Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Western and Seamus Logan

Monday 27th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

8. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce the number of children in poverty.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State co-chairs the ministerial child poverty taskforce, which is leading our work across Government to develop the UK-wide child poverty strategy, which will be published later this year. We are considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life, building on work that is already under way across all four nations. Ahead of publication, the Government have already taken action for the whole UK, including introducing a fair repayment rate and improving the adequacy of the standard allowance of universal credit from April 2026.

[Seamus Logan]

The Child Poverty Action Group estimates that because of this Government’s policies—especially the two-child cap—more than 100 children are dragged into poverty every day. That equates to almost 3,400 children between now and the Chancellor’s autumn statement at the end of next month. Here is a lever: as child poverty in Scotland is falling, why does the Minister not finally listen to reason by scrapping this cruel policy? Why is he waiting? Why does he not just act now?

[Andrew Western]

This Government are acting now. We have already announced that all children in families in England that are in receipt of universal credit will receive free school meals, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty. We have capped the cost of school uniforms, and introduced a new crisis and resilience fund. Our Child Maintenance Service reforms will lift 20,000 children out of poverty, and much more will be done when the child poverty taskforce reports later this year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Western and Seamus Logan

Monday 16th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight that any reform to our jobcentres must come with digital transformation. We are currently exploring schemes such as a “Jobcentre in your pocket” app, as well as looking for ways in which jobseekers can self-serve in terms of meeting the conditions of their conditionality regime.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

T4. On 4 December, my hon. Friend the Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter) asked the Prime Minister about the WASPI—Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign—women, and was told that the Government were working “at pace”. Since then, 1,400 or 1,500 more women have died without justice or compensation. Will the Minister tell us what working “at pace” means and give us a timeline?