Child Poverty in the North

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck) for securing this important debate. I also thank her co-chair of the APPG, the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mary Robinson), for her contribution to the debate and for the work of the APPG. It is incredibly important that we look at this issue.

Just over a year ago, I held a similar debate on the relationship between regional inequalities and child poverty, following the publication of the “Child of the North” report, which clearly illustrated all the factors involved in child poverty and the whole range of issues that build in disadvantage for children right across the north, such as education and health, which the hon. Member for Cheadle mentioned. I am pleased that work has continued following that debate, through the child of the north all-party parliamentary group, to make sure that we do not just have a one-off debate but actually continue to identify, and follow up on, the issues identified in the report.

The report was called “Child of the North”, but I want to concentrate on the region I know best, which is the north-east. Sadly, my region has the highest rates of poverty anywhere in England. That is not a claim I am pleased to make. It is shocking that children in my region are suffering poverty and deprivation and are being held back by that as they develop through the years. That is not something I am proud of, and it is something I would dearly like to change. Almost two in five children in the north-east are living in poverty. In my constituency, the number of children growing up in poverty increased by 13% between 2015 and 2021. That is absolutely shocking.

The numbers alone are difficult to think about, but it is even harder to think about what they represent—the struggling families and the children being held back. At an APPG evidence session, the North East Child Poverty Commission presented truly harrowing accounts from the people and families it works with, which brought home the true impact of this scandal on people’s lives. One account came from parents in my local authority of Gateshead who were using watered-down evaporated milk in their baby’s bottles because of the soaring price of baby formula and putting off weaning because of fears about the cost of solid food. That is absolutely shocking. It does not need saying—I hope—that that is simply unacceptable in the world’s fifth or sixth richest country. The report produced by the APPG following its evidence sessions—“Child Poverty and the Cost of Living Crisis”—illustrated clearly, as the hon. Member for Cheadle said, how the problem is compounded by the increases in the cost of living and the challenges people face. There has been a real deterioration there.

I am proud of our local community in Blaydon, and indeed of the many communities across Blaydon, for stepping in where the Government have fallen short. That includes the Gateshead food bank depots at Blaydon and Birtley, and we had the report from the Trussell Trust last week showing the huge increase in the use of food banks. There is also the Blaydon Community Larder, which helps people with food, the Gateshead West pre-loved uniform scheme and Feeding Families, which works across the north-east—I could mention many more organisations.

These organisations do all they can to support people with the basic necessities they need to keep their children safe, happy and fed, but they are struggling more and more to meet the growing demand for their help. According to the Trussell Trust, in the last 12 months the number of emergency food parcels distributed in the north-east rose by more than 50% compared with the previous year. That is the highest year-on-year increase anywhere in the UK. Sadly, Feeding Families, which has a huge depot in my constituency, has had to move premises, because over the last year its usage has increased by 100% as well. That is not an isolated example, and I know that people across the country and the north are also affected.

Families all over the UK and the north are struggling, and I do not want to play poverty Top Trumps—it is not a game I am interested in—but the trends in the north-east are particularly staggering. Last year, The Guardian reported on the 11 local authorities that had seen the highest percentage point increases in child poverty since 2015. All of them, sadly, were in the north-east. Alongside our neighbours across the Tyne, my local authority of Gateshead topped the list. That is not a list that I want us to be top of; I do not want us to be anywhere in that list, frankly, and I want action to put that right. This is a place-based crisis warranting a place-based explanation.

What is particularly striking about the rise in child poverty in the north-east is how it has affected families with working parents. We hear time and again from the Government how the best way to tackle child poverty is to get parents into work. But the number of children in in-work poverty in the north-east rose by 91% between 2015 and 2021, compared with a 27% rise across the rest of the UK, and that is before the cost of living really started to bite. It is clear that what we are seeing is the impact of a longer-term structural issue.

At 14.8% the north-east has the second highest rate of employee jobs paid below the Living Wage Foundation’s real living wage. Two in five of all children in key worker households in our region live below the poverty line—the highest proportion anywhere in the country. Do the Government really want to tell the children of those key workers— children who saw their parents celebrated for all the work they did during the pandemic—that their parents should get yet another job?

With large numbers of our local population relying on low and insecure pay, it should not come as a surprise that many families in our region rely on the universal credit system. Universal credit keeps many of our families going, but it is too often too flimsy a raft and a punitive one. According to figures from the North East Child Poverty Commission, 58% of children in families in Blaydon who receive universal credit collectively lose out on £111,000 per month in deductions from universal credit. That is an average of £73 per household that could have been used to purchase essentials that families scrape together every last penny to buy. Just last month we marked the sixth anniversary of the two-child limit, which has been recognised as one of the leading drivers of rising poverty for families with children. That limit affects 860 children in my constituency alone. It is clear that the system requires an urgent review.

Our social security system was meant to provide for people from cradle to grave, but it seems the Government cannot fulfil even the first part of that obligation. There must be action to ensure that the impact of the current crisis falls on those with the broadest shoulders and not on families who are already struggling to make ends meet. In the world’s fifth richest nation, that should be well within our capabilities.

