Committees at the UK's four parliaments have joined together to urge the UK not to ditch the £20 per week increase in Universal Credit brought in during the coronavirus pandemic. The conveners of committees at Westminster, Holyrood, Stormont and the Senedd have jointly written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey on the issue. The Government has insisted that the extra £20 is a short-term measure ending in October. However, the committees said they hoped London would 'take seriously our view that the uplift should be extended'. Labour's Stephen Timms at Westminster, the SNP's Neil Gray for Holyrood, Paula Bradley of the DUP for Stormont and Welsh Labour's Jenny Rathbone at the Senedd in Cardiff argue the increase in Universal Credit payments has been 'a lifeline for millions of families, saving them from being impoverished'.