Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement, CP 751, published on 17 November, what reason the Statement did not use the phrase child poverty and what provisions in the Autumn Statement are designed to reduce child poverty.

The Government announced decisive action at Autumn Statement to support millions of families with rising energy costs. To protect the most vulnerable in society, the government will also increase benefits in line with inflation (10.1%) from April 2023, benefiting millions of families who receive Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit. Households on means-tested benefits will also receive an additional £900 Cost of Living Payment in 2023-24. The Government will also provide an additional £1 billion to enable a further twelve-month extension to the Household Support Fund, as well as continued universal support via the Energy Price Guarantee.

The Government has consistently said that the best way to support families’ living standards, and ensure that children grow up in an environment that allows them to fulfil their potential, is through good work, better skills, and higher wages. This is why, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced it will bring forward the nationwide rollout of the In-Work Progression offer, from September 2023. This will mean that over 600,000 Universal Credit (UC) claimants in-work will meet with a dedicated work coach so that they have support to increase their hours or earnings and become financially independent from UC.

In addition, the Government confirmed at Autumn Statement that, from April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over, in line with the government’s ambitious target for the NLW to reach two-thirds of median earnings by 2024. This represents an increase of over £1,600 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW and is expected to benefit over 2 million low paid workers.