Supporting Disadvantaged Families

Question

The shadow criticises the timing of the Government's announcement, suggesting it is too late for half-term support. He also queries why universal credit is being cut despite evidence of hardship.

Question

The MP welcomed any move that will stop children from going hungry over the tough months ahead. He expressed astonishment at the Government's late action and criticised toxic commentary on social media and in Parliament during previous debates about holiday hunger. The opposition supports the new measures but criticises the delay, noting that it took significant public pressure for the government to act. He also questions why this was necessary and asks for no cuts to universal credit next April.

Question

Welcoming the announcement despite not supporting it in previous votes, Paul Maynard asked how the money will be spent not just to meet immediate need but improve long-term life chances for young people.

Question

While welcoming some measures, Neil Grey pointed out that Scotland had been providing equivalent support earlier. He welcomed the UK Government’s decision on free school meals but noted it was only starting from next year while Scotland committed £10 million for Christmas and Easter extensions. He also asked about the two-child cap and universal credit cuts.

Question

I congratulate the Minister for her measures in supporting children and families during difficult times. Does she agree that these measures go beyond what was previously proposed regarding free school meals? Will this measure provide long-term sustainable support?

Question

I welcome the additional support announced today and ask how funding will be allocated among local authorities in England. Will families with no recourse to public funds also receive assistance?

Question

The additional funding for winter is given to councils as they understand community needs best. Should this support extend beyond those eligible for free school meals?

Question

Despite community support during the pandemic, does the Minister agree that no child should face holiday hunger post-pandemic? What steps will be taken to address this issue beyond winter?

Question

Does support with food costs extend to all eligible pre-school children, not just school-age children?

Question

Why are devolved Administrations receiving less funding despite having correct priorities and sums?

Question

Does the Minister agree that enriching activities during holidays can both improve educational attainment and ensure children receive healthy meals?

Question

Welcomed the package of support for tackling child hunger over Christmas, highlighted Manchester City's Marcus Rashford as instrumental in prompting this Government action. Criticised proposed cut to universal credit and local housing allowance inadequacy.

Question

Welcomed extension of holiday activities programme. Asked about focus areas such as a nutritious meal, daily mile, purposeful activity to address holiday learning loss, cooking from scratch workshops, first aid sessions and whole family engagement.

Question

Expressed concerns over lack of financial assistance for SMEs, emphasised the need for government support to help businesses and families during crisis.

Question

Welcomed announcement on social justice, holiday activities programme. Asked for guidance to ensure access to the £170 million covid winter grant is unbureaucratic and asked about digitisation of Healthy Start vouchers.

Question

Praised Calderdale Council for its Never Hungry Again campaign and asked about reimbursement for resources invested to ensure no child went hungry during half-term.

Question

Complimented holiday activities fund and its importance in South Derbyshire, especially free and healthy meals.

Question

Asked about advances being loans instead of grants as per Work and Pensions Committee report. Inquired about permanent £20 uplift to universal credit.

Question

Expressed concern over deepening poverty in land, criticised previous government actions such as the reduction of Sure Start and children's centres.

Question

People who have already had a mortgage holiday for six months are not eligible for another one under the Government’s scheme, so many people will be worrying about how they will keep a roof over their heads this winter. Furthermore, the scheme does not cover mortgage interest, so that will still accrue during any payment holiday. Back in April 2018, the Government scrapped the support for mortgage interest payment and replaced it with a loan, despite warnings from Labour that that would put low-income households at risk. What consideration has the Secretary of State given to reinstating SMI, and will she abolish the nine-month waiting period, which renders the scheme unfit for purpose?

Question

I warmly welcome this package of measures to support families through what will undoubtedly be a very hard winter. My right hon. Friend will be aware that, in constituencies such as mine, more than half of the people on low incomes are in single-person households, and they face a very different set of issues this winter. Can she confirm that funding for programmes that help people through homelessness, support rough sleepers and provide support on issues around mental health will not be diminished by the package of measures announced today?

Question

Today’s measures are reactive; they have been forced out of this Government by the covid pandemic and the epic campaign of Marcus Rashford. The truth is that last year, the Trussell Trust had to provide 720,000 emergency packages of support to children in this country. That is more than 700,000 higher than when Labour left office in 2010. All we are asking today is for the Secretary of State to be proactive—scrap the benefit cap, scrap the universal credit delay and scrap the “no recourse to public funds” restrictions, which will all leave children hungry across this country if the Government continue to fail to listen.

Question

Over the summer, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford), visited me in Ipswich because we were one of the pilots where the holiday food and activities fund was in operation. I can tell everyone in this House that this has been a long time coming—it has been worked on by Government for a very long period and was very much a plan that they hoped to extend across the country. This is far more ambitious than what was proposed in terms of simply extending the school meal vouchers into the holidays; this is an unprecedented intervention to help those who need the help the most, and I fundamentally welcome it. But does my right hon. Friend agree with me that we all have a big job to do, both in this place but also as Government and as councils, to make sure that before December everyone is aware of this fund and the profile is raised so that we can ensure that those who are vulnerable and need the help the most get access to it in a timely way?

