
Responding to today’s Spring Budget, debt advice and policy experts Christians Against Poverty (CAP) welcomed the extension of the Energy Price Guarantee and the increased childcare support. However, CAP said that overall, the budget was silent on tackling dramatically escalating poverty levels and brought in rigorous sanctions that will add to poverty’s punishment.

“Last year CAP saw a dramatic increase in the number of clients asking for emergency aid, and a worrying increase in deficit budgets — where people just cannot afford to pay for the everyday essentials.”
Gareth McNab, CAP’s Director of External Affairs
“Despite the Energy Price Guarantee extension announced today there was no further support offered to low income households who will continue to struggle throughout this year. Social security levels are still failing to cover people’s basic needs and the Chancellor missed a key opportunity to provide the vital support that is needed such as increasing Local Housing Allowance rates to reflect the true cost of renting. This budget fails to address the reality of the poverty our clients are experiencing.”
A nationally-representative poll commissioned by CAP from YouGov last month exposed the extent of people’s concerns for 2023. It highlighted that 65% of UK adults believe that the cost of bills and essentials will put a significant burden on their finances this year. Half also said they had lost sleep in the previous six months, worrying about their finances.
“We are hopeful that the UK Government’s reform of disability benefits, such as removing the Work Capability Assessment, will bring more dignity for claimants, but remain concerned over the UK Government’s approach to adding conditions to these. At CAP we know that sanctions can have a massive impact on people’s budgets and their mental health, pushing people into further hardship, unable to afford the essentials and wondering even how they can go on.”
Gareth McNab continued: “Poverty won’t just disappear if we stay silent about it and hope it goes away. We need the UK Government to commit to bold initiatives that set out to end UK poverty, working alongside people with direct experience of poverty and those organisations who support them. The Chancellor himself acknowledged that the work of charities is so very important to our society, noting that we can reach people and communities with support that central and local government cannot.”
“This budget we celebrate a victory as the UK Government abolishes the poverty premium for prepayment meter users, something we’ve campaigned about since 2015. This is an example of how policy can redesign unjust systems and how coming together to fight these works. We want the UK Government to be much bolder in tackling poverty, and offer impactful initiatives that show a real commitment to ensuring low income households have liveable incomes that allow them to afford the essentials the rest of us take for granted.”