Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what economic changes and interdepartmental strategies they propose to address the health and financial inequalities which have resulted in certain groups being disproportionately affected by the impact of COVID-19.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. We recognise that some groups have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing socio-economic inequalities.

The Government has put in place an economic package of support totalling £352 billion through the furlough and self-employed income support schemes, support for businesses through grants and loans, and business rates and VAT relief.

To support people on low incomes, the Government has provided one-off £500 Test and Trace Support Payments (TTSP) to help them self-isolate when they are required to do so; to date, the government has provided more than £176 million of funding to local authorities to meet the costs of TTSP.

The Government has also extended the temporary £20 per week uplift to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance to the end of September, with similar support for eligible Working Tax Credit (WTC) claimants. The suspension of the Minimum Income Floor for self-employed Universal Credit claimants has been extended until the end of July. The increase to Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit in cash terms in 2021-22 has also been maintained, an increase which was worth an extra £600 on average in 2020-21 for over 1.5 million households.

Women have benefited from a variety of schemes as part of this package. For example, where it was possible to link the data, 1.72 million roles held by women were furloughed at 30 April 2021 compared with 1.67 million roles held by men. As of June 6 2021, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has received over 2.6 million claims from self-employed women across the four rounds of grant. The majority of Universal Credits claimants are women: 53 per cent in April 2021.

As part of the Government’s broader support for individuals, in April workers on the National Living Wage (NLW) saw a 2.2 per cent pay increase to £8.91 an hour – worth over £345 a year for a full-timeworker. The Government also extended the NLW to those aged 23 or over.