I want to turn to some of the recommendations in the APPG’s report and the asks that have been touched on by my colleagues. I will keep it simple because the report has been published and can be seen—we are happy to share it with the Minister if she does not have it already. We need to ensure that families have enough money to live on and security of income; that children have enough healthy food to eat; that they have those healthy breakfasts that my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields talked about; and that they have access to the school meals they are entitled to—they should not lose out on free school meals when they are already entitled to them. Children also need to be brought up in warm, heated homes for the best start in life, and we need to use data to identify the families who need additional support and help. Finally, we need a joined-up approach across Government to look at the intersections between poverty, poor health, poor educational outcomes and poorer life expectancy. All of the data needs to be brought together to ensure that policies address all those issues. Our children deserve the best start in life, the chance to thrive and the best opportunities.

Before finishing, I would like to thank the North East Child Poverty Commission, with which I have worked over a number of years, for its work to ensure that we do not forget these issues and these children. I would also like to thank the co-chairs of the APPG, the NHSA and others who wrote the original “Child of the North” report. I hope that we can improve the chances of people in the worst situations and give every child the chance to develop, grow and thrive.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mims Davies]

I understand the hon. Lady’s point. I thank her for her passion and interest in this area, and for what she is doing for her constituents. There is no direct, objective way of clarifying what is an adequate level of benefit. Every person has a different level of requirements depending on their circumstances. Income-related benefits are not made up of separate amounts specific to beneficiaries’ expenditure, or food costs or whatever. The Government firmly believe that beneficiaries should be free to spend their benefits how they see fit in the light of their individual circumstances and needs.

The Government’s approach to welfare is to fully recognise the value and importance of work, which has been mentioned in this debate. Making it work for everybody is vital. We are determined not only to help people progress and be supported in work, but to protect and support the most vulnerable in society. Universal credit is adjusted monthly depending on a beneficiary’s circumstances. It is absolutely right that the people who need additional support, whether that is through the household support fund, hardship payments or an adjustment due to a change in circumstances, are able to come forward. I spent much of my childhood on benefits due to the impact of ill health and disablement, and we had to navigate through the same system. I personally understand it.

Whether people are on benefits for a short or a long time, it is important that they are supported, and know how to navigate the system to get the right support for their family. That is why I am always keen to reiterate the Help to Claim service, the Help for Households website and the work we have done on the household support fund. I thank our partners in particular for their work on delivering the household support fund for people, whether they receive benefits or not. We have heard today that because of the war in Ukraine and the changing impact of the pandemic, more people than ever have found things particularly tough. With the household support fund, I have made it clear that people on benefits, and those who are just above the threshold or just managing, or perhaps in a change of circumstances, will be looked for, found and reached out to so that that discretionary support can be given to those who need it most. Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding to use at their discretion.

It is right that in our approach to tackling poverty, we are able to bring in different interventions and different changes. People can call it a sticking plaster, but for me it is a different intervention and a step change to support some of the people I have mentioned, who perhaps would not normally need to be supported by the benefits system. It is a firm belief that the best way to help families to improve their financial situation is through not only work but skills. My hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mary Robinson) mentioned sectors and areas where people perhaps do not see a way into better-paid jobs and opportunities. It is vital that we engage and talk with them, and use Jobcentre Plus sits and local networks to help people see that there are opportunities just down the road from them. Their skill base, level of education or confidence—the word we hear continually at DWP—should not lock them out from the opportunities that are there. That is why those 1.1 million vacancies across the UK are our firm focus to help people to take further steps not just into work but to progress in work, and to be better off.

I will turn to some of the points that have been made today to hopefully underline that focus. On jobs interventions, there have been jobs fairs at the JCP in Birkenhead, and there are 16 employers with 400 roles available. In Sheffield, the NHS has very pleasingly streamlined the application process for universal credit claimants, ensuring that we actually attract the people who are down the road into the roles we need filling. In Doncaster, our local team has worked on jobs fairs particularly for those with health conditions and disabilities. In fact, there was recently a north-east jobs fair at the Stadium of Light with 50 employers and 1,800 people invited. It is absolutely vital that we use all different interventions to help people to be better off, including those additional interventions from Government as well as helping people to progress and be better off in work.

[Liz Twist]

I wonder if the Minister could comment on the figures I quoted on the number of people in the north-east who are actually working—many of them in different jobs—but still do not have enough to cope. What do the Government propose to resolve that issue? It is not just about work; it is about having good work.

[Mims Davies]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady. I believe just over £3.6 million has gone into the household support fund in Blaydon, and there have been nearly 11,000 cost of living payments in the hon. Lady’s constituency. We are making those interventions exactly as she describes, to support those people who may be working but whose circumstances have changed. We are in difficult times—let us not deny that—due to a combination of historical, generational problems, as hon. Members have pointed out today, but also off the back of the pandemic and a war on our continent. It is therefore absolutely right that Government are able to step forward. I am happy to write to the hon. Lady about the direct interventions we have made in her constituency to help those youngsters. That is what is at the heart of this matter: not statistics, but people like Sophie, who was mentioned earlier. These youngsters need to know and feel that the Government, and anybody from any political party or any intervention, are on their side and are helping to make things better. I hope that answers the hon. Lady’s question.

[Liz Twist]

I thank the Minister for letting me intervene again. I understand the amount of money that is put in through the household support fund. My question is: if we work on the basis that work should pay and getting into work is the best intervention to give children—as the Minister rightly says, children are individuals, not statistics—the best chance, what are we going to do outside the current cost of living crisis? This issue existed before the cost of living crisis and it will continue. It is, as I said, a structural issue.

