The Coronavirus Pandemic and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in global inflation. Both residents here and across the world have been experiencing an increase in the cost of living. I have supported the measures the Government has announced to help people with the cost of living. This includes:
- Supporting constituents with the cost of living through various financial packages like:
- £300 Cost of Living Payments to 15,600 eligible Milton Keynes South households
- £150 Disability Cost of Living Payments to 11,700 eligible individuals in Milton Keynes South
- Energy Bill Support Scheme
- Putting more money in the pockets of constituents by:
- Raising the thresholds of National Insurance Contributions
- Increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour for workers aged 23 and over
- Reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55% and increasing work allowances by £500
- Increasing the full new state pension by 8.5% to £221.20 a week
- Providing over £3.5 million through the Household Support Fund to Milton Keynes City Council to support local residents who are not eligible for other kinds of help or need further support
To secure our future prosperity, I will be working with the Government on:
- Tackling the rate of inflation – having a lower inflation rate it will see mortgages, the price of groceries and the cost of living become cheaper for all of us
- Investing in skills - increasing skills funding by £3.8 billion over the Parliament will give people better skills to help improve their earnings prospects
- Helping people into jobs - the ‘Way to Work’ campaign aims to get 500,000 jobseekers into jobs by the end of June 2022. A new In Work Progression offer will also mean more low paid workers on UC will be able to access personalised work coach support to help them increase their earnings.
