Child Poverty in the North

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I thank the hon. Member for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck) for securing this debate. I absolutely agree with the early sentiments and spirit of unity in her speech and speeches from across this Chamber. It is right that we come together to do the best for our youngsters, and it is vital that they are at the heart of our actions and outcomes. The way the debate has been held is critical to getting under the skin of what is happening in communities in the north and, in fact, any community where people are struggling. I thank everyone who has contributed and who helps support the most vulnerable daily. I also thank the all-party group for its work and all those who gave evidence and insight to the APPG report, which I will refer to shortly.

I will pick up on several issues later in the debate, but I want to assure the House about the quality of homes issue, which is something that consistently comes up. Since I took on this brief, having been asked to return to DWP to cover social mobility, the issue is something I am focused on and am working on with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and across Government. This is very much something in my line of sight, and I thank hon. Members for raising those issues.

I reassure the House that we are strongly committed to a welfare system that supports those who are most in need. I understand the concerns around the phrase “levelling up”. It is not an empty phrase, and I will make some further remarks on that shortly. In 2023-24, we will spend around £276 billion through the welfare system in Great Britain, including £124 billion on people of working age and their children. As we have heard, our commitment is reflected in the 10.1% increase in benefit rates and state pensions for 2023-24, and we have increased the benefit cap by that same amount so that more people across the whole country can benefit from these new rates.

The decisive action we have seen because of the impact of the cost of living is there in how we made good on our commitment to protecting the most vulnerable. Overall, in 2022-23 and 2023-24, we are providing total support worth £94 billion to help people with rising bills. On average, that is £3,300 per household. Last year, we made cost of living payments of up to £650 to over 8 million low-income households, and I am proud to have been the Minister bringing through the recent Bill on that. This year, a similar number of eligible households will receive additional payments of up to £900. I am pleased to confirm today that 99% of households that were initially eligible for the first cost of living payment via DWP will have been paid £301 by the Government by the end of today, which basically means we will see 6.4 million households on an eligible DWP means-tested benefit getting that first cost of living payment.

That gives me the opportunity to remind anybody listening to speak to Citizens Advice and to use our Help to Claim service, the Help for Households website and the benefit calculator on gov.uk. I am mindful, however, that not everyone is able to do that, and it is absolutely right that they should turn to Citizens Advice or other help in the community, and I will go on to some of that shortly.

We have worked with Ofcom and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to ensure that we have a growing number of social tariffs for access to homework, applying for jobs and getting more training and support for those people on universal credit or means-tested benefits. We are working hard to promote that in our jobcentres and through partnerships, and we are working strongly with Ofcom.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

It is good to hear that the cost of living payments are going to be in people’s bank accounts, but does the Minister not agree that they are another sticking-plaster measure? If benefits and the welfare system were providing what they should, then we would not need to provide these payments because people would have enough to live on.

[Mims Davies]

I understand the hon. Lady’s point. I thank her for her passion and interest in this area, and for what she is doing for her constituents. There is no direct, objective way of clarifying what is an adequate level of benefit. Every person has a different level of requirements depending on their circumstances. Income-related benefits are not made up of separate amounts specific to beneficiaries’ expenditure, or food costs or whatever. The Government firmly believe that beneficiaries should be free to spend their benefits how they see fit in the light of their individual circumstances and needs.

The Government’s approach to welfare is to fully recognise the value and importance of work, which has been mentioned in this debate. Making it work for everybody is vital. We are determined not only to help people progress and be supported in work, but to protect and support the most vulnerable in society. Universal credit is adjusted monthly depending on a beneficiary’s circumstances. It is absolutely right that the people who need additional support, whether that is through the household support fund, hardship payments or an adjustment due to a change in circumstances, are able to come forward. I spent much of my childhood on benefits due to the impact of ill health and disablement, and we had to navigate through the same system. I personally understand it.

Whether people are on benefits for a short or a long time, it is important that they are supported, and know how to navigate the system to get the right support for their family. That is why I am always keen to reiterate the Help to Claim service, the Help for Households website and the work we have done on the household support fund. I thank our partners in particular for their work on delivering the household support fund for people, whether they receive benefits or not. We have heard today that because of the war in Ukraine and the changing impact of the pandemic, more people than ever have found things particularly tough. With the household support fund, I have made it clear that people on benefits, and those who are just above the threshold or just managing, or perhaps in a change of circumstances, will be looked for, found and reached out to so that that discretionary support can be given to those who need it most. Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding to use at their discretion.

It is right that in our approach to tackling poverty, we are able to bring in different interventions and different changes. People can call it a sticking plaster, but for me it is a different intervention and a step change to support some of the people I have mentioned, who perhaps would not normally need to be supported by the benefits system. It is a firm belief that the best way to help families to improve their financial situation is through not only work but skills. My hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mary Robinson) mentioned sectors and areas where people perhaps do not see a way into better-paid jobs and opportunities. It is vital that we engage and talk with them, and use Jobcentre Plus sits and local networks to help people see that there are opportunities just down the road from them. Their skill base, level of education or confidence—the word we hear continually at DWP—should not lock them out from the opportunities that are there. That is why those 1.1 million vacancies across the UK are our firm focus to help people to take further steps not just into work but to progress in work, and to be better off.

