Covid-19: People Living in Poverty

Baroness Crawley Excerpts

Thursday 30th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Crawley (Lab)]

My Lords, for most of us the Covid-19 lockdown is an uncomfortable inconvenience, but for the more than 4 million children living in relative poverty in the UK it is a time of heightened anxiety and possibly even hunger. Will the Minister tell us the Government’s response to the jolting statistic that only 4% to 5% of vulnerable children who should be in school during the pandemic are turning up? Where are they and how are they doing? I am sure that she shares my concern. What is the Government’s response to the more than 1 million people who have claimed universal credit and are still waiting for payments? Are the Government confident that the National Voucher Scheme is now working properly after the initial delays and that the vouchers are now being accepted by all eligible supermarkets? We cannot look back on this time and have to say, “Most of us got through it, but the poor paid the price.”