Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the two-child benefit cap on levels of child poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the remit of the child poverty taskforce includes examining the potential impact of the two-child benefit cap.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing the two-child benefit cap on children in poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her fiscal policies of trends in the cost of (a) groceries and (b) other household bills.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government understands that increased costs in essential areas such as groceries and household bills are causing hardship for many families. The best way to help with the cost of living is by reducing overall inflation. The Chancellor has asked departments to prioritise reducing inflation when developing policies
The Bank of England has the responsibility of controlling inflation, and the Government fully supports them as they take action to sustainably return inflation to 2%. The independent Monetary Policy Committee has cut Bank Rate five times since August 2024. Falling interest rates mean someone with a new representative fixed rate mortgage now pays £90 a month less than they would have before the election.
The Government is supporting households with targeted measures to ease pressure on budgets. This includes increasing the Universal Credit Standard Allowance, extending the Household Support Fund with £1 billion a year for crisis support through councils, and expanding Free School Meals to all children with a parent on Universal Credit from 2026. On energy, the Warm Home Discount will be expanded to cover around 6 million households, and from this winter pensioners with incomes up to £35,000 will also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report from the Child Poverty Action Group entitled 'Two-child limit statistics briefing', published on 10 July 2025, what steps she is taking to lift children out of poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of (a) poverty and (b) economic inequality in the North West; and what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in (i) income and (ii) living standards.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has set out a Plan for Change that includes raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. To deliver this, we have taken action to support households facing the greatest hardships by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.7%, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate to cap deductions from Universal Credit, uplifting the Universal Credit standard allowance to 5% above CPI by 2029-30, and expanding the Warm Homes Discount to every billpayer on means-tested benefits. Furthermore, at the Spending Review we expanded Free School Meals to lift 100,000 children out of poverty, funded the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, provided £1bn a year (including Barnett impact) for a new Crisis and Resilience Fund, and extended the £3 Bus Fare Cap in England. This is in addition to investing in 350 deprived communities across the UK, to fund interventions including regeneration, community cohesion and improving the public realm.
The Government is also investing in infrastructure in the North West to spur economic growth, boost wages and increase living standards, providing £4.1bn to the North West via the Transport for City Regions fund. It has recommitted to £160m of funding over 10 years for Investment Zones in Greater Manchester and Liverpool, and reconfirmed support for Liverpool City Region Freeport. Local partners expect Greater Manchester Investment Zone to deliver £1.1 bn in private sector investment and 32,000 jobs, and expect Liverpool City Region’s Investment Zone to generate £320m in private investment and 4,000 jobs.
The latest Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2022 Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) per head was £19,752 in the North West compared to £22,789 for the UK. The Plan for Change sets out that living standards at a regional level is measured by regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head. The latest ONS data shows that GDP per head, in real terms (2022 prices), was £33,170 per head in the North West and £37,135 per head for the UK in 2023. GDP per head was £23,555 per head in the North West in 1998 compared to £28,570 for the UK.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the cost of the provision of a hot meal at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The department spends over £1.5 billion annually supporting schools to provide free meals to around 3.4 million children. We have recently confirmed that free meals will be extended to all households receiving Universal Credit from September 2026. This expansion is being backed by £1 billion in additional funding over the multi-year spending review period and will benefit half a million pupils.
The department provides free school meals (FSM) funding to schools, who have flexibility to provide meals in the way that works best for them. FSM are currently funded at £495 per pupil annually.
As with all programmes, we continue to keep funding for FSM under review to ensure that schools can continue to provide hot and nutritious meals that support pupil attainment and health. Departmental officials meet regularly with the sector, including the school catering industry, and use these insights to inform our work.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of child poverty; and what steps she is taking to ensure that families with children have adequate financial support.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. Child poverty has increased by 900,000 since 2010, with 4.5 million children now living in poverty in the UK. The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already announced substantive action across major drivers of child poverty. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. and a new £1 billion package to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time. This comes alongside a £39 billion investment in social and affordable housing – the biggest investment in a generation – and £13.2bn including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
To further support struggling families, funding of £742 million will be provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of support available for children living in poverty in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. It is unacceptable that 9.5% of children in Surrey Heath constituency are in relative poverty (before housing costs). The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce child poverty in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. It is unacceptable that 9.5% of children in Surrey Heath constituency are in relative poverty (before housing costs). The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.