Written Question
Thursday 31st March 2022
Asked by:
Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question
to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional support his Department is providing to carers in response to rising costs of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government understands the pressures that households are facing with the cost of living and is monitoring the situation closely. These are global challenges, but the government is providing support worth over £22 billion in 2022-2023 to help families with these pressures, much of which will help carers on low incomes. This includes providing millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills and helping people keep more of what they earn. The government has cut the Universal Credit taper rate and increased work allowances meaning that 1.7 million households will, on average, keep an extra £1000 per annum. The government has also announced a further rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour from April 2022 which is an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on NLW, in addition to freezing alcohol duty.
The Spring Statement went further, with the government announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, a cut to fuel duty by 5 pence per litre, and an additional £500m to help with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities through the Household Support Fund.
Carers and their vital contribution to society are also recognised within the welfare system. Carers can receive additional support through Carer’s Allowance, the Carer Element in Uni versal Credit and through Pension Credit. The weekly rate of Carer’s Allowance will increase to £69.70 in April 2022. Around 360,000 carer households on Universal Credit can receive an additional £1,965 a year through the Carer Element, ensuring that extra support is focused on those carers who need it most. This amount will increase from April 2022 and will benefit carers across the country.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 23 Mar 2022
Financial Statement
"The Chancellor is proposing to cut the value of state social security payments by at least 4% and putting up tax rates for those on average and below-average incomes, yet he refuses even to countenance asking those who have extreme wealth, or the corporations that are making obscene profits, to …..."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"The last few years have been times of great adversity and challenge for people across the globe. In every country in the world, people’s ability to cope with those problems has relied on them having a sense of a common endeavour, a sense, to coin a phrase, that we are …..."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"If the hon. Member is going to confirm that that is the Government’s intention, I will gladly give way...."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"Forgive me, but I think that most people will find that argument rather perverse: 5% on someone’s electricity bill is still 5%, and if it doubles or trebles, that is two or three times more than the Government were taking before...."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"If the hon. Member does not mind, I would like to continue.
What the Government ought to be doing is recognising that we are coming towards a crisis in the cost of living, particularly with the fuel bills coming in April. They ought to make sure that the energy cap …..."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"Indeed I do, but in closing I want to point to the monstrous deceit in this argument. It is a fact of life that no matter what the Scottish Government try to do in terms of the Scottish economy, they live with the reality that it is a regional economy …..."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"If it is on that point, I will, but I see that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, want me to finish...."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Jan 2022
Cost of Living Increases
"I conclude by saying that it is a complete deceit to criticise the Scottish Government for not doing something that the House actively prevents them from doing. The simple way to test the truth of that is to let Scotland become an independent country, which is what people voted for …..."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 11 Jan 2022
Household Energy Bills: VAT
"The last two years have been brutal and miserable for millions of people in this country, but not everyone has had a bad pandemic. Last year the number of millionaires in Britain increased by 10% and the number of billionaires increased by 15%. In fact, The Sunday Times estimates that, …..."Tommy Sheppard - View Speech
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