Poverty

EDM number 1779 in 2002-03, proposed by Richard Allan on 20/10/2003.

That this House welcomes the efforts by British Gas and the Daily Mirror to raise awareness of poverty in the UK, and further welcomes the Here to HELP day on 24th October; regrets that one in four people in the UK live in poverty; many of whom are single parents, older people or disabled; acknowledges the ú74 million contribution British Gas Here to HELP programme is making to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups living in some of the most deprived communities of the UK through its work with some of the UK's leading charities; notes that the charities which include RNIB, Scope, Help the Aged, Save the Children, National Debtline, Family Welfare Association and Gingerbread have already provided over 2,000 benefits such as large push button phones for the partially sighted, security measures for older people and grants for new or replacement refrigerators and freezers to low income households; further notes that the programme also includes a free assessment of benefit entitlement which has revealed that many of Britain's poorest households are under-claiming social security benefits by an average of ú1,600 per year; and calls on the Government to reaffirm its commitment to eradicate poverty in the UK.

This motion has been signed by a total of 48 MPs.