Nick Smith
Main Page: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)Department Debates - View all Nick Smith's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 day, 7 hours ago)
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Lucy Rigby
As I have said, food banks should not need to exist, which is why this Government are committed to ending mass dependence on food parcels. I have also mentioned the importance of lifting the two-child limit on universal credit, which will result in the largest expected reduction in child poverty in a single Parliament since records began.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Torsten Bell)
Payments of both the basic pension and the new state pension will increase by 4.8% in April, in just a few weeks’ time, boosting pensioners’ incomes by up to £575 a year. The yearly amount of the full new state pension is projected to rise by about £2,100 over the current Parliament, reflecting this Government’s commitment to the triple lock for its duration.
Nick Smith
That is great news. Our pensioners deserve the best support, and will be glad of the extra income. I will shortly be organising events in my constituency promoting pension credit take-up. Some of my pensioner constituents, however, have lost money to the Safe Hands funeral scheme when trying to prepare for the worst of times. Will the Minister please meet me to discuss their case?
Torsten Bell
I am glad to hear that my hon. Friend is organising events to drive pension credit take-up, as he did last year. I know that Members on both sides of the House will be doing that throughout the year.
On my hon. Friend’s question about the failure of Safe Hands, he is a powerful advocate for his constituents. He will know that the Serious Fraud Office has recently announced that two individuals have been charged in relation to the case, and there are live criminal proceedings ongoing, but I know that my hon. and learned Friend the Economic Secretary, who is responsible for this matter, is always happy to meet him.