It might have sounded good. It might have sounded decent or fair but… responding to the Spring Statement delivered by the Chancellor this week, Director of the North East Child Poverty Commission Amanda Bailey said:
“Today was an opportunity to protect those on the lowest incomes across our region from even greater hardship in the face of the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. That opportunity was well and truly missed.”
“Instead of ensuring benefits such as Universal Credit will keep pace with inflation next month – the bare minimum required from the Chancellor to give people a chance of keeping their heads above water – we have yet another inadequate, short-term discretionary fund for hard-pressed local councils to administer, to try and prevent families from being pulled into destitution. This doesn’t begin to meet the scale of the challenge ahead of us.
“Our national social security system was already failing in its most basic function – to provide a dignified safety net that means people, both in and out of work, can afford the essentials – with many thousands of families across our region facing absolutely impossible, daily decisions about what more they can cut back on. That picture is now going to get much, much worse unless the Chancellor urgently changes course.”
Last week, the North East Child Poverty Commission joined with over 50 organisations across the country to call on the Chancellor to use today’s Spring Statement to ensure benefits such as Universal Credit keep pace with inflation – currently projected to be over 7% – instead of the 3.1% increase that is still scheduled to take place this April. The Commission has also previously highlighted that there are over 170,000 babies, children and young people in families relying on Universal Credit across the North East.
