Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 10 in the UK.

Mr David Gauke

The government is committed to tackling inequality. According to the latest ONS statistics, original income inequality in the UK is at its lowest level since 1989.

The government believes that the best way to reduce inequality and poverty is through tackling unemployment, and getting workless households into work. Employment has increased by 2 million since the 2010 election, and the percentage of workless households is lower than at any point under the last Labour government.

The Government is tackling low pay by introducing a new National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and above from April 2016. On current OBR forecasts, by 2020 the NLW will be over £9 an hour, meaning a full-time worker aged 25 or above will earn over £4,800 a year more in cash terms than under the current National Minimum Wage.