Last Tuesday, I delivered a Statement to the House to set out the Government’s progress on delivering our plan to support people during the ongoing cost of living challenge. Key promises included increasing benefits and State Pensions by 10.1% and the benefits cap by the same amount, increasing the National Living Wage by 9.7% to £10.42 per hour, and extending the energy price cap until the end of March 2024. As the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, I was particularly pleased to set out what the Government is doing for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. This includes providing a £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment to six million households - which have been being paid in recent days - alongside our efforts to step up employment support, and our expectation to spend £78 billion over 2023-2024 to support people with disabilities and long-term conditions.
We are providing a meaningful package of support, getting money in people's pockets to help them meet the challenging costs they are currently facing, not least as a direct result of the war in Ukraine, along with discretionary help to meet more challenging needs, which is being delivered through local authorities, including North Northamptonshire Council in our area - and you can find more details about this support at https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/cost-living/household-support-fund.
You can watch the full statement, here: https://tinyurl.com/2s4zmn7w.
