Living Standards

Elizabeth Truss Excerpts

Monday 5th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

I come back to the initial point: we face a huge deficit. People recognise we have to reduce it, but at the same time we are trying to do everything we can to protect the poorest. That is why we are running through the issues here.

[Elizabeth Truss (South West Norfolk) (Con)]

When the previous Government introduced so much regulation into the child care market, did not the number of child minders fall from 100,000 to 50,000 placements while the cost of child care doubled? Was that not a shameful increase in the cost of living for some of the poorest families in our country?

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. If we are to find practical ways of improving living standards, the work that she is undertaking is exactly what we need to be doing. We need to ensure that we have an effective environment in which parents can work and child care costs are manageable.