Oral Answers to Questions

Lloyd Russell-Moyle Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the OBR’s growth forecasts on living standards.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

13. What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the OBR’s growth forecasts on living standards.

--- Later in debate ---

[Laura Trott]

As the hon. Lady will know, we put billions of pounds into councils this year, and the provisional settlement is above what is expected to be the inflation rate next year. If she has specific issues with her local council, I shall be happy to take that up with her.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

We have seen one of the greatest falls in living standards in a generation, and the Chancellor has callously removed the household support fund from councils. In Brighton the fund pays for free school meal vouchers in the holidays, the warmth and wellbeing scheme, career centres, family hubs, and food banks such as the one in Whitehawk where my constituency office has its surgeries. Will the Minister think again about scrapping the household support fund, so that councils can support the very worst off?

[Laura Trott]

I want to reassure the hon. Gentleman: no decision has been made about the household support fund. More broadly, however, we have pulled in an average of £3,700 per household this year to help people with exactly what we are talking about. This Government are on the side of people during what is a very difficult time.