Contributions
1,730 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman welcomed these measures or not. He will see that the Barnett consequentials will feed through to the Scottish Government. I do not think…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesFirst, I congratulate my hon. Friend: he has been exemplary in volunteering in his in Watford constituency throughout the pandemic. I know that he will continue to serve his…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesThe Chancellor has appeared before the House on several occasions, as have other Treasury Ministers, setting out how we are supporting self-employed people. I am very conscious…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI welcome my right hon. Friend’s support for the scheme, particularly the holiday activities fund. On guidance to councils about the winter grant, I am sure that they will work…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI congratulate my hon. Friend. I know how dedicated he was, before entering the House, to social mobility and tackling poverty, and he continues to be so. I fully agree that a lot…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesMy hon. Friend is right to point out that, while we continue to support people through the welfare system, we know that the best way ultimately for people to get out of poverty is…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI know that the hon. Lady is interested in universal basic income. She once asked me a question in this House that took more than a minute. The answer was no then and it is no now…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to welcome the funding, which will support her constituents. Working with local councils, we want to ensure that money reaches the people who…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesWe did boost the local housing allowance to the 30th percentile, which cost more than £1 billion, and I am sure that that may have helped some of the hon. Gentleman’s…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI know Basingstoke well, because that is where I worked for many years, and I am conscious of the wide variety of communities there that are supportive of one another. I hope my…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesMy hon. Friend, with his vast educational experience, will have been a true witness to the benefits that activities like the holiday activity fund can bring to the future…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesThis Government continue to strive to help people who are vulnerable and disadvantaged, and we will continue to do that. I welcome any support given in order to help local…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The people in Warrington will benefit significantly from this addition to what is—in effect, through the covid winter grant—an extension of the…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesMy hon. Friend is absolutely right about the purpose of the holiday activities fund. I do not want to call it a summer school because it is not, and we certainly do not want to…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesOne of the things the hon. Lady fails to mention is that if those who are new to benefits have had full contributions over the last nine months, there is no cap on the benefits…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI am afraid that the hon. Lady is completely wrong on that. One thing the Chancellor set out last week was a recognition that, through the Barnett formula, every time we do…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesMy hon. Friend is absolutely right on that, and I welcome his support for this package. We are taking that comprehensive, holistic approach, trusting our local councils to target…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesThe universal credit system is designed to ensure that people are better off working than not working, and this Government introduced the national living wage, which has seen a…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesIndeed, my hon. Friend is right. Using councils is probably the best way because they have the variety of information that I referring to earlier, but we can also use social…09 Nov 2020HANSARDSupporting Disadvantaged FamiliesI thank the Chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee for his comments. In answer to his first question, the approach is the same as that taken earlier in the year, using the…09 Nov 2020