Question

I very much welcome this package of support today, which will rightly tackle more aspects of poverty than efforts with vouchers could have done. Regarding the additional support for FareShare, we have in my constituency one of its regional partners, SOFEA, which I volunteered for regularly in lockdown, seeing first-hand what a great job it does. Does my right hon. Friend agree that charities such as this are often better placed to understand the needs of their communities than central Government are?

Question

I want to raise the issue of carers and financial disadvantage. During this crisis, millions of unpaid carers have taken on more caring duties or started caring for a family member for the first time, and many of them are struggling to make ends meet. Although universal credit was uplifted during the crisis to provide people with more support, there was no change to the level of carers allowance, despite it being the lowest benefit of its kind. Will the Secretary of State recognise the monumental impact that the pandemic has had on carers’ lives and introduce an equivalent uplift payment to that for universal credit for carers in receipt of carers allowance?

Question

Can I welcome the statement today from the Secretary of State? It is very much an extension to our policy, and it is adapting to the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in in this country. Can she confirm that the £170 million scheme builds on the £63 million already announced earlier this year, and as with previous funding allocations, it is local councils that get that cash—in my constituency, it is Warrington Borough Council—because they are best placed to be able to deliver the support that local disadvantaged families need in this time of extraordinary circumstance?

Question

Last month, Conservative Members took to social media to claim that free school meal vouchers were being spent on prostitution and drugs, as well as to criticise selfless business owners who stepped in to provide the support that the Government refused to. Will the Secretary of State condemn these comments by MPs as not only false, but as yet more demonisation of those in poverty by the Conservative Government?

Question

The MP thanked the Secretary of State for providing funding to Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council. He asked the Minister to meet him and Carol Shanahan, founder of the Hubb Foundation holiday club in Burslem, to discuss how her programme could be funded for the Christmas and Easter periods.

Question

The MP welcomed anything that helps constituents but criticised the Secretary of State for using the words 'social justice' when announcing the package, considering it a misuse. He highlighted the fast-growing rate of child poverty in his constituency and thanked local businesses and organisations for their support.

Question

The MP welcomed the funding for Barnsley Council and Sheffield, highlighting that free school meals were not designed to support families in crisis. She asked if local authorities would be able to use this fund to support all families, not just those who have previously registered.

Question

The MP referenced research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on increased poverty rates due to the pandemic. She asked for a meeting with the Secretary of State to discuss support for universal basic income pilots.

Question

The MP supported the announcement and highlighted unemployment issues in Stoke-on-Trent. He asked what steps were being taken to help people find new employment opportunities.

Question

The MP welcomed the expansion of grants but urged the Secretary of State to eliminate the five-week delay in claiming universal credit. She noted that advances are loans and can push families into debt.

Question

As co-chair of the all-party group on poverty, the MP welcomed the statement. He asked how this strategy would dovetail with the national food strategy.

Question

The MP referenced the UN special rapporteur’s report highlighting that disabled people have been among the hardest hit by austerity measures. She asked for a permanent increase in universal credit and an extension of the uplift to all legacy benefits.

Question

I sincerely thank my right hon. Friend and the Ministers who have worked intensively during this period to bring these measures to the House today. They are incredibly welcome and will make a real difference to children in Eastbourne and Willingdon. I recognise that they go further, wider and deeper than the motion I supported two weeks ago. I particularly welcome the extension of the holiday and food activities programme, not least because we have seen schools close this year, and the learning gap has widened. These measures will help with that and be impactful. The programme is new to Eastbourne. I have seen the success of pilot schemes in other areas, and it is something I hugely welcome. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that good practice in other areas will be shared with county councils that do not have experience of delivering these programmes, to ensure that every child benefits to the maximum?

Question

While I welcome this latest U-turn from the Government on supporting children, I ask them to consider the fact that there are still millions of people in this country, like the constituent I spoke to on Wednesday who was at her wits’ end, who have had no help, no support, no finance from the Government at all since March. Will the Government reconsider? Will they consider universal basic income? Will they extend the help we have at the moment to the excluded?

Question

A long-term and local approach was always going to be the best thing to help families. I feel quite emotional about this, because I was told that I was starving children and that I was killing children—I had the worst abuse ever. I abstained because I wanted to help the Government to look at that long-term approach. If Opposition Members really thought that children would be starving over the half-term holidays, they would not have brought that just before the half-term holidays. The local approach is working and I ask the Secretary of State to give praise to charities such as The Long Table, the Freezers of Love initiative and Paganhill community groups, and say to them that the money and the funding will be there, because they know where the families are who they can help.