Catholic charities including St Vincent de Paul Society welcomed “positive steps towards tackling poverty and disadvantage” in yesterday’s autumn budget but said more help was needed for the most disadvantaged.
Elizabeth Palmer, SVP chief executive, said: the budget offered a step in the right direction to tackling hardship and poverty affecting millions of households. “We welcome measures which provide some respite to the families and people worried about their future. These are positive first steps but further reform is needed to urgently address child poverty and growing rates of inequality.”
There are still areas where urgent reform is critically needed, she said. While welcoming the the extension of the Household Support Fund, which has been a lifeline for many people across the country, it should have been extended further. A “long-term vision” was also needed to prevent families from experiencing financial crises in the first place.
The new fair repayment rate, which will limit debt deductions from benefit payments to 15 per cent, was also a positive first step to improving people’s incomes and tackle hardship. SVP also welcomed the £240 million investment in the Get Britain Working package.
However, along with other child poverty campaigners, SVP was “disappointed” that the government failed to reconsider the widely-criticised two-child benefit cap.
Christine Allen, executive director of the Catholic aid agency Cafod, said: “While we applaud history being made by the first female Chancellor today, it was disappointing to see no reference to Overseas Development Aid, which has been slashed and pillaged in recent years, with 28 per cent of the aid budget spent on asylum seekers and refugees within the UK last year.”
The humanitarian response plan for Sudan, for example, remains critically underfunded, despite it facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, she added.
“Pope Francis’s Year of Jubilee in 2025 – traditionally a time to reset inequality – is a chance to pass much-needed legislation that would prevent private creditors from refusing to participate in life-saving debt relief, a move that would not cost the UK taxpayer anything.”
Speaking during a visit to London, Mgr Donatien Babula Nshole, secretary general of the Catholic bishops’ conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said: “The UK has been a long-term aid supporter in my country, the DRC, and in many others around the world. But reductions in overseas aid bring about suffering and loss of life in the communities our churches serve. If the UK wants to be a global leader, and continue to be recognised for working in true partnership, then now is the time to step up.”
Plans to tackle unfair benefits deduction rates, provide support for people struggling to pay for essentials, and to help tackle child poverty are all steps in the right direction, but won’t offer the fundamental changes needed to tackle poverty at its core.
Christians Against Poverty warned that there will still be many on the lowest incomes who will still face a desperate winter ahead. Chief executive Stewart McCulloch, said, “It feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel now but it’s still a very long, dark tunnel for those in poverty, facing a harsh winter. With social security rates to increase by just 1.7 per cent, millions will still be left with the reality that their income is not high enough to cover the costs of essentials, he warned.
“As an organisation also providing support to help people into employment, the news that there was additional funding to assist people into work may provide the resources to help people on this journey. But full time paid employment is not always an option for those facing disabilities or with caring responsibilities.
“For those who are able to be in paid employment, increases in the National Minimum Wage and plans to remove the discriminatory age boundary will be welcome news. But it is still concerning that this didn’t apply to those on benefits, who may be unable to work or still looking for employment.”
Mark Russell, Chief Executive at the Children’s Society said: “The autumn statement is a welcome change in direction emphasising the rebuilding and restoring of public services, alongside the additional £1 billion to extend the household support fund until 2026 providing families in crisis with lifelines, and the increases to carers allowance and minimum wage.
“Now, teenagers need to see a similar focus on rebuilding childhoods especially considering the urgent need for better mental health support and reducing child poverty. While we look forward to the child poverty strategy in the spring, we’re disappointed that the government hasn’t taken immediate action by removing the two-child limit. Funding early mental health support services would have been a significant help for our 15-year-olds – the unhappiest in Europe.”
The Church of England’s Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, lead bishop in the House of Lords for economics and business, said: “First and foremost this budget must be viewed through the lens of how it affects the poorest and most marginalised people in our society. I recognise the challenges the Chancellor faces and welcome the focus on education and health. Our churches, chaplaincies and schools see, day-in day-out, the impact of poverty in our communities – both urban and rural. They exist to witness to the love of God and his vision of a world in which everyone can experience life in all its fullness.”
The Just Money movement said in a statement: “We welcome reforms to the tax system to rebuild public services, where those who can afford to pay more are expected to do so.” The end of the non-dom regime, reforms to Inheritance Tax, increases in Capital Gains Tax and some other increased taxes like those on carried interest, are particularly welcome, the movement said.
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