The chief executive of Bradford-based Manningham Housing Association (MHA) has warned that today’s Autumn Statement is not a turning point for the cost of living crisis.
In a statement, Lee Bloomfield said:
“Families and individuals on the lowest incomes, including many MHA tenants, continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis.
“Rishi Sunak has gone on a victory lap after inflation fell to 4.7%, but this is more than double the government’s target of 2%,, with food inflation still sitting at around 10%.
“Prices are not going down; they are just going up more slowly and driving more people into poverty.
“The unfreezing of the Local Housing Allowance is long overdue, and the rise in the National Living Wage from April and the cut in National Insurance from January are welcome, but, without raising personal tax thresholds and with inflation set to remain high, many working people will barely see a difference in the money in their pockets.
“It is a relief that Universal Credit and working-age benefits will be uprated in line with September’s inflation rate, but I would have preferred the increase to be delivered before next spring. “As ever, the devil will be in the details. At first sight, I fear the Chancellor’s measures do not represent a turning point in the cost of living crisis, which must surely be the Government’s priority.”