[Mims Davies]

I think we are actually talking the same language here. It is about progression in work and being better off, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle mentioned. How does someone go for those better-paid jobs, and how do they progress? Of course, it is also about ensuring that sectors are paying the right rates—good work, as the hon. Member for Blaydon (Liz Twist) mentioned. It is about ensuring that people are well remunerated and well supported in those roles, which is exactly why we have our in-work progression focus. We did a large report on that. It has been mentioned today that transport could be an issue for some people, and their educational base has been mentioned as well. It is about whether people are able to get to that next rung, where they are actually better off. That is what our in-work progression champions are doing in JCPs. Someone can be working all the hours God sends, but are they better off? That is something that answers that question. That is what we are determined to do.

Turning to the report, it is important to highlight what we are doing beyond the household support fund. We are investing £30 million to provide free breakfasts for children in up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas; we have extended this programme through to July 2024. As we know, children continue to learn well if they receive a healthy breakfast. That is really important. Eligibility for free schools has changed several times as we have heard today, with more groups included and 1.9 million disadvantaged pupils being supported through the benefits-related criteria, while a further 1.25 million infant pupils are receiving free school meals through the universal infant free school meals policy.

I absolutely agree that the balance around doing well in education is vital, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle. We are absolutely focused on these interventions, whether that is the breakfast clubs or the pupil premium, alongside the Department for Education. The schemes are there to help the most vulnerable children. There is also support for children under four and pregnant women through the Healthy Start scheme. We have heard about the holiday activities and food programme, or the HAF programme, which is an investment of £200 million a year. All those interventions are absolutely right. Both from the report and from comments, it has been clear throughout the debate that all our interventions need to change to make a generational shift for our communities. That includes those on in-work progression, our childcare offer and whatever is introduced from each part of the community or from Government.

The levelling-up agenda was mentioned. To unleash the full potential of every local economy, we must spread opportunity to every corner of the country to reverse decades of economic underperformance. As we heard, individuals can be locked out of their local economy if their education, confidence and network hampers them. We need strong local interventions, such as the jobs fairs that I mentioned.

The DWP has local teams that specialise in working in partnership with local authorities. They create the links with communities that are necessary to understand each local area’s needs and to tailor provision and support with the local labour market. Through those links, they regularly engage with local authorities and local leaders, some of whom have been mentioned, to ensure that all our interventions, including our restart programme for the long-term unemployed, work for them.

I will turn to food prices because I am mindful that they are particularly challenging. I am keenly looking at the issue and working on it with the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mark Spencer). Rising food prices affect those on the lowest incomes. A combination of factors, including agrifood import prices, domestic agricultural prices, labour costs and manufacturing costs, have had a significant impact. That is why we focused on delivering the biggest support that we could in the spring Budget, including through our focus on childcare.

I am mindful that I have been speaking for some time. I am happy to respond in writing to hon. Members, and I will share those responses with the House. In conclusion, I will be very clear: this Government are fully committed to providing opportunities for parents. We have not heard a lot about parents, but theirs is a really difficult position to be in. They do absolutely everything and strive all they can, but must constantly ask themselves how they can make ends meet so that their children do better. We are determined. In my role as Minister for Social Mobility, I am determined to ensure that people will be able to prevail in every area of the UK. They will be sustained and supported. At the same time, we will ensure that the most vulnerable have the targeted support that they need in these very challenging times.

I thank all those at the coalface, supporting every child in need in every community. We all work diligently to reduce the number of children in need, so that we can see an end to this challenge across our communities—wherever those young people live.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 24th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove]

I am hugely appreciative of my hon. Friend, who is a passionate advocate of Disability Confident. I would hope that local authorities would want to engage with the scheme and set the example that they would like to see businesses and other organisations in their communities follow. I know he has good conversations on this question with Councillor David Thomas, the leader of the Conservative group, who I hope may be in a position in a few weeks’ time to help set the standard in the Torbay area and blaze a trail for Disability Confident at Torbay Council.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

T9. Do Ministers think it acceptable that thousands of women who have been underpaid their state pensions will be forced to wait until the end of 2024 to see that error addressed?

[Laura Trott]

We have massively increased the number of people working on that at the moment. We are undertaking work against scams, we are prioritising cases in which the recipient is alive, and we will try to get that done by the end of the year. I am accelerating that as much as I can. I am very aware that it is a problem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of people who are out of work owing to mental ill health.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)]

The Department for Work and Pensions provides specialist help for those who are suffering from mental ill health, both through the Access to Work scheme and by funding advisers in the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services in England.

[Liz Twist]

Since 2019, economic inactivity due to mental illness and nervous disorders has increased by 22%. People with mental ill health need support in order to get back into work, and Access to Work grants are a vital resource in helping to ensure that they have that support, but in the past year alone waiting times have doubled and the size of the backlog has trebled. People have been forced to turn down jobs that they want to do because they cannot gain access to the support and flexibility they need. What will the Government do to address those delays?

