Today's budget offers a step in the right direction to tackling hardship and poverty affecting millions of households. We welcome measures which provide some respite to the families and people worried about their future. These are positive first steps but further reform is needed to urgently address child poverty and growing rates of inequality. Elizabeth Palmer, CEO
“Welcome positive steps towards tackling poverty and disadvantage”
As an anti-poverty charity we are both encouraged by several proposed measures in the Chancellor's Budget and concerned about areas where urgent reform is critically needed.
We applaud the extension of the Household Support Fund (HSF), which has been a lifeline for many people across the country. The additional £1bn investment will give some much-needed respite to families and households worried about their future. However we urge the government to extend the HSF further and consider a long-term vision to prevent families from experiencing financial crises in the first place.
We also welcome today’s announcement of the new fair repayment rate, which will limit debt deductions from benefit payments to 15%. Debt deductions from benefits have left many of the poorest households unable to cover basic needs. We welcome the announcement as a positive first step to improving people’s incomes and tackle hardship.
Giving more people access to employment support is essential; and we welcome the announcement to invest £240million in the Get Britain Working package. Our experience working with many hard to reach people across communities tells us more support is required to help them get back into work. We therefore welcome a new approach to better integrate work and skills support with the health service. Today, we also welcome the measure to triple the funding for breakfast clubs, and we are encouraged to see these positive moves towards tackling child poverty.
However, we have been supporting calls for an introduction of an Essentials Guarantee, ensuring a protected minimum income for Universal Credit as this would provide a critical safety net for vulnerable households. Setting a minimum floor for income, indexed to real living costs, would help ensure families can meet essential needs without slipping into destitution. We strongly urge the government to prioritise this measure.
We are also disappointed the Government hasn’t taken the opportunity to reconsider the two-child benefit cap which continues to push families deeper into poverty, particularly those with unexpected circumstances
This Budget showed some positive steps towards beginning to tackle the hardship faced by millions. We welcome commitments made by this Government to tackle child poverty and create opportunities for all. The government must now urgently build on these changes to lift the millions of households experiencing daily hardship.