Hallowe'en Budget must slay the real monster – poverty

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (Picture: Lucy North-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The first budget announcement is an important one for a new government – it sets out their vision and helps us understand what their priorities will be – and whether or not they will be effective.

Rachel Reeves is in an unenviable position. No matter your political persuasion, no one would relish the situation she finds herself in with the impact of Covid, Brexit and many years of austerity still visibly wreaking havoc on our public services. Budgets, by their nature, are not limitless but the laundry list of things that need attention is. With the NHS on its knees, our schools crumbling and our public transport services flailing, money has to be spent wisely and strategically.

Whilst nothing is “official” yet it seems that rebuilding infrastructure – and attracting investment in housing – will be top of the UK Government list of priorities. So far, not so scary… but we also need to look at what won’t be funded.

The winter fuel payment has been cut and it has not been a popular decision. I know why – with the cost of living still sky high, that money may be the difference between a person living in poverty, and not. With the government hinting that the budget will be tough it’s hard to feel optimistic about what other schemes, designed for the most vulnerable in our society, might be on the chopping block.

I have long been a proponent in attracting outside investment to get housing built fast. But this cannot be the only way you address the debilitating poverty that leads to homelessness, poor health and poor life outcomes.

The UK has been in crisis for decades now. Investing in infrastructure cannot be the only solution. By all means build new schools – but without pouring money into our most vulnerable communities you will be teaching children who haven’t eaten since the day before. We need strategic investments in social security that address problems at their roots.

Joseph Rowntree recently published a report, urging the government to stop freezing Local Housing Allowance and permanently re-link housing benefits to private rents. When 4.2 million children in the UK live in poverty it is exactly this kind of policy that our country needs – preventative spending which could reverse these numbers.

The Scottish Government focus on ending child poverty – even if there is some debate around how they plan to do it – is the right theoretical approach and I can only hope the UK Government follows suit. With child poverty the biggest predictor of homelessness in later life, spending on one area will inevitably have a positive impact in another ten years.

We can build all we like but until we slay the real monsters – poverty and all the problems that stem from it – life in Britain will continue to feel like a nightmare we can’t wake up from.

Ewan Aitken is CEO of Cyrenians