§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the measures taken by the Government since entering office to ease the tax burden on the low paid and to help eliminate the poverty trap.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 29 June 1981,c. 249.]: As regards the poverty trap, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Short)—[Vol. 3, c. 58–60]. The position of the low paid was substantially improved by the income tax changes in the 1979 Budget. It has also been improved by a number of changes in the social security field, particularly the increases in family income supplement and one-parent benefit.
Further improvements in the position of the low paid depend largely on securing reductions in inflation and the restoration of a strong economy, which are the objectives of the Government's economic strategy.