Andrew Western hosted an event in Parliament with Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA) today.
There are 620,000 people are living in poverty in Greater Manchester and GMPA is aiming to change that. The group delivers independent, evidence-based activities to address socio-economic disadvantage. These focus on maximising the financial resources available to households, amplifying the voices of people with lived experience, and working to achieve meaningful change.
Andrew Western, the MP for Stretford and Urmston, said: “GMPA is a brilliant organisation, headed by Trafford councillor Graham Whitham and I was very pleased to sponsor their first parliamentary meeting. This focused on the findings of a piece of research GMPA had undertaken on the efficacy of the poverty strategies put in place by a number of local authorities. These are often most effective where a Poverty Truth Commission has taken place and I’m proud that in Trafford our Labour Council’s Commission is just coming to an end.
“Such work is especially important in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. People are really struggling at the moment yet it is falling to councils to develop local responses to poverty while this Tory Government has no overarching national poverty strategy at all.
“It’s often forgotten that the Conservatives scrapped the Child Poverty Act in 2016, one of the most despicable things any government could take in my view. Poverty and inequality are the key drivers of life chances for young people and tackling these should be at the forefront of any and all public policy.”