§ Mr. PondTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will carry out an assessment of the impact of his Department's current policies on the(a) income, (b) employment opportunities and (c) living standards, of the poorest 30 per cent. of the population. [23345]
§ Mrs. LiddellOur society is more divided than it has been in generations: over the last 20 years the proportion of households without work has more than doubled from 9 per cent. Our policies are aimed at mending these divisions. Our objective is to raise the living standards of the many, not just of the few, and to offer education and employment opportunities for all.
The Government believe that the best way of improving the living standards of those with the poorest living standards is to help them into work. We are implementing a range of policies under the New Deal to help move those people from welfare into work in order that their living standards may rise.
The Government have also established a Social Exclusion Unit to help co-ordinate action across Government to find new and more integrated ways of tackling the worst problems. We continually evaluate our policies using a variety of methods.