The Joseph Rowntree report published on 7 June 2018, highlighted that last year over 1.5 million people went without the bare essentials.
The report also showed that people were locked out of the chance of building a decent and secure life.
In response to the report Rokhsana said:
“This report is a damning indictment of the government’s policies and behind these statistics are people facing the real choice between eating, paying their rent or putting clothes on their children’s backs. The Government’s welfare reforms, benefit cuts and sanctions are to blame. This is compounded further by their changes to housing policy which is fuelling a housing crisis, taking an affordable home out of the reach of many.
“No one should face destitution in our society today and as Mayor, I am committed to ensuring we put in place measures to alleviate extreme poverty. We are transforming Newham into a beacon of Community wealth building, where we use our purchasing power to keep wealth in our local economy with benefits shared more equally. In addition, we will be boosting the skills of our residents and supporting them in to higher quality jobs and apprenticeship schemes to ensure that they are less dependent on the welfare system. I am also committed to building at least 1,000 homes at social rent levels that our residents can truly afford.
“However the Government must reform the system so it actually reduces and not causes poverty and the most vulnerable in our society get the support they need.”