Oral Answers to Questions
Liz Jarvis Excerpts(1 day, 16 hours ago)
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Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)
The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)
It is a terrible consequence of 14 years of Conservative misrule that around 4.3 million of our children are growing up in poverty. That is why the child poverty taskforce’s work to complete our strategy is urgent. Taskforce Ministers have met six times and have had extensive engagement with people across the country, including external experts, local leaders and children and their families living in poverty.
Liz Jarvis
According to the End Child Poverty coalition, in 2022-23 the child poverty rate after housing costs in my constituency of Eastleigh was 21%. Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation projects that child poverty in England will rise to 31.5% by 2029. Every day without action pushes more children into hardship, and they cannot wait for the Government’s strategy to be published. What urgent measures will the Government take now to prevent more children from growing up in poverty?
Alison McGovern
The hon. Lady is absolutely right: this issue is urgent. That was why in the Budget the Chancellor announced the fair repayment rate, which stops families having to deal with so much debt through the universal credit system, saving families over £400 a year, but we know we have to go further. That is why, as I mentioned, Ministers are working hard to bring forward our child poverty strategy.
Carer’s Allowance
Liz Jarvis Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)
I rise to speak as someone with direct personal experience of battling the care system. Since I became the MP for Eastleigh, I have been contacted by numerous constituents who have been asked to pay back thousands in overpayments by the DWP. One is a single parent of a child with special educational needs, who worked narrowly over the threshold and has had her allowance cut completely. She has been left without her allowance and is now repaying the overpayment, struggling on a limited income while caring for her son.
The carer’s allowance overpayment scandal highlights deep flaws in our social security system. Unpaid carers—those dedicating their lives to caring for loved ones—are being unfairly penalised. Many of the debts could have been avoided had the previous Government fixed system failures and responded to warnings. The system needs urgent reform. The Government must take responsibility and compensate carers for overpayments that could have been prevented. I welcome the news that the Government will review overpayments in the carer’s allowance scandal, but for the sake of all vulnerable carers facing penalties I hope that we see urgent action to rectify the situation too.
The financial reality for carers in Eastleigh is incredibly challenging; 29% of unpaid carers in the UK live in poverty, and many are forced to leave work because of their caring responsibilities. One million carers across the country are relying on a carer’s allowance of just £81.90 a week. We must raise the earnings cap, allowing carers to continue working without fear of financial penalty, but financial instability is just one aspect of the difficulties that carers are facing as we head into winter. Changes to the winter fuel payment will impact the 1.2 million unpaid carers over 65. Estimates show that 1.2 million carers are already in fuel poverty, with 42% of caring households struggling to heat their homes. That highlights the urgent need for more targeted support to ensure that carers are not forced to choose between caring and basic necessities.
We need urgent reform of carer’s allowance, better pay for care workers and more support for unpaid carers. The social care crisis is leaving too many in Eastleigh stranded in hospital beds because there are not enough care workers to support them at home. We must address these issues, with a higher carer’s minimum wage, paid carer’s leave and guaranteed respite breaks. We must ensure that carers in Eastleigh and across the UK have enough to live on, and are given the respect and support that they deserve.