As you are aware, the Chancellor has now set out where further welfare savings will come from and a decision has been taken to limit the support provided to families through Tax Credits or Universal Credit to two children from 2017.
I believe benefit claimants in Bath should face the same choices as taxpayers who fund the welfare state and one decision that most families make is how many children they have. While it's important to support families, it's also important to be fair to the many working families who don't see their budgets rise by anything like that when they have more children. The most vulnerable within Bath will always be protected, but deciding how many children to have is a decision which can be made by anybody.
I recognise that these changes are not easy, but they are fair, and this approach means that no family will see a cash loss. Importantly, the timing of these changes comes alongside the rise to the minimum wage to £6.70 from October 2015 and the introduction of a new "Living Wage" - a premium on the minimum wage for over 25s. This will be set at £7.20 from April 2016 and I welcome that Ministers are aiming for all over 25s to earn at least £9 per hour by 2020, a direct pay rise for over 2 million workers and worth up to £5000 per year.
The Government is, as promised, maintaining child benefit and I can confirm that, from September 2017, all working parents of 3 and 4 year olds will receive free childcare of up to 30 hours a week. I will continue to support children and their learning, and I have demonstrated this commitment through my work with a number of local charities and my decision to lobby the Government with regards to teaching first aid in schools and teaching climate change in schools.
Taken together, I am confident that these measures will help put welfare on a sustainable footing while ensuring that people are encouraged to, and able to, get back into work, increase their hours and progress to a higher wage.
I will continue to support and stand up for the people of Bath.