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1642805

	registered interest
	date	07/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, whether they intend to abolish the benefit cap following their research which found that only five per cent of affected households moved into work as a result of it.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL8286
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2023 answer text <p>The benefit cap continues to provide a work incentive and fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. The Government firmly believes that where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work.</p><p> </p><p>The lower benefit cap had a positive impact with an additional 5.1% of households moving into employment as a result of it. An additional 2.6% of households left the cap as a result of their benefit entitlements being updated to include an exempting benefit and an additional 1.8% of households left the cap by moving property, at Census Output Area (COA) level, to reduce their rental costs.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 16/06/2023 11:32:48 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1549163

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pensions official statistics 'Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021', what assessment they have made of the reasons for the increase in (1) the number of, and (2) the proportion of, children living in absolute poverty in every local authority area of the North East in every year since 2017/18.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL4050
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions has made no assessment.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions engage regularly with their Ministerial counterparts in other Departments, taking a collective approach to the policies and interventions that can make a difference.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend over £242bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £108bn on people of working age.</p><p> </p><p>From 10 April 2023 we are uprating State Pension and benefit rates by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap will also be increased by 10.1%. These increases are subject to Parliamentary approval.</p><p /><p>With over 1.22 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.</p><p> </p><p>Getting people both into work and progressing in work is key to levelling up for the whole of the UK, and DWP is playing a central role in this. To help people into work, including parents, our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all Jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme. We are also extending the support Jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes. Through a staged roll-out, which started in April 2022, around 2.1 million low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work.</p><p> </p><p>The government is also increasing the National Living Wage by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour from April 2023, representing an increase of over £1,600 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National living wage, benefitting over 2 million low paid workers.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL4049 HL4053 question first answered 19/12/2022 15:19:10 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1580996

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group Child of the North Child Poverty and the Cost of Living Crisis, published on 23 January, what steps they are taking to help mitigate the effects of the increased cost of living for families in areas with the highest levels of child poverty.
	tabling member printed	Lord Pendry
	uin	HL5095
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend over £245bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £111bn on people of working age.</p><p> </p><p>In 2023/24, subject to parliamentary approval, we are uprating all benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.</p><p /><p>The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living this winter and is taking action to help. The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap - reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support the current Household Support Fund, running in England from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, is providing £421 million of funding. The devolved administrations have been allocated £79 million through the Barnett formula.  The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need to help with the significantly rising cost of living. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the amended Energy Price Guarantee will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24.</p><p> </p><p>With 1.16 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023 subject to parliamentary approval, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 02/02/2023 17:36:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	457 label Biography information for Lord Pendry

1652143

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Carers
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the book by Kate Andersen Welfare That Works for Women? Mothers’ Experiences of the Conditionality within Universal Credit, published in January, what assessment they have made of their decision to introduce automated sanctions and intensify the conditionality regime for lead carers.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL9247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been made. There are no plans to automate sanctions. However, we have automated the creation of the referral form for claimants who miss mandatory appointments. The referral form will be reviewed by the Work Coach before submitting to the Decision Maker in the normal way.</p><p> </p><p>By introducing the conditionality changes, we are providing increased opportunities for lead carers to engage with their work coach and work-related activity to help them prepare and move towards employment.</p><p> </p><p>As with all policies, we will review these changes to ensure that they are effective and meet the policy intent.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/07/2023 09:25:12 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1520212

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Child Tax Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Completing the move to Universal Credit report, published on 6 June, which estimated that one million families receiving tax credits in April 2022 may need to move to universal credit, what estimate they have made of (1) how many of these families were in receipt of Child Tax Credit, and (2) how many children were living in those families.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL2432
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2022 answer text <p>There were a total of 1.2 million households in receipt of Tax Credits in April 2022 who we estimated to be in scope for Moving to UC. Of these 880,000 were in receipt of Child Tax Credits. We do not have a current estimate of how many children were living in those families at that time.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 24/10/2022 16:31:58 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1549165

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2022
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Regional Planning and Development
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the the report by the North East Child Poverty Commission report Getting the building blocks wrong: Early childhood poverty in the North East, published on 12 October, what assessment they have made of the merits of undertaking levelling up impact assessments of all major government policy and spending decisions, including those taken by the Department for Work and Pensions.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL4052
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has set 12 ambitious levelling up ‘missions’ to anchor ambition and provide clarity over the objectives of public policy for the next decade. These include missions on skills and living standards.</p><p> </p><p>Missions will deliver real change to peoples’ lives by improving living standards by spreading opportunities and enhancing economic growth, restoring local pride, spreading opportunity and empowering local leaders across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Missions will also serve as an anchor for the private sector and civil society. This policy stability and consistency will unleash innovation, investment and collaboration.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure transparency and accountability, the missions are specific and measurable, and are supported by a set of metrics.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will report on progress towards delivering the missions through an annual report laid before Parliament. The obligation to publish the annual report will be established in statute, creating a regular point for Parliament and the public to debate and scrutinise progress towards levelling up.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 19/12/2022 15:17:59 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1605373