[Mel Stride]

The hon. Lady is right: there is an issue with economic inactivity, which is why the Prime Minister has tasked me with reviewing this entire area, including the matters that she has rightly raised. We will, in due course, publish a White Paper to address some of those matters.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 5th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mims Davies]

Universal credit-eligible claimants can claim up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month, regardless of the number of hours they work; I would compare that favourably with 70% in tax credits. What I would say to employers who may be overlooking single parents is that they are not understanding the wide range of childcare challenges. I am a single mum—I get it. Looking at job design and flexibility is equally important.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

10. What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of levels of benefit payments to support people with disabilities with the cost of energy.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

19. What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of levels of benefit payments to support people with disabilities with the cost of energy.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Tom Pursglove)]

Ministers across Government, of course, discuss policy proposals. The Government are spending £37 billion this year to support people on low incomes and disabled people with rising costs of living and energy prices. On top of that support, which includes cost of living payments, we have committed to a further £26 billion in cost of living support in 2023-24.

[Liz Twist]

Earlier this year, 300,000 disabled people were taken out of eligibility for the warm home discount scheme, causing them huge worry. What does the Minister say to those 300,000 worried disabled people, who lost £150 because of his Government’s decision to remove them from the warm home discount scheme?

[Tom Pursglove]

I am happy to raise with Ministers across Government the hon. Lady’s point about eligibility for the scheme, but I would make the argument that this Government have put in place a comprehensive package of support that is worth £37 billion this year and £26 billion next year. It is comprehensive support, meeting a number of needs. Of course, there is also discretionary help to meet particular needs where they exist in particular households.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 6th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

The whole House would unite with my hon. Friend in thanking carers, and I am sure we all have lived experiences as well. I think it is fair to say that carers allowance is not intended to be a replacement salary or anything like that; it is a contribution, and a modest contribution, I accept. As with all benefits, we consider the uplift annually, and I will continue to do so.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

5. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the delivery of support to low-income households with the cost of living.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

6. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of benefits rates in the context of the rise in the level of inflation.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

We have announced £15 billion in further cost of living support, bringing our total package to £37 billion this year. Through the Government’s recent interventions, we are targeting those most in need. Our package equates to at least £1,200 for almost 8 million of the most vulnerable households, at a challenging time for many people.

[Liz Twist]

Earlier today, Carers Trust Tyne and Wear, which is based in my Blaydon constituency, launched its report on the experiences of unpaid carers during the pandemic and made the point that they are the unsung heroes of the pandemic. As we have heard, carers allowance is the lowest benefit of its kind, yet those who receive it will get no cost of living support. Does the Minister really believe that carers allowance is adequate in the face of the current cost of living crisis?

[David Rutley]

I echo what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already said. I also highlight the fact that households that pay energy bills will receive the £400 cash grant to support them, and that if somebody with a disability lives in a household, there will be further funding with the £150 disability cost of living payment.

Carer’s Allowance

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Westminster Hall

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

The reason I am participating in the debate is that I brought together an unpaid carers group that has been meeting over the past few months to talk about the current situation. The fact is, it is heart-rending to talk about the struggle that most of them are having. The pressure they are under is immense, and the pressure that they have been under as a result of covid has exacerbated the way in which their lives have been transformed by the altruistic act of caring for someone else.

The carers in the group are, basically, families looking after a child with a disability or a special need, or families looking after an elderly relative. What is also remarkable is the number of the children who look after others in their families. What came across in the group is that that act of caring has implications for the whole family: individuals have given up their careers to undertake caring, and siblings who have given up the opportunity of going to university to help the family out with care overall.

It is interesting that none of them asks for anything in return. They do not even ask for thanks. They just want to get by. They just want to be able to survive. To be frank, from the discussions I have been having with them, I do not think that some will survive this coming period. We call it the cost of living crisis glibly, but it is a crisis for this particular group of people in our society in a way that it is possibly not for others.

To run through some things that they would emphasise—points others have made—for example, the issue of higher energy costs is not just about heating; it is the energy that is needed to maintain basic equipment to enable the person people are caring for to survive, as my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) said. Apart from the health-support devices and the special equipment, other issues raised were the transport costs to get to appointments—again, that can become very costly—and nutritional costs, in particular as inflation hits hard a number of nutritional inputs required for the person they are caring for.

It then comes down to what those carers receive. My hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) raised the issue of the contradiction between the earnings allowance and carer’s allowance. It is ludicrous—we all know that it is ludicrous—and it just needs resolving quickly. I do not understand what logic there is for arguing for anything other than reform on that issue. It comes down to the basic level of carer’s allowance, as far as I am concerned. We are inflicting a level of poverty on these people, who do so much work to assist our society overall.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. We have Carers Week, when we celebrate and thank carers, coming up in June. Does he agree that there is no better time to look seriously at raising the carer’s allowance and making sure that we not only recognise carers with words but treat them decently?

[John McDonnell]

I fully agree. There is a sense of urgency about this issue now, because what came out of the discussions that I have had with the carers group that I brought together is the stress that carers are under, and the mental health implications not only for themselves as individuals but for their whole family. We know that there are examples in the past of how such stress has caused a mental health problem that has led to suicide.

There is a need for urgent action now. We have gone beyond intellectual debates about this issue; we just need some action rapidly, given the fact that carers face these massive increases in prices, particularly around energy. And then effectively they face a cut—a 3.1% increase, as against inflation now, which ranges between 7% and 10%. That level of inflation comes in like a whirlwind for these particular families and we need urgent action now. Perhaps that action has not been considered effectively in the past, but it certainly needs to be considered now.

