Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 5th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

Currently, 1.1 million young people—students—receive free school meals. If the policy that has been put forward as part of the consultation goes ahead—where there is an earnings threshold of £7,400—an additional 50,000 young people will benefit from free school meals.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

13. If she will make an estimate of the number of children who will no longer be living in poverty as a result of the roll-out of universal credit.

[Karen Lee (Lincoln) (Lab)]

15. If she will make an estimate of the number of children who will no longer be living in poverty as a result of the roll-out of universal credit.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Kit Malthouse)]

Both hon. Ladies are right to recognise the role that welfare reform is playing in alleviating child poverty. Work is the best route out of poverty, and universal credit strengthens the incentives for parents to move into and progress in work. However, it cannot be considered in isolation: it is a key component of a broader strategy to move Britain to a higher wage, lower welfare and lower tax society.

[Diana Johnson]

Owing to policies pursued since 2010, we now have 20,700 children in poverty across Hull, and food poverty and holiday hunger are growing, including, despite what the Secretary of State says, in working families. Will restricting free school meals in universal credit create a cliff edge and make the situation even more dire in the most disadvantaged communities?

[Kit Malthouse]

Undoubtedly, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier, children are five times more likely to be in poverty if they are in a workless household. The Government’s entire thrust is to get as many people into work as possible, and we would never contemplate anything that would get in the way of those kinds of incentives. As my hon. Friend the Minister for Employment said, nobody will lose out under the current proposals on free school meals; in fact, there might well be more recipients in the future.