I will turn to some of the points that have been made today to hopefully underline that focus. On jobs interventions, there have been jobs fairs at the JCP in Birkenhead, and there are 16 employers with 400 roles available. In Sheffield, the NHS has very pleasingly streamlined the application process for universal credit claimants, ensuring that we actually attract the people who are down the road into the roles we need filling. In Doncaster, our local team has worked on jobs fairs particularly for those with health conditions and disabilities. In fact, there was recently a north-east jobs fair at the Stadium of Light with 50 employers and 1,800 people invited. It is absolutely vital that we use all different interventions to help people to be better off, including those additional interventions from Government as well as helping people to progress and be better off in work.

[Liz Twist]

I wonder if the Minister could comment on the figures I quoted on the number of people in the north-east who are actually working—many of them in different jobs—but still do not have enough to cope. What do the Government propose to resolve that issue? It is not just about work; it is about having good work.

[Mims Davies]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady. I believe just over £3.6 million has gone into the household support fund in Blaydon, and there have been nearly 11,000 cost of living payments in the hon. Lady’s constituency. We are making those interventions exactly as she describes, to support those people who may be working but whose circumstances have changed. We are in difficult times—let us not deny that—due to a combination of historical, generational problems, as hon. Members have pointed out today, but also off the back of the pandemic and a war on our continent. It is therefore absolutely right that Government are able to step forward. I am happy to write to the hon. Lady about the direct interventions we have made in her constituency to help those youngsters. That is what is at the heart of this matter: not statistics, but people like Sophie, who was mentioned earlier. These youngsters need to know and feel that the Government, and anybody from any political party or any intervention, are on their side and are helping to make things better. I hope that answers the hon. Lady’s question.

[Liz Twist]

I thank the Minister for letting me intervene again. I understand the amount of money that is put in through the household support fund. My question is: if we work on the basis that work should pay and getting into work is the best intervention to give children—as the Minister rightly says, children are individuals, not statistics—the best chance, what are we going to do outside the current cost of living crisis? This issue existed before the cost of living crisis and it will continue. It is, as I said, a structural issue.

[Mims Davies]

I think we are actually talking the same language here. It is about progression in work and being better off, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle mentioned. How does someone go for those better-paid jobs, and how do they progress? Of course, it is also about ensuring that sectors are paying the right rates—good work, as the hon. Member for Blaydon (Liz Twist) mentioned. It is about ensuring that people are well remunerated and well supported in those roles, which is exactly why we have our in-work progression focus. We did a large report on that. It has been mentioned today that transport could be an issue for some people, and their educational base has been mentioned as well. It is about whether people are able to get to that next rung, where they are actually better off. That is what our in-work progression champions are doing in JCPs. Someone can be working all the hours God sends, but are they better off? That is something that answers that question. That is what we are determined to do.

Turning to the report, it is important to highlight what we are doing beyond the household support fund. We are investing £30 million to provide free breakfasts for children in up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas; we have extended this programme through to July 2024. As we know, children continue to learn well if they receive a healthy breakfast. That is really important. Eligibility for free schools has changed several times as we have heard today, with more groups included and 1.9 million disadvantaged pupils being supported through the benefits-related criteria, while a further 1.25 million infant pupils are receiving free school meals through the universal infant free school meals policy.

I absolutely agree that the balance around doing well in education is vital, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle. We are absolutely focused on these interventions, whether that is the breakfast clubs or the pupil premium, alongside the Department for Education. The schemes are there to help the most vulnerable children. There is also support for children under four and pregnant women through the Healthy Start scheme. We have heard about the holiday activities and food programme, or the HAF programme, which is an investment of £200 million a year. All those interventions are absolutely right. Both from the report and from comments, it has been clear throughout the debate that all our interventions need to change to make a generational shift for our communities. That includes those on in-work progression, our childcare offer and whatever is introduced from each part of the community or from Government.

The levelling-up agenda was mentioned. To unleash the full potential of every local economy, we must spread opportunity to every corner of the country to reverse decades of economic underperformance. As we heard, individuals can be locked out of their local economy if their education, confidence and network hampers them. We need strong local interventions, such as the jobs fairs that I mentioned.

The DWP has local teams that specialise in working in partnership with local authorities. They create the links with communities that are necessary to understand each local area’s needs and to tailor provision and support with the local labour market. Through those links, they regularly engage with local authorities and local leaders, some of whom have been mentioned, to ensure that all our interventions, including our restart programme for the long-term unemployed, work for them.

I will turn to food prices because I am mindful that they are particularly challenging. I am keenly looking at the issue and working on it with the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mark Spencer). Rising food prices affect those on the lowest incomes. A combination of factors, including agrifood import prices, domestic agricultural prices, labour costs and manufacturing costs, have had a significant impact. That is why we focused on delivering the biggest support that we could in the spring Budget, including through our focus on childcare.

I am mindful that I have been speaking for some time. I am happy to respond in writing to hon. Members, and I will share those responses with the House. In conclusion, I will be very clear: this Government are fully committed to providing opportunities for parents. We have not heard a lot about parents, but theirs is a really difficult position to be in. They do absolutely everything and strive all they can, but must constantly ask themselves how they can make ends meet so that their children do better. We are determined. In my role as Minister for Social Mobility, I am determined to ensure that people will be able to prevail in every area of the UK. They will be sustained and supported. At the same time, we will ensure that the most vulnerable have the targeted support that they need in these very challenging times.

I thank all those at the coalface, supporting every child in need in every community. We all work diligently to reduce the number of children in need, so that we can see an end to this challenge across our communities—wherever those young people live.