Regional Inequalities: Child Poverty

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2022 Westminster Hall

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered regional inequalities and child poverty.

It is a pleasure, Dr Huq, to serve under you as Chair in this debate on regional inequalities and child poverty. Speaking about child poverty gives me no pleasure at all. In 2022, in the world’s fifth-richest country, we should not need to talk about child poverty or regional inequalities at all, yet sadly too many of my constituents and people living across the whole north of England face real inequalities in all aspects of life. That directly affects our children’s life chances, health, wellbeing and, yes, even life expectancy. I acknowledge that there are huge divides between communities in London, too; there is great wealth in some parts and real poverty in others. It is important to recognise that.

Of course, covid-19 has deepened inequalities; the north was affected by longer lockdowns, a higher number of infections and, sadly, a higher number of deaths. Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s report, “Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review”, and before that, “Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On”, published in 2020, clearly set out the situation. Covid-19 does discriminate, hitting hardest those people in our communities who are already affected by inequality. It has exacerbated inequalities, hitting hardest those groups and people who were already disadvantaged.

Earlier this year, the Northern Health Science Alliance, or NHSA—a group of academics and health specialists working in collaboration—published a major report, “The Child of the North: Building A Fairer Future After Covid-19”. Sadly, I do not have time to take hon. Members through all its detail, but the findings were that inequality and low living standards are a huge problem across the north, and that this problem is only getting worse.

The NHSA’s report found that today, nearly a third of children in the north live in poverty, and 60% of northern local authorities have above-average numbers of children living in low-income homes. The report found that children across the north spent more time in lockdown than their peers in the rest of England. They are also more likely to grow up in care. Young children in the north are less prepared when they start school than children in the rest of England.

The report clearly shows the many ways that regional inequality blights the lives of children and adults, including through higher levels of poverty, poorer educational attainment, higher levels of infant mortality, lower life expectancy and worse mental health outcomes, both for children and adults.

Finally, the report concludes that

“Poverty is the lead driver of inequalities between children in the North and their counterparts in the rest of the country, leading to worse physical and mental health outcomes, educational attainment, and lower lifelong economic productivity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made this situation worse. Although the full impact is not yet known, modelling suggests that, without intervention, the outlook is bleak.”

I am pleased that, one week today at 10 o’clock, I will host the report’s authors as they present their findings. I hope that the Minister can call in and speak to some of those involved in putting the report together, as well as to some of the children with whom they worked, to hear at first hand how we can reduce regional inequalities and improve the life chances of our children and young people right across the north.

One of the best parts of our job as MPs is the great opportunities that we get to go into local schools. When I visit schools—primary and secondary—I see children and young people who are full of enthusiasm, and keen to tell me about what they are learning and the things that really interest them. The classrooms are full of their artwork, and they ask loads of questions—very often the questions that adults would be far too polite to ask—and of course there are teachers and other school staff doing their very best to level up the chances of those children, so that they are the best they can be.

There are great things happening in the north, but we owe it to those young people to really address the disadvantages that they face, and to reduce the poverty that holds them back. There are people and organisations on the ground across Blaydon constituency taking positive steps to make things better and ease things for those who are really struggling, such as the Gateshead food bank depots at Blaydon and Birtley, the Blaydon Community Larder, the Gateshead West pre-loved school uniform scheme, the Winlaton Centre, The Bank in Chopwell, the Birtley Hub and so many others right across my constituency. However, it should not have to be like this in this day and age.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. She mentions food banks. We have seen a huge increase in food bank usage in Newcastle Central, and had the third highest increase in child poverty in the country between 2015 and 2019; it was almost 13%. Some 100,000 of the children living in poverty across the north-east live in families where one parent is working, and we see that reflected in food bank usage. Does she agree that we have to ensure that parents have enough to feed themselves and their children without going to food banks, and that the Government have been failing on that?

[Liz Twist]

I most certainly agree. That picture is reflected in my constituency, too. We must make sure that families have enough to live a good and decent life, and to support their children.

On the north-east more specifically, the North East Child Poverty Commission, hosted by Newcastle University, produces valuable research on the prevalence and effects of child poverty across the region. On the latest available data, from 2019-20, the north-east has the UK’s second highest rate of child poverty. An average of 37% of all babies, children and young people in our region grow up poor, whereas the UK average is 31%. Most concerningly for our region, the north-east also experienced the steepest growth in child poverty from 2014-15 to 2019-20—the six years leading into the pandemic; it rose by 11 percentage points from 26% to 37%. By comparison, there was a UK-wide rise of 2 percentage points over the same period.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree on the importance of the relationship between our social security system and the adequacy of working-age support on the one hand, given that £34 billion a year has been taken out of support for working-age people, and the impact on child poverty on the other? Would she like to comment on the fact that for every 1% increase in child poverty, an additional five babies a year out of 100,000 live births will not see their first birthday?

