On Monday the House of Lords delayed George Osborne’s plans to save more than £4 billion through tax credit reforms. While the Chancellor has since said he would “lessen” the impact of the cuts by providing “transitional help” he has vowed to go ahead with the sweeping reforms, which it is estimated could see more than three million low income families across the UK losing around £1,200 a year. 

 

It is estimated that here in Fermanagh, where over 40 per cent of workers earn less than the living wage of approximately £16,000 a year, families could be disproportionately affected. Manager of the Fermanagh Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Siobhan Peoples, said the proposed cuts may mean some people cannot afford to take up work offered to them. Each month Fermanagh CAB deals with over 1,000 advice queries. Ms Peoples said at least 70 relate to low-paid clients who request Benefit Entitlement Checks with regard working and child tax credits. 

 

“For people on low incomes this information is essential as they need to know they can actually afford to take the job that has been offered,” she said. “Can they pay the childcare they will need? Can they pay the fuel costs to travel to the job? Fermanagh is a very rural area, and it is essential for people to work to have access to their own transport with public transport being so poor.”

Explaining how many of those offered work were only offered minimum wage of £6.70, Ms Peoples added:  “If the Government are successful in reducing the earnings threshold for Working Tax Credit, many of our clients in Fermanagh will not be able to take up jobs offered to them.

 

 This also poses the question, who will take these jobs? We wonder if this has been considered by Government.”

Ms Peoples said with so many people in Fermanagh earning minimum wage, less than £250 per week full-time, the proposed tax credit cuts would affect a disproportionate number of families in the count. “The Government aim to save a total of £150,000,000 in the next 5 years by cutting tax credits in the North, so obviously this will affect thousands of people living in Fermanagh,” she said. “We have already had thousands of clients impacted by the cuts since 2009.” 

 

She concluded: “We believe that the recent budgets damage the economic security of working families and will lead to increased child poverty if the Government persists in cuts to Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. We know that child poverty has already risen since 2010 and if the Government continue with these cuts, this will worsen.”

 

Fermanagh MP Tom Elliot, who said he had voted against them at “every chance”, said he was also concerned about what the tax credit cuts could mean for families here. “They’re very wide ranging and will have a significant detrimental affect on families here,” he said. “We have the largest number of low paid workers in the UK. The cuts have a disproportionate affect on families here as there are an awful lot of Fermanagh families earning below the living wage.”

 

With regard George Osborne’s promise to “lessen” the cuts, Mr Elliot said: “I’m hoping he will make significant changes, and he will probably make some changes due to the strong opposition to the cuts. Whether these changes will be enough to satisfy me and the countless families affected remains to be seen.”