UK Gov't Reportedly Can't Raise Benefits… Due to 40-Year-Old IT System

The Chancellor of the Exchequer promised greater support to Brits in need during his spring statement, amid rising consumer prices and new increases to power bill caps, which are expected to be upped even more this year as European gas prices continue to climb.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has found his efforts to up some social benefits blocked by an immovable obstacle - an out-dated government IT system, The Times has reported.

The 40 year-old IT system can only modify social benefits once a year and in a specific sector, it turns out. Sunak had already raised benefits by 3.1% in September 2021.

"You could only do it once a year and this was not the time of year that you could do it,” the UK Treasury was reportedly informed in response to its request for another increase.

The story comes as the chancellor faces increasing criticism that support measures proposed in the spring are insufficient.

September’s 3.1% raise was based on the then-consumer price index and appeared adequate at the time. However, it fell short of helping those struggling to make ends meet after inflation started to surge in November.

Sunak reportedly sought to address the problem by further raising certain benefits. However, some of the legacy benefits, such as jobseeker’s and support allowances, are rigged to run on the old IT system. A newer IT system also exists, but it manages unified social credits, which are due to eventually replace legacy benefits.

While the UK decided to phase out legacy benefits in 2012, their complete removal won't happen until 2024. Until then, the only way to help those on these benefits is to wait until autumn to enter the new parameters and then until spring when the system finally calculates the new amounts.

It is unclear how the chancellor is planning to work around the reported problem, with Brits facing decade-high inflation which forced the Bank of England to raise interest rates by 0.25% to 1% recently, bringing it to a 13-year high. In its statement, the bank said that inflation threaten to top 10% by the end of 2022, instead of the previously projected 5.75%.

The situation has been exacerbated by skyrocketing gas prices in Europe that have forced power bill caps to rise, with citizens already facing stress from high consumer prices.

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