[Liz Twist]

I agree with my hon. Friend, and I will come to the economic aspects of this issue later. We do not yet have child poverty figures for the period during the covid-19 pandemic; I understand that we will not have them until the end of March 2022. However, from some of the available real-time information, it is clear that there has been a significant financial impact on thousands of families in our region. The north-east has experienced the joint steepest increase in the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals during the pandemic of anywhere in England, having already had the highest proportion pre-covid.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful and timely speech. She mentions free school meals; another support that many families in the north-east rely on is Healthy Start vouchers. A report by Northumbria University and Feeding Britain recently highlighted that there are incredible struggles with the move from a paper-based system to a prepaid card system. Families are being rejected at the tills in their hour of greatest need, and cannot get any help through the helpline. Does she agree that the Minister should commit today to urgently resolving the matter, so that families, and particularly children, get the support they need?

[Liz Twist]

I thank my hon. Friend for that valid and pertinent point. That is one detail that must be looked at—it is so important for those families. Turning to in-work poverty, the TUC found that 108,775 children living in poverty in the north-east come from homes with at least one parent or carer in work. That is an increase of 52% since 2010. Children growing up in poverty is not about parents who refuse to work, but rather a lack of good, secure and well-paid jobs in the north-east and across the north.

[Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is being generous with her time and making an excellent speech; I am impressed that it is so wide-ranging. She will be aware that 4.3 million children are living in poverty in the UK. According to research by the End Child Poverty coalition in May last year, 20% of children in my constituency of Wirral West were living in poverty in 2019-20. That has increased since 2015. Does she agree that Government policy is having a direct impact in stimulating child poverty? She is talking about parents being in work, but policies such as the cut to universal credit are only making the matter worse.

[Liz Twist]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I shall come on to that later. The regional inequalities go beyond childhood and affect people in the north-east throughout their life. According to “Health Equity In England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On”, living in a deprived area of the north-east is worse for health than living in a similarly deprived area in London, to the extent that life expectancy for those living in deprived areas of the north-east is nearly five years lower. Life expectancy in the north-east is lower than in any other part of England, and region matters more for people in the most deprived areas. For both men and women, the largest decreases in life expectancy were seen in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods in the north-east. That is clearly unacceptable. I thank Jane Streather, chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission, for her work over the last 10 years; she steps down as chair later this year.

Of course, we cannot have this debate without speaking about what the Prime Minister calls levelling up. That phrase seems to mean so many things to so many people, but I would argue that a crucial part of levelling up, reducing inequalities or whatever else we call it is reducing child poverty—giving our children and families the economic means to get out of the poverty trap. It was disappointing to see that the levelling-up White Paper did nothing to address that fundamental issue for families, many of whom are working households. The “Child of the North” report clearly points out the link between tackling poverty and increasing productivity, so it makes sense to take steps to remove those children from poverty. What we have seen with the removal of the £20 per week universal credit uplift is the exact opposite.

Another thing we cannot and must not ignore is the impact of the substantial increase in the cost of living. The families and children we are talking about are hit every bit as much as others, and in many cases more, by increasing inflation, the massively increasing energy costs and other increases. Those effects do not show yet in the figures I have quoted. What can we do? We must urgently work towards a comprehensive, cross-departmental child strategy that includes increasing Government investment in the welfare, health and social care systems that support children’s health, particularly in deprived areas and areas most affected by the covid-19 pandemic. That means raising child benefit by at least £10 per child per week, lifting the two-child limit and the benefit cap and, crucially, reversing the £20 cut to universal credit. We need a welfare system that both prevents and tackles poverty.

We need long-term transformative investment in the services that children, young people and families use, particularly those services that are targeted but universal, such as family and community hubs, in order to build social solidarity and reduce the risk of stigmatisation.

We need to develop area-level measures of children’s physical and mental health in order to better understand place-based inequalities. I ask him to look at those issues and respond to those points. I would be pleased to meet him to discuss these issues further. Can he answer each of those points?

I can do no better than finish with the words of Lemn Sissay OBE in the foreword to the “Child of the North” report, which I hope he does not mind me quoting. He says:

“Childhood is life defining and shaped by factors from before birth through to adulthood. A child’s mother’s health, the care they get, through family or the care system, what house they live in, what food they eat, how often they get to run around, their education, their opportunities. All of these things have a big impact and, as this report shows, the average Child of the North is disadvantaged from the start across all of these measures.”

The children of the north deserve the very best chance to develop, grow and prosper. I hope that the Minister will take action on these issues.

--- Later in debate ---

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blaydon (Liz Twist) on securing today’s important debate.

As a fellow north-eastern MP, I know only too well that the north-east has been left behind by Governments of all colours. In 2019, the people of Darlington and other constituencies across the north-east elected Conservative MPs on the promise of levelling up and realising the full potential of the north-east. Since the election, the Government have faced incredible challenges that no other Government have. They have pressed ahead with their ambitious agenda and have committed to unprecedented investment up and down the country.

The annual “Households below average income” publication, about the number and percentage of children in low-income households, remains the most accurate published measurement of low income. Those statistics show that in the past decade 100,000 children have been lifted out of absolute poverty, and levels of combined material deprivation and low income for children are at their joint lowest level.

We know that the best way for people to find a route out of poverty is through work. That is why I welcome the Government’s lifetime skills programme, which enables people to get the skills they need in order to get the jobs that will help them to provide for their family.

