CAP has fed into the Treasury Portal to provide insights and policy suggestions ahead of the Autumn Budget.
CAP has called for a proactive, cross-departmental strategy to tackle poverty, focusing on seven drivers of poverty:
- Income: Set wages and social security to cover life’s essentials.
- Public services: Abolish the five-week wait for Universal Credit and ensure a stigma-free, person-centred service design.
- Financial resilience: Broaden Help to Save eligibility and boost financial education.
- Systemic inequality: Remove the two-child limit and ensure disability benefits cover extra costs.
- Debt management: Mandate the use of the Standard Financial Statement (SFS) for assessing government debt repayment affordability and strengthen guidance to reduce the psychological harm of debt collection.
- High costs: Develop targeted, long-term support for energy costs and empower regulators to eliminate the poverty premium.
- Progression: Raise the National Minimum Wage in line with the cost of living and provide an upfront childcare grant for those moving into work.
We have also recommended several immediate, low-cost policies for the Autumn Budget:
- Enforcement regulator: Grant the Enforcement Conduct Board statutory footing to ensure fair treatment and protection for people subject to enforcement action.
- Social contract: Create a new social contract to establish a clear, shared understanding of roles and responsibilities across all sectors for tackling poverty.
- Debt advice awareness: Raise public awareness of available free and non-judgemental FCA-authorised debt advice.
