Responding to the Queen’s speech, The Salvation Army’s
Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant said: “We are deeply concerned that
despite today’s Queen’s Speech stating the Government’s priority
is to ‘help ease the cost of living’, what’s been announced will
do little to help the poorest households. The rise in the
cost of living has hit everyone, but for those with low, fixed
incomes and high energy requirements, it’s been devastating.
“Our officers are on the ground in the country’s most deprived
communities providing food, shelter, employment and debt advice.
They see first-hand how the cost of living crisis is pushing
people into a poverty spiral.
“We have helped find a bed for a pregnant woman forced to sleep
on the floor and supported a mother who had to give her child
water instead of expensive milk. We have even seen a man faint
from hunger queuing for a food parcel. These aren’t stories from
Dickensian times when The Salvation Army was founded; these are
recent examples of how we have stepped in to help people who can
no longer afford the essentials of life.”
The Salvation Army is calling for immediate help for those worst
affected by the cost of living crisis but also for regional
investment that will help lift communities out of poverty and
meet the Government’s commitment to ‘level up’ the country.
Immediate short-term emergency support should include the
following:
- Temporarily replace Universal Credit loans with grants until
the cost of living crisis has been resolved.
- The waiting time for a Universal Credit first payment to be
reduced from six to two weeks, so people aren’t forced into debt.
- Existing Universal Credit debt to be included in the
Government's 60 day 'Breathing Space' scheme, giving people more
time to make repayments.
Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant continued: “The people queuing at our
foodbanks need immediate help but it is essential that we combine
emergency support with long term sustainable investment that
gives communities the opportunity to raise their standard of
living. This is the only long-term solution to poverty.”
Long term support to enable people to join the workforce should
include:
- Setting up a new cross-Government task force to tackle, with
empathy and compassion, the reasons people are not earning and
are trapped in poverty, by improving education and employment
locally so they can achieve a decent standard of living.
- Expanding free childcare provision so parents can afford to
work or train - this must include ensuring children from
less-well off households are not receiving fewer Early Years
hours than their more well-off peers.
In response to the announcement about the 'Modern Slavery Bill'
in the Queen’s speech, Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant, said: “We
welcome the strengthening of large businesses' obligations to
identify and tackle modern slavery within their supply chains.
However, we fear the recent changes in the Nationality and
Borders Act will result in further barriers to victims of modern
slavery being able to access the support they need and are
entitled to.
“It’s now more important than ever to identify and support
victims of modern slavery as quickly as possible. Also, that the
statutory systems around modern slavery focus on the needs of
survivors and take into account the trauma they have been through
and provide the support they need to rebuild their lives.”