[Liz Twist]

The hon. Member has quoted some measures. As he will be aware, there are different definitions of child poverty; the standard definition refers to 60% of median income. He needs to recognise that there is a difference.

[Peter Gibson]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her intervention. The issues around accurate definitions pose part of the problem. I hope the Minister will address that point, as Members on all sides of the House need to agree on an accurate definition of the issue that we are discussing.

The chances of a child growing up in poverty are significantly reduced when both parents are working and when both parents are present. I am proud that this Government are taking an approach to tackling poverty that has employment at its centre. The Government’s plan for jobs has already supported millions of people, and will continue to support people into work, in developing their skills, in making the most of their talents and in achieving their potential.

I recently met the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and it impressed on me that it is in single-parent families or those with absent parents that a child is most at risk of growing up in poverty. We must remember that the state has limited levers for dealing with poverty unilaterally. A responsibility rests on both parents, and I would like to see greater efforts by the Child Maintenance Service to ensure that absent parents pay and meet their responsibilities.

While we know that employment is hugely important, I am glad that we have a robust welfare safety net in place to support people on low incomes; £111 billion has been invested in welfare support for people of working age. I welcome the Chancellor’s decision to extend the work allowance for those on universal credit, and the reduction in the taper rate, ensuring that work really does pay. Moreover, I welcome the Government’s £421 million household support fund to help vulnerable people in England with essential household costs over the winter, as our economy recovers.

Improving educational outcomes for children is also key to tackling long-term poverty, and the Government are determined to help people receive the best possible start in life, creating a level playing field for transforming the education system, to ensure that people gain the skills they need to unleash their potential. The Government recognise the current regional differences in schools, meaning that some children do not have access to the same level of education.

I also take the opportunity to praise the Government’s fantastic holiday food and activities programme. Darlington Borough Council received £460,000 to deliver food and activities over Easter and summer, and has already reached more than 2,000 local children. Councillor Jonathan Dulston, the deputy leader of Darlington Borough Council, said:

“This fund came at a crucial time, and this Government support gave local authorities like Darlington the tools to step up and bring communities back together by creating educational, physical and fun opportunities to help our children thrive.”

--- Later in debate ---

[David Rutley]

I do not have those figures in front of me. There has been some debate about the appropriate measure. Some hon. Members are keen to have a relative measure as opposed to an absolute measure, but there are challenges with that, with some counterintuitive results. For example, relative poverty is likely to fall during recessions, due to falling median incomes. That measure of poverty can decrease, even if people are getting poorer. We need to look at different measures. The measure we think is most accurate is absolute poverty before housing costs. We have, of course, set other key statutory indicators in place as well, around parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment.

[Liz Twist]

I want to touch on the definition of poverty because it is clearly important. I should point out that the people I referred to, who are producing the reports around the north-east and the north, are well-respected academics who look into these issues. I should also point out that the House of Commons Library produces figures on both these measures. It is clearly a difficult area.

[David Rutley]

I know that the hon. Member is very thoughtful about these matters; we have worked together in different capacities over the past few years. Of course, there are different measures. Today I am highlighting that it is difficult to decide which is most appropriate. The Government and t Department believe that absolute poverty before housing costs is the best measure. I have highlighted one of the problems with relative poverty targets at certain times in the economic cycle, and we need to be cognisant of that.

With our economic recovery continuing, it is right now to focus on helping people, wherever they live in the UK, to move into and to progress in work. There are more than 1.29 million—nearly 1.3 million—vacancies across the UK. Payroll employment is at a record high of almost 29.5 million; it is higher now than it was in February 2020 across all regions. Last quarter, there were 14,000 more jobs in the north-east in payroll employment, and 38,000 in the north-west.

Last month, published estimates showed that the number of online job adverts—another indicator of opportunities —across the UK was over 38% higher than the pre-pandemic level. For the north-east, the figure was a staggering 68.9% increase, so there are real vacancies out there.

Hon. Members, particularly Opposition Members, have highlighted challenges for individual families, which I understand, but I am trying to highlight that there are opportunities out there. Hon. Members know from speaking to their businesses that there are shortages of labour. One thing we need to do is ensure that we can match those people who need work with the opportunities available.

--- Later in debate ---

[Liz Twist]

I thank all hon. Members who have taken part in what has been a stimulating and thoughtful debate. I did ask some specific things, and I clearly did not expect the Minister to roll over and agree with some of them, although I wish that he would—particularly whether he might be able to check his diary to see if he can attend the “Child of the North” meeting next week, because it would be worth while to talk to the academics there. I would also welcome the opportunity to speak to him about some of these things in more detail.

There are too many points to respond to, not least the bits about employment and unemployment. Unemployment in the north-east was actually higher; it bucked the trend in some other parts of the country. That is a significant point.

The Minister referred to the integrated rail plan and the expenditure on rail. He will know that across the north, most of us feel that we have lost out. There may be investment, but we have lost out on the opportunities provided by strengthening the east and west coast connection and the High Speed 2 proposal.

What we need in the north is not just jobs; we need good, high-quality jobs that represent real opportunity for people to develop and make the progress he talks about, and we need to do much more to make that happen. Finally, the north is great. The north-east is great.

[David Rutley]

The north-west is great too.

[Liz Twist]

Well, I will speak for the north-east and the rest of the north—they are great. The debate is not about whingeing and saying, “It’s not fair.” It is about saying that the north-east is a fantastic place and our children need the best opportunities to make the best of their lives.

Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 13th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

What I would say is that I am proud that this Government stepped forward at the beginning of the pandemic to put in place the largest cash increase in our welfare safety net to support people through an unprecedented period of economic shock and financial disruption, but as our economy opens up, we have record numbers of vacancies in our labour market—we know that work is the best route out of poverty—and it is absolutely right that we tack our approach to support and empower people into work and to progress in work.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

18. What recent estimate she has made of the proportion of children in relative poverty where at least one adult in that household is in employment.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Will Quince)]

National statistics on the number and percentage of children in low-income households are published annually in the “Households below average income” publication. In 2019-20, 19% of children living in households where at least one adult is in employment were in relative poverty before housing costs.

[Liz Twist]

The Government are very keen to say that work is the route to escape from poverty. However, over 27% of children in my Blaydon constituency live in poverty and many of those are in families where at least one parent or more is in work. The £20 universal credit uplift removal will push working families deeper into poverty, so what will the Government do to tackle the crisis of in-work poverty?

[Will Quince]

We know—all evidence suggests—that full work dramatically reduces the risk of poverty. As our economy improves, we will increasingly focus on progression to improve opportunities for those in low-paid work and support them towards financial independence. But the hon. Lady is right, and I recognise that moving into work is not always enough to lift people out of poverty; that is why we have the independent in-work progression commission, which published its report over the summer on the barriers to progression for those on persistent low pay. It makes a number of recommendations for the Government that we will consider very carefully and respond to later in the year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I think I have covered this one. As our economy improves, we will increasingly focus our support and work on in-work progression to improve the opportunities for those who are in low-paid work and to support them towards financial independence. The in-work progression commission will report shortly on the barriers to progression for those in persistent low pay. Our plan for jobs—those extra 13,500 work coaches, kickstart, restart, job entry targeted support and the sector-based work academy programme—will make a difference, and of course we have the strategy coming out of the in-work progression commission.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Some 2.1 million pensioners now live in poverty. Figures from Independent Age show that ensuring the uptake of pension credit could help to address that. My older constituents are losing out on up to £3.5 million in pension credit that is going unclaimed. Will the Secretary of State now produce a dedicated action plan to increase the uptake of pension credit?

[Guy Opperman]

As the hon. Lady should be aware, on 16 June we had a pension credit awareness day, working with Age UK, Independent Age, various other charitable organisations and the BBC to get greater uptake of pension credit, and I am pleased to say that pension credit numbers are improving. There is more to do, but we are working with stakeholders to ensure that that does happen.

Department for Education

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Ruth George) on opening the debate and setting the scene for us. I want to talk briefly about the position in Gateshead. My constituency is wholly contained within the local authority area of Gateshead and I want to touch on various points. We are seeing many of the worst problems occurring in my constituency. We had the full roll-out of universal credit in October and November 2017, so many of my constituents did not benefit from the tweaks that we had later. That clearly does not apply now, but there were some problems earlier on. Yes, people who have applied since the changes have seen the benefit of the roll-over of two weeks’ housing benefit, but many have been left in a difficult situation.

The housing company that manages the housing stock across the Gateshead Council area is the Gateshead Housing Company. According to up-to-date information, there are currently 3,087 tenants on universal credit who even now, collectively, have arrears of £1.8 million. That is an average of £583 each, up from an average of £283 before universal credit. I am told that this is caused by the delays in receiving payments. I am also told that 41% of the tenants of the Gateshead Housing Company have been put on alternative payment arrangements, which is a much higher proportion than either the Government or the company expected. This is not a case of the authority or the housing company leaving people to the worst of the system; this is happening after people have had help.

This builds on existing issues resulting from the bedroom tax, or the under occupancy tax—whichever you want to call it, the problem is the same. It involves those who do not have a chance, whatever they might want to do, to move to a smaller property. There were 1,579 people affected by that, and we can see a cumulative effect building up. The roll-out figure for people going on to universal credit has been much greater than expected. As I say, this is not an area in which people have been left to struggle, but there is still a problem with the housing revenue account.

I want to speak briefly, and quickly, about a report commissioned by Gateshead Council into the impact of universal credit. These are the headlines. First, those claiming universal credit found the experience complicated, difficult and demeaning. Secondly, the consequences of waiting five weeks for their money—and in many cases up to 12 weeks, with an average wait of 7.5 weeks—pushed many people into debt, rent arrears and hardship. For many of them, this included going without food. Thirdly, the staff supporting claimants found the system to be inconsistent, with inaccurate advice being given and difficulty in correcting what were clearly mistakes. Fourthly, universal credit is not working for vulnerable claimants, and it significantly adds to the workload of the staff supporting those claimants. I could go on, but I do not have time to do so.

We have also heard about the difficulty for people moving from the disability living allowance to the personal independence payment, with many people having their benefits reinstated on appeal. It cannot be right that the system allows people to go through all that agony, only to then reinstate their benefits. We have to get that right. Finally, I want to mention one of my constituents, Rev. Tracey Hume, who has said:

“I volunteer with a food bank. I am also a Methodist minister who has had to find benevolent funds to pay for gas and electricity while people wait five weeks for their first payment. We cannot expect people to live like that.”