Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support families through winter 2021-22.

The Government is committed to supporting families this winter, helping them to meet the cost of living, and ensuring that work continues to pay.

Over the winter, the £500 million Household Support Fund will help vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities. £421 million of the fund will be distributed through local authorities in England, who are best placed to ensure it reaches those who need it most. This fund builds on the Warm Home Discount, which provides a £140 rebate to help 2.2 million low income households with their energy bills, and the government energy price cap, which has protected around 15 million households on default tariffs, saving them up to £100 a year since 2019.

To further support low income families, we have provided £670m for local authorities to support households struggling with their council tax bills, £140m for Discretionary Housing Payments, and over £200m a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. We have also maintained the increase in cash terms to the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants in 2021-22.

Alongside these measures we are maintaining our focus on helping people back into work. Work is the best route out of poverty. As a child growing up in a home where all the adults work is around five times less likely to be in poverty than a child growing up in a home where nobody works (before housing costs). As part of the comprehensive Plan for Jobs, the Government announced the Kickstart scheme which has so far created nearly 95,000 jobs for young people at risk of becoming long-term unemployed, and the three year Restart scheme, which provides intensive and tailored support to long-term unemployed Universal Credit claimants across England and Wales.