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement in the Spring Budget 2023 factsheet – Labour Market Measures that over 700,000 lead carers of children in receipt of Universal Credit will be made to look for work or increase the number of hours they work, what is their estimate of how this number will be broken down by (1) age of youngest child, and (2) by lone parent/other; and what additional work-related requirements will be applied to such claimants.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL6635
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>1) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by age of youngest child</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Age of youngest child</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>11%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>2) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by family type</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Family Type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Single, with children</p></td><td><p>70%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Couple, with children</p></td><td><p>30%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Caveats &amp; Data Definitions:</p><ul><li>We do not hold data that explicitly identifies lead carers, as a result, figures are estimated assuming that if one member of the household has age of youngest child as required, and is in the relevant conditionality regime, then they are a “lead carer”.</li><li>Universal Credit conditionality regimes included are Intensive Work Search, Working with requirements, Planning for work and Preparing for work</li><li>Based on average volumes 2022/23</li><li>Based on internal Universal Credit Household dataset</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 1-2 will be required to have regular work focussed conversations with a dedicated Jobcentre work coach more often.</p><p> </p><p>For lead carers of children aged 2, work coaches can offer claimants more support with work preparation activities such as, job readiness workshops; help with developing a CV; practicing interviewing skills; skills assessment; participating in training or employment programme.</p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 3-12 will be supported by their work coach to increase their work search and preparation activity and will be required to be available for higher paid or longer hours jobs to align with Department for Education’s 30hr free childcare offer.</p><p> </p><p>Work search activities could include carrying out work searches, making job applications and creating and maintaining online job profiles. The requirements will be tailored to a claimant’s circumstances (e.g., location of job, claimant eligibility for free childcare provision, availability and location of childcare provision, and transport).</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:35:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1652575

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Food Banks: Refrigeration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Markham on 14 December 2022 (HL Deb col 653), what assessment they have made of the provision of freezers and fridges to increase food banks’ storage capacity.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL9301
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst Government recognises that food charities are a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country, it is important to recognise the important distinction between government welfare support and discretionary charitable support. Therefore, the Department for Work and Pensions is unable to make an assessment as Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations who design their own delivery models and criteria to access their services.</p><p> </p><p>Government understands the pressures people, including parents, are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help. Overall, the government is providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of bills.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also announced over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England at the Spring Budget. This will support frontline organisations experiencing increased demand and higher delivery costs and will provide some investment in energy efficiency measures. It will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk from cost of living pressures, due to increased demand and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency measures. Further detail will be published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport shortly.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 25/07/2023 16:01:59 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1606119

	registered interest
	date	21/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Household Support Fund
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by the Viscount Younger of Leckie on 9 March (HL5842), where the management information on the household support fund is published; and what steps they have taken to analyse this information.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL6684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The published management information for the Household Support Fund covering the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-management-information-6-october-2021-to-31-march-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-management-information-6-october-2021-to-31-march-2022</a>.</p><p>The information for the subsequent Household Support Fund schemes are the subject of an upcoming statistical release and will be released following the usual quality assurance.</p><p> </p><p>In terms of analysing this information, The Government collects high level data on the types of households supported to ensure that funded activities are within the scope of the Fund’s guidance and uses this to inform the design of future schemes.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 28/03/2023 11:48:38 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1580991

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 24 January (HL Deb cols 93–94), what plans they have, if any, (1) to publish regular data on the numbers of families and children affected simultaneously by the benefit cap and the two-child limit, and (2) to monitor the impact on these families and children.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL5087
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2023 answer text <p>The Department does not currently have plans to publish this data on a regular basis. However, the estimate, provided on 24 January, is based on published statistics for April 2022 which show the percentage of UC Households with three or more children who were not receiving a child element amount for at least one child. This percentage was applied to UC households that were benefit capped in April 2022 and have 3 or more children. Consequently we are able to estimate the number affected on an ongoing basis from the analysis that is already published.</p><p> </p><p>The Department takes the impact of its policies very seriously and is why we introduce certain exceptions to these policies. We acknowledge that some households are affected simultaneously by both policies as such there is other support available. For example families can apply to their Local Authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment if they need help to meet rental costs. There is also help with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund. Our focus, however, remains firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work; an approach which is based on clear evidence that it is in the best interest of children to be in working households.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 08/02/2023 17:20:59 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett