Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Hollern Excerpts

Monday 13th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to support benefit claimants in meeting increased living costs.

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

7. What steps her Department is taking to support benefit claimants in meeting increased living costs.

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

23. What steps her Department is taking to support benefit claimants in meeting increased living costs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kate Hollern]

In effect, the new household support scheme, about which we have heard quite a bit today, replaces the £20 universal credit uplift with £1.60. Can the Minister tell me how that will help families through this harsh winter, especially as increasing numbers of people will have to self-isolate? It certainly will not do much for the more than 16% of families in Blackburn who live in fuel poverty—households that are now faced with even higher fuel prices in the winter cost crunch. Will he reconsider the rate of the universal credit standard allowance and ensure that it rises in line with the cost of living?

[David Rutley]

I can reassure the hon. Member that steps are in place to help people through various stages of the employment journey. For those who are in work, there is the universal credit taper and work allowance. For those who are out of work, as the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies), has said, there is the plan for jobs, which is making a big difference in people’s lives. For those who are vulnerable and need extra help, there is the household support fund, and in Blackburn and Darwen that comes to £1.6 million over this winter.