Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she plans to take to help improve living standards in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

The Government knows UK living standards, as measured by Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) per capita, have not grown at the pace many would have hoped for in recent years. If it had grown at the same rate between 2010 and 2023 as it did between 1997 and 2010, it would have been £4,000 higher in 2023.

The Government is taking a comprehensive approach—supporting those in immediate need while addressing the structural changes necessary to fix the country's foundations. Boosting economic growth is the Government's top priority, underpinned with our ambition to raise the employment rate to 80%. To support those most in need, we have introduced a Fair Repayment Rate on debt deductions in Universal Credit and we have also extended the Household Support Fund in England, and Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales. Taken together, we will help families by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government set out the next steps in delivering our strategy for regional growth through: devolution, investment and reform; empowering local leaders, rolling out integrated settlements which provide Mayors with more control over their funding; and investing in programmes important to growth, such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This is ahead of wider local growth funding reform to be announced in the Spring. This will benefit people across the country, including in Cheshire, and the Mid Cheshire constituency.