Living Standards

We plan to raise living standards by boosting economic growth to put more money in people’s pockets, and by developing a comprehensive strategy on child poverty to give every child the best start in life. Already, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that living standards will increase during this Parliament, at more than double the pace observed in the previous Parliament.

Fourteen years of Conservative rule meant that we all saw child poverty levels rise. One in five children across the country now grows up in scarring poverty. A quarter of all children in Bolsover live in poverty. Can the Minister please set out the measures that this Labour Government will take to end this travesty?

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She will know that this Government, like every Labour Government, are committed to improving living standards right across the country. From 1 April 2025, the national living wage will increase by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour for eligible workers aged 21 and over. That represents an increase of £1,400 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the national living wage, and is expected to benefit around 3 million low-paid workers. My hon. Friend knows that the Government have set up a ministerial taskforce on child poverty, which will report in 2025.

In the Chancellor’s first ever Budget, she delivered over £1.5 billion for Scotland this year and £3.4 billion next year—the largest ever block grant settlement in the history of the Scottish Parliament. Unlike the Tories and the SNP, it is clear that this Labour Government are choosing investment over simply managing decline. Can the Minister share with the House a bit more detail about how the Budget will directly impact and improve the lives of people in my constituency of Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke, and throughout Scotland?

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. As she said, the Scottish Government’s spending review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest, in real terms, of any settlement since devolution began. The Scottish Government are receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the United Kingdom. That translates to over £8.5 billion more in 2025-26 alone. This Labour Government are delivering for the people of Scotland by giving the Scottish Government the power and money to get on with the job, and it is for the SNP to be accountable for what it delivers for the Scottish people.

Can the Minister confirm that of the £26.4 billion tax rise through the increase in employer NICs, £19 billion will come directly out of people’s pay packets? Secondly, can he confirm that the net amount that the Treasury will actually get from that £26.4 billion after behavioural change and public sector compensation is just £11 billion?

The right hon. Gentleman seems to have forgotten the cost that working people paid as a consequence of his party’s actions in government, with inflation on house prices racing to 11%, the cost of living crisis, higher energy bills and a loss of grip on public spending. People suffered a direct cost in their disposable income because of the actions of the Conservative party. This Labour Government have wiped the slate clean, and we are getting a grip on public spending, fixing the foundations and delivering for working people.

Will the Chancellor admit, as she has already done in the media, that wages will be lower because of her jobs tax?

This Government’s commitment to economic growth will improve living standards for people right across the country. I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer and suggest that his party might want to apologise before trying to lecture this Government on the change that we are delivering.