Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Universal Credit: Poverty Reduction

Monday 19 October 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Alan Brown questioned the effectiveness of universal credit in reducing poverty levels.
  • The government reported a reduction in absolute poverty rates from 2010 statistics, with additional investments of 9.3 billion in the welfare system.
  • Alan Brown highlighted that 4,600 children in his constituency are estimated to be living in poverty, despite government interventions.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alan Brown SNP
Benefits & Welfare
Context

Statistics from 2018-19 show lower rates and numbers of people in absolute poverty compared to 2010. However, the question challenges this assessment.

Question

What assessment has she made of the effectiveness of universal credit in reducing levels of poverty?

Answer from Will Quince

The latest statistics from 2018-19 show that the rates and numbers of people in absolute poverty were lower than in 2010. Since those statistics were published, we have injected a further £9.3 billion into our welfare system, including an increase to universal credit of up to £1,040 for this financial year.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The questioner challenged the effectiveness of Universal Credit in reducing poverty, but the response only highlighted positive statistics and funding without directly addressing its efficacy.

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Q2 Alan Brown SNP
Economy Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

Scotland has the lowest child poverty rates due to efforts by the Scottish government, but 4,600 children in Alan Brown's constituency are estimated to be living in poverty because of UK government policies.

Question

The reality is that £9.3 billion and an increase of up to £1,040 for universal credit does not address child poverty adequately. The Scottish Government has mitigated the worst impacts of austerity but 4,600 children in my constituency are estimated to be living in poverty, which is shameful. Will the Minister listen to calls from the End Child Poverty coalition and Macmillan Cancer Support to keep the £20 a week universal credit uplift to avoid putting more families and children into poverty?

Answer from Will Quince

One child in poverty is one child too many. We at the Department are continuing to work with Her Majesty's Treasury and other Government Departments to monitor the evolving economic and labour market situation and identify the most effective ways to help people stay in or close to work, both now and in future. It is important to stress that Her Majesty's Treasury published a distributional analysis that assessed the impact of covid-19 on incomes compared with the incomes of working households in May 2020. That analysis showed that the Government's interventions have supported the poorest households the most.

Not addressed: The questioner asked specifically about keeping the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift, but the response avoided this by discussing general efforts and an unrelated distributional analysis.

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