A report from Generation Rent has revealed that our community has the highest increase in the country of private renters relying on Universal Credit or Housing Benefit to pay their rent since the pandemic began.

So many people have been excluded from Government help or have lost their jobs, but Ministers are not ensuring Universal Credit or Housing Benefit can cover the costs many people now face.

The Spending Review last week was an opportunity for the Government to fix the problem and assist private renters in this tough period, but Ministers chose to freeze help and actually cut the extra £20 per week some people have had in 2020 on Universal Credit.

To say this Government does not understand communities like ours is a vast understatement and I’ll keep pushing for a fairer social security system.