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1087542

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure childcare costs are affordable in the UK.
tabling member printed	Baroness McGregor-Smith
uin	HL14463
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2019 answer text <p>This government is making childcare more affordable and more accessible. Helping parents with their childcare costs is one of the best ways to support families with the cost of living and ensuring every child has the opportunity of a high-quality early education.</p><p>The government will spend around £3.5 billion on early education entitlements this year alone – more than any other government.</p><p>All 3 and 4-year-old children in England are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare. Children of working parents are eligible for an additional 15 hours, saving families up to £5,000 per year in total.</p><p> </p><p>15 hours free early education is also available to the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free childcare provides additional financial help from government to help with any additional costs, worth up to £2,000 per child per year for children under 12 (or up to £4,000 per year for disabled children under 17).</p><p> </p><p>Those parents in receipt of Universal Credit can claim up to 85% of their childcare costs. The Childcare Choices website supports families’ understanding of what might be available to them. This can be found at: <a href="http://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.childcarechoices.gov.uk</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 26/03/2019 17:45:01 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4554 label Biography information for Baroness McGregor-Smith

1087543

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to undertake a review of the cost of childcare and how it can be reduced for all parents.
tabling member printed	Baroness McGregor-Smith
uin	HL14464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2019 answer text <p>The government annually collects and reviews data on childcare affordability<strong>. </strong>The childcare providers and parent surveys are published annually as official statistics. These include data on childcare fees, the amount parents pay for childcare and parents’ experiences of childcare affordability. These are used extensively by the government to inform policy development and understand how existing policies benefit parents.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2010, 15 hours of free weekly childcare was introduced for all children aged 3 to 4, which was extended from September 2017 to 30 hours for working parents of 3 to 4-year-olds. In 2013, 15 hours of free weekly childcare was introduced for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. Tax-free childcare was launched in April 2017, giving eligible families up to £2,000 free per child towards childcare costs for children aged under 12. As part of Universal Credit, parents can claim up to 85% of their childcare costs.</p><p> </p><p>The government will spend around £3.5 billion on early education entitlements this year alone – more than any other government. More than 700,000 of the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds have benefited from 15 hours free childcare since 2013, and more than 340,000 3 and 4-year-olds benefitted from our 30 hours offer in its first year, meaning parents are spending less on childcare or are able to work more flexibly.</p><p> </p><p>The government entitlements are supporting as many families as possible with access to high quality, affordable childcare. Parents using the 30 hours can save up to £5,000 per year on the costs of childcare, and almost 4 in 5 parents using the 30 hours, report having more money to spend as a result.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 26/03/2019 17:43:53 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4554 label Biography information for Baroness McGregor-Smith

1087544

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Employment: Equality
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the introduction of quotas for executive women in the workplace and for all BAME employees.
tabling member printed	Baroness McGregor-Smith
uin	HL14465
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to working with the business community to create more inclusive workplaces from the shop floor to the boardroom. The Government commissioned and supports several business-led independent reviews, such as the Hampton-Alexander Review to increase the representation of women on boards and senior leadership positions in FTSE 350 companies to 33% by 2020 and the Parker Review to increase the ethnic diversity of FTSE 350 boards by 2024.</p><p>These reviews form part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy which aims to build an economy that works for all.</p><p>This business-led approach is working, with, for example, the representation of women on FTSE 100 boards rising to 30.9% from 12.5% in 2011.</p><p>Government agreed with my Noble friend’s recommendation that companies should set and publish aspirational diversity targets; and committed to lead from the front in the public sector. In June 2018 we published targets for the Civil Service to tackle the under-representation of ethnic minority staff in our most senior roles. If successful, we will approximately double the current proportion of new recruits from an ethnic minority to 13.2% by 2025.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 25/03/2019 11:55:14 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4554 label Biography information for Baroness McGregor-Smith

1087545

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Public Sector: Procurement
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure the principles of the Social Value Act 2012 are being properly embedded in all public procurement processes and contracts.
tabling member printed	Baroness McGregor-Smith
uin	HL14466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to using the strength of the Government’s £49bn annual purchasing power to drive social change.</p><p>We are extending the requirements of the 2012 Social Value Act to ensure all major central Government procurements explicitly evaluate social value where appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it. This will provide a standard framework for key social outcomes and measures to be evaluated in tenders.</p><p>Additionally, we will also require all departments to report on the social impact of major new procurements, and we will train all 4,000 commercial buyers to take account of social value and procure successfully from social enterprises.</p><p>Furthermore, the Minister for Implementation announced a consultation at the Social Value Summit on 11th March on how government should take account of social value in the award of central government contracts, which closes on 10th June.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Young of Cookham question first answered 15/03/2019 14:08:20 answering member 57 label Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham
tabling member	4554 label Biography information for Baroness McGregor-Smith

1087547

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Social Enterprises
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are giving to social enterprise start ups in the UK.
tabling member printed	Baroness McGregor-Smith
uin	HL14467
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2019 answer text <p>The Civil Society Strategy sets out a long term vision for how government will work for and with civil society, and recognises the importance of responsible business and social enterprise in creating meaningful social value for civil society and the UK economy.</p><p> </p><p>To build on the UK’s reputation as a global leader in social enterprise, this government continues to champion procurement for social value, support campaigns that raise awareness about the positive impact of purposeful businesses, build the social investment market, and support social enterprises to address issues at scale.</p><p>For example, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has committed £3million to supporting the growth and sustainability of mutuals. This includes a package of support announced in January 2018 worth £1.7million to help new mutuals to emerge and existing ones to grow. The Department for Business, Economy and Industrial Strategy has also invested over £56m in the network of 38 Local Growth Hubs across England. In 2017-18 Growth Hubs helped over 130,000 businesses, including social enterprises, and over 8,000 individuals to start-up, thrive and grow. A further £12m has been committed for 2019-20.</p><p>The Business Support Helpline also provides trusted and impartial advice to businesses across England. In 2018 it helped around 31,500 businesses, of which 65% were entrepreneurs and start-ups. The government continues to develop online support through GOV.UK, ensuring businesses including social enterprises can access the key information they need on running their business any time they wish.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Ashton of Hyde question first answered 21/03/2019 12:02:39 answering member 4247 label Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde
tabling member	4554 label Biography information for Baroness McGregor-Smith

806755

registered interest
date	14/12/2017
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what they are doing to ensure that pension rights for women are equal to those for men, with particular reference to those women born in the 1950s and affected by the changes to the state pension under the Pensions Act 1995 and Pensions Act 2011.
tabling member printed	Baroness McGregor-Smith
uin	HL4215
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2017 answer text <p>Women retiring today can still expect to receive the State Pension for 23.5 years on average – almost three years longer than men. Even after equalising women’s State Pension age (SPa) with men’s, women will spend on average around 2 years more in receipt of their State Pension (SP) because of their longer life expectancy.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The new State Pension is actually much more generous for many women, who have been historically worse off under the old system. By 2030, over 3m women stand to gain an average of £550 extra per year as a result of these changes. If SPa had not been equalised, women would spend on average over 40% of their adult life in retirement.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/12/2017 17:59:54 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	4554 label Biography information for Baroness McGregor-Smith