The Joseph Rowntree Foundation UK Poverty 2022 report

Statement from Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire.

18 January 2022

In response to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation UK Poverty 2022 report, Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:

“The findings of this report are utterly shocking and, as a nation, we should be ashamed that an increasing number of children are being brought up in devastating poverty.

“It is about time the Government faced up to the acute cost of living crisis which is affecting so many people and concentrated on introducing measures, such as scrapping VAT on energy bills, to help families who are really struggling.

“In West Yorkshire, we are working with landlords and housing associations to make homes more energy efficient and cheaper to heat but we need urgent action from the Government to give people on the lowest incomes the support they so urgently need now.”