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1012129

registered interest
date	21/11/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take further action to address relative poverty in the UK in response to the Statement on Visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published on 16 November.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL11656
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government will carefully consider the findings set out in the Special Rapporteur’s interim report published on 16 November. Professor Alston’s final report will be presented to the June 2019 session of the of the Human Rights’ Council. Any formal comments made by the Government in response will be published alongside the final report on the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ website.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p><p> </p><p>The Autumn Budget announced a number of changes to Universal Credit ahead of further expansion including an increase of £1,000 in work allowances from April 2019 allowing 2.4 million households to keep an extra £630 of income each year.</p><p> </p><p>Work continues to offer people the best opportunity to move out of poverty. Children living in households where all adults are working are five times less likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs than those in workless families.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 05/12/2018 13:42:00 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1012145

registered interest
date	21/11/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Statement on Visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published on 16 November; whether they intend to make a formal response to the Statement; and if not, why not.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL11672
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government will carefully consider the findings set out in the Special Rapporteur’s interim report published on 16 November. Professor Alston’s final report will be presented to the June 2019 session of the of the Human Rights’ Council. Any formal comments made by the Government in response will be published alongside the final report on the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/12/2018 15:50:30 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

1010098

registered interest
date	19/11/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a response to the Statement on the Visit to the UK by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published on 16 November.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL11545
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11546 HL11547 question first answered 28/11/2018 11:45:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1010099

registered interest
date	19/11/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the finding by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights that 14 million people live in poverty in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL11546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11545 HL11547 question first answered 28/11/2018 11:45:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1010100

registered interest
date	19/11/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the finding by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights that 1.5 million people in the UK are destitute.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL11547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL11545 HL11546 question first answered 28/11/2018 11:45:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

944900

registered interest
date	19/07/2018
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Poverty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to end the poverty premium.
tabling member printed	Lord Bird
uin	HL9683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Since 2010 there are 1,000,000 fewer people, including 300,000 fewer children, in absolute low income (before housing costs), both record lows.</p><p> </p><p>The government has a range of policies to support households with their energy bills such as the Warm Home Discount, Energy Company Obligation and Winter Fuel Payment schemes. The government is also committed to ensuring that individuals, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services, and has established a Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which provides leadership and ensures collaboration across government and with the sector in tackling financial exclusion.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 31/07/2018 12:06:00 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

921809

registered interest
date	11/06/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to respond to the report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Destitution in the UK 2018 published in June revealing that there are 1.5 million people living in destitution in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL8508
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2018 answer text <p>The Joseph Rowntree Trust’s report refers to people who were destitute “at some point” during 2017 not to the number of people living in destitution.</p><p> </p><p>This Government will continue with its ambitious reforms to the welfare system so that it encourages people to move into and progress in work, and move towards financial independence. Compared with 2010, there are now around 880,000 fewer adults in workless households and 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (on a before housing costing costs basis). Of those in the poorest fifth of the population in 2010/11, just over half had moved further up the income distribution 5 years later.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also continuing to help those who face the greatest employment barriers and who are most at-risk of being in severe and long-term low income, for example, through individualised, tailored support from Jobcentre Work Coaches. For people with health conditions or a disability, this support can include early access to the new Work and Health Programme and Specialist Employability Support. As a safeguard for people in urgent need, a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans is in place. <br></p><p>We are also considering how we can develop and make greater use of the existing suite of official measures of poverty so that they better identify and track progress on helping those who are most in need of additional support.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 25/06/2018 11:36:09 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

916547

registered interest
date	04/06/2018
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Poverty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are seeking to prevent and reduce the effects of the poverty premium.
tabling member printed	Lord Bird
uin	HL8253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2018 answer text <p>The government has focused on lifting people out of poverty. Since 2010 there are 1,000,000 fewer people, including 300,000 fewer children, in absolute poverty (before housing costs), both record lows.</p><p> </p><p>The government recognises that energy costs and access to financial services can be an issue for some families living in poverty. The government has a range of policies to support households with their energy bills such as the Warm Home Discount, Energy Company Obligation and Winter Fuel Payment schemes. The government is also committed to ensuring that individuals, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services, and has established a Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which provides leadership and ensures collaboration across government and with the sector in tackling financial exclusion. Following the first meeting of the Forum, a sub-group will now tackle the important issue of access to affordable credit, driving this work forward ahead of the next Forum meeting.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 18/06/2018 15:06:18 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

916549

registered interest
date	04/06/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to adopt an all-of-government approach to preventing the root causes of poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Bird
uin	HL8255
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2018 answer text <p>This Government believes that works provides people with the best opportunity for getting out of poverty and into self-reliance. This is why it is committed to collective action that tackles the root causes of poverty and disadvantage through a range of policies that encourage people to move into and progress in work including Universal Credit, the National Living Wage, tax changes, and up to 30 hours of free childcare a week. There are around 880,000 fewer adults and almost 600,000 fewer children in workless households compared with 2010.</p><p> </p><p>‘Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families’, published on 4 April, set out a framework for improving outcomes for children in workless households including nine cross-departmental indicators to track progress across a number of departments in tackling the disadvantages that can affect families and their children. The Department for Work and Pensions continues to work with a range of external stakeholders and with other Departments to take forward the policies set out in the paper and is also committed to pushing annual updates against all nine indicators.</p><p><br>The Department is also represented at a ministerial level at a number of groups and forums which focus on supporting those who are most disadvantaged, whether or not they have children, including Inter Ministerial Groups on Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce, Serious Violence Strategy, Violence against Women and Girls, Race Disparity, Safe and Integrated Communities, the Reducing Reoffending Board and the Drugs Strategy Board. It also co-chairs the Financial Inclusion Policy Forum with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 13/06/2018 11:31:33 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

906017

registered interest
date	16/05/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the concept of relative poverty.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL7943
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2018 answer text <p>Relative low income sets a threshold as a proportion of the UK average (median) income and moves each year as average income changes. It is used to measure the number and proportion of individuals who have income below this threshold (typically 50, 60 or 70 per cent of the median).</p><p> </p><p>The percentage of individuals in relative low income will decrease if average (median) income stays the same or rises, and individuals with lower incomes see their incomes rise more than the average. The percentage of individuals in relative low income will also decrease if average (median) incomes fall, and individuals with lower incomes fall by less than average incomes.</p><p> </p><p>This second scenario, where individuals can move out of low income despite a fall in their own income, is an example where relative low income measures taken on their own might be misleading. A further hypothetical scenario where relative measures have their limitations is if all incomes doubled overnight there would be no change in relative low income estimates.</p><p> </p><p>This is why the Department also publishes a range of absolute low income measures. Absolute low income takes the 60 per cent of median income threshold in 2010/11 and adjusts this to take account of inflation. This is designed to assess how incomes are faring with reference to inflation over time.</p><p> </p><p>The percentage of individuals in absolute low income will decrease if individuals with lower incomes see their incomes increase by more than inflation.</p><p> </p><p>The Department also publishes a measure of persistent low income as the amount of time an individual has low income has been shown to have an impact on their actual standard of living. Persistent low income is defined as having had low income in at least 3 out of the last 4 years. Also a measure of material deprivation is published which measures whether individuals have access to a range of goods and services so provides a broader measure of living standards which goes beyond assessing income only.</p><p> </p><p>No one measure of poverty is able to fully capture the concept of a low standard of living in all economic circumstances. Taken together all these measures are required to provide a comprehensive assessment of living standards.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 23/05/2018 12:30:39 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett