Charlie Elphicke
Main Page: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)Department Debates - View all Charlie Elphicke's debates with the HM Treasury
(11 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sajid Javid
The right hon. Gentleman was a senior member of the previous Government, who, over 13 years, presided over an increase in the number of workless households to a record 3.9 million. In his constituency, in the last Labour term, the number of youth jobseeker’s allowance claimants increased by 148%. I hope that he will join me in welcoming the fact that such claims are down by 19% under this Government.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
May I ask the Minister to confirm that the previous Government’s child poverty targets were missed by 600,000, that according to the latest figures child poverty fell last year by 300,000 and that universal credit will reduce child poverty further, by up to 350,000?
Sajid Javid
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government are relentlessly focused on eradicating poverty and the measures he has talked about, such as universal credit, increase work incentives and help people back into work.