Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional support her Department will provide to residents in Manchester Gorton constituency who are struggling with the rising cost of living and increasing energy bills this winter, and if she will make a statement.

This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continue to do so through many measures, including by spending over £110 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.

With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, our focus now is on continuing to support people into and to progress in work. Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, will help people across the UK to find work and to boost their wages and prospects.

Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing the work allowance by £500 per year means that 1.9m working households will be able to keep substantially more of what they earn. These measures effectively represent a tax cut, worth around £2.2bn a year in 2022-23, for the lowest paid in society, and are combined with a rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour.

We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. Manchester will receive £6,453,163.20 from the fund.

The Government is committed to the winter fuel payment and we will continue to support pensioners by making payments of £200 to those households with someone of state pension age and under 80 and £300 to those households with someone aged 80 or over. This winter we will make over 11m winter fuel payments at a cost of £2bn a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.

Cold Weather Payments are also available and help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet additional heating costs, during periods of unseasonably cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. This includes older people in receipt of Pension Credit. Those eligible will continue to automatically receive £25 when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days.

In addition, the Warm Home Discount Scheme operated by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, ensures that those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee receive a rebate of £140 on their energy bill. There is also the energy price cap which will continue to protect millions of customers this winter. Despite the rising costs of wholesale energy, the cap still saves 15 million households up to £100 a year.