HARLOW MP Chris Vince rose on the floor of the House of Commons to look for financial support for local pupils.

Mr Vince said: “I hope you had a lovely recess, Mr Speaker.

Harlow is full of fantastic schools, and I see the potential of young people there every single day, but that potential is often overlooked because of economic circumstances. Will the Secretary of State explain how the new crisis and resilience fund will support the poorest children in Harlow?

Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions replied

“In the spending review we announced this first ever multi-year settlement for local support, replacing the household support fund. The crisis and resilience fund will provide £1 billion every single year, and will give families emergency help if, for example, their white goods break down or they need food urgently.

“However, we want to start shifting it increasingly towards tackling the root causes of poverty, helping people to become more financially resilient through the provision of debt advice. We recently held a meeting with more than 600 stakeholders to discuss how we could achieve that shift, because we want to prevent people from falling into poverty and to give them the tools that they need to emerge from poverty themselves”.