Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Of course I withdraw it and would simply say that the hon. Lady has been very creative in the use of the numbers that she has put before the House. The number she is using is the amount of money that Labour was spending on capital before the general election, but it set out plans to cut capital after the general election. We have exceeded those plans, and it is completely hypocritical for the Labour party to claim that it would have spent more on capital when it clearly would not have.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

13. How many working households will be affected by the changes to the uprating of tax credits and other payments announced in the autumn statement.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Sajid Javid)]

The 1% uprating of working age benefits and tax credits is estimated to affect 1.65 million working age households in 2015-16. Of this total, around half of the households have no individual in work and half are households in which at least one individual works at least an hour a week.

[Mrs Glindon]

Can the Minister confirm that his Government’s own figures show that, shamefully, cuts to tax credits and other benefits will push hundreds of children in North Tyneside—and 200,000 children nationally—into poverty?

[Sajid Javid]

What I can confirm is that the Government are taking a very focused approach to welfare. Under the previous Government, nine out of 10 families with children were eligible for tax credits. No wonder our welfare budget was out of control. Through the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill and other reforms the Government have introduced, we are making our welfare system affordable and more focused.