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<p><del class="ministerial">As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear,
the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and
we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the
right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation
under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The
current Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) rate is the legal minimum rate that an employer must
pay to an employee; many employers have their own occupational health schemes. Our
welfare system is not directly comparable with other European countries. The SSP system
is designed to balance support for the individual with the costs to the employer and,
as such, there are no plans to make this change. The Government has been clear in
its commitment to support those affected in these difficult times and we have made
a number of changes to the welfare system in the past fortnight to ensure people are
supported in doing this. These changes include:</ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">making
it easier to access benefits. Those applying for Contributory ESA will be able to
claim from day 1 – as opposed to day 8 - and we have removed the need for face-to-face
assessment. Both Universal Credit and Contributory ESA can now be claimed by phone
or online;</ins></li><li><ins class="ministerial">increasing the standard allowance
of Universal Credit and working tax credit for this year by around £1000 per year;
and</ins></li><li><ins class="ministerial">increasing in the Local Housing Allowance
rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers the cheapest
third of local rents – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.</ins></li></ul><p><ins
class="ministerial">Together, these measures represent an injection of over £6.5 billion
into the welfare system.</ins></p>
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