In this month's letter, Matt Rodda, who has served as an MP for Reading since 2017, has celebrated the end of the two-child benefit cap and measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. Mr Rodda writes:
As your MP I am committed to tackling poverty across our society. I also recognise that increased costs in essential areas are causing hardship for many people. That is why I am pleased that the Government has made tackling the cost of living one of its top priorities.
I welcome the Chancellor’s recent assurances that Britain’s economy remains strong, and I support the steps she is taking to protect families and businesses from the impact of the conflict in Iran. The responsible choices the Government has made means we are better equipped to handle the economic impact of this conflict and there is a plan for the immediate crisis. The Government is: cutting energy bills by over £150 per household; extending the cut in fuel duty until September, supporting people exposed to heating oil rise; and taking back control of our energy security, by investing in clean British energy. The Chancellor also met with petrol retailers last month and made it clear that the Government will not accept anyone exploiting the current situation to make excess profits.
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The decisions the Chancellor took at the last Budget to ease the cost of living - including reducing people’s energy bills by £150 and freezing rail fares - are already paying off and this month sees a raft of measures being introduced that will see wages going up and bills coming down.
The Government is committed to supporting those on the lowest incomes. I am pleased that there are significant uplifts to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage coming in from the 1st of April, meaning that workers across the UK will also be taking more money home at the end of each month.
This month also sees the introduction of the Government’s landmark Employment Rights Act, which will benefit over 18 million working people across the UK. This is a significant moment for Reading’s local workforce – which will provide stronger protections for those in insecure work, and disproportionately benefit women, younger workers, and people with disabilities.
The UK Government is committed to drive up opportunity, drive down poverty, and give all children the best start in life, which is why I am pleased that the two-child benefit cap has been scrapped this month. Since its introduction in 2017, the two-child limit has been the biggest single driver of child poverty and today, 2.6 million children in the UK don’t have enough food at home, over 172,000 have no permanent home, and babies born in the poorest areas are twice as likely to die before their first birthday.
The policy’s removal is the single most cost-effective measure available to the Government to drive down poverty rates. Up to 1.5 million children across Great Britain could be helped by the change, representing the most significant action to tackle child poverty since comparable records began.
Removing the two-child limit sits at the heart of the Child Poverty Strategy which brings together action across government to increase family incomes, cut the cost of essentials and strengthen local services. Alongside measures such as expanding free school meals, extending childcare support, and supporting parents in work, the strategy is set to lift 550,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament.
Easing the cost of living is the Government’s number one focus and I support the actions that it is taking to put more money in people’s pockets, and to improve the lives of families in Reading and across the country.
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