Last week I stopped by to visit the Citizens Advice team at their amazing new base on George Street in Lancaster. I am so incredibly thankful for Helen, Gully and the volunteers as their knowledge and dedication to helping the community is a vital lifeline for so many people.

Citizens Advice are a wonderful organisation that exist to help everyone. Helen and Gully told me that their team have dealt with thousands of enquiries over the last few months. They explained that there has been a very serious shift with their caseload and that the vast majority of new queries often relate to access to housing, mental health emergencies and shortfalls in Universal Credit. Government policies are drastically failing to address these matters, in fact they are actively harming the most vulnerable people in society!

According to recent research conducted by the Trussell Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 90% of low-income households on Universal Credit are currently going without essentials, and the basic rate of Universal Credit is now at its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings. We should have a social security system that, at the very least, ensures that no one should have to go without the essential items. The reality is that it doesn’t. Foodbanks and organisations like Citizens Advice are regularly distributing emergency parcels for people, to deliver some of the most basic necessities such as food, toiletries and clothing.

The team at Citizens Advice and I discussed how we can work together to tackle some of these very serious issues, and I will be questioning government ministers at every given opportunity.

If you need support with the matters discussed, or anything else then please do not hesitate to contact me at cat.smith.mp@parliament.uk.