(6 years, 11 months ago)
Commons Chamber Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD) 
        
    
        
    
         The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Justin Tomlinson)
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Justin Tomlinson) 
        
    
        
    
        The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 froze the majority of working-age benefits for four tax years from 2016-17. Those provisions will lapse in 2020, and the pre-existing statutory arrangements will come back into force.
 Mr Carmichael
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Mr Carmichael 
        
    
        
    
        According to the Resolution Foundation, the value of working-age benefits has fallen by 6.4% since 2014. What does the Minister think it tells us about the Government of which he is a part that the Chancellor’s priority in the Budget was to give a tax cut to higher rate taxpayers like him and me, rather than addressing that?
 Justin Tomlinson
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Justin Tomlinson 
        
    
        
    
        The reality is that the poorest fifth in society are £400 a year better off in real terms, and the richest fifth in society are £800 worse off.