussions with both the Treasury and No10 about how we continue to support people.
"We are still very much in the depths of the pandemic... To be frank we don’t quite know where we’re going to be in the third and fourth quarter of this year and that’s why it’s important that we continue to have those conversations with HM Treasury and the Chancellor.”
Treasury sources today insisted the "clear intention" is to end the uplift in September - but also could not rule out extending it for longer.
