Oldham MP demands action on ‘poverty crisis’

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams, who is a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, has demanded action to address the ‘shockingly high’ level of poverty in Oldham, Saddleworth and across the country.

Last week saw the publication of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Households Below Average Income report which showed a 600,000 increase in absolute poverty in 2023 as well as increases in destitution. 

Absolute poverty is calculated on the basis of a demined minimum standards of living, while relative poverty is based on the standard of living within a particular community.  

In addition, last week the Work and Pensions Select Committee, of which Ms Abrahams is a member, published their report from an inquiry into ‘Benefit Levels in the UK’ which assessed the adequacy of social security support in the UK.  

The report also recommended that the Government develop a framework of principles to inform social security levels, something that does not already exist.  

It also recommended that the Household Support Fund, where funding is provided to local authorities to allow them to support the most vulnerable people in their area, be made permanent.

Ms Abrahams led a successful campaign of 90 Parliamentarians ahead of the Spring Budget to urge Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to extend the Fund, which he duly did for six months. 

It called for the Government to introduce an ‘uprating guarantee’ to ensure that social security levels are always consistent with the rate of inflation.  

Building on her previous career as a Public Health consultant and academic specialising in tackling inequalities and poverty have been key issues for Ms Abrahams.

She has highlighted figures from the End Child Poverty Coalition which showed that 44% of children in Oldham are growing up in poverty. 

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that child poverty in Oldham is nearly the highest in the country, following behind 46% in Birmingham and 45% in Sandwell and Manchester. 

Ms Abrahams said: “The Households Below Average Income report highlights that even the Government’s own data show a surge in poverty.

"This is the direct result of fourteen years of real term cuts to social security under austerity, which has left us with one of the least adequate provisions in the Western world.  

"It is a damning indictment of a twenty-first century, civilised society that so many people cannot afford the essentials, because of the inadequate support from the Government’s social security support.  

"That is why I am reiterating my calls for an Essentials Guarantee that means everyone in Oldham, Saddleworth and across the country can afford the essentials, which is simply the bare minimum.”

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.