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1701851

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact the under occupancy penalty has had on levels of (a) child poverty and (b) child poverty for children with a disability.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22335
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>No assessment has been made of the impact of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) on child poverty. It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of RSRS on child poverty because we do not have the data to fully measure behavioural impacts that may have resulted from the policy.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty by disability in the UK are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication in “table 1_7c” and “table 1_7d” (respectively) of<strong> “</strong>summary-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2022-23-tables<strong>”</strong> found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2023" target="_blank">here.</a><strong> </strong>The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p> </p><p>The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in a social rented sector property that is considered to have more bedrooms than the household requires.</p><p> </p><p>The policy helps to encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives.</p><p> </p><p>There are easements available which allow for the provision of an additional bedroom in certain circumstances, such as to support families of disabled children, foster carers and parents who adopt.</p><p> </p><p>For individuals who may require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) may be available. DHPs are paid entirely at the discretion of the local authority and since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 24/04/2024 16:14:22 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1580098

	registered interest
	date	24/01/2023
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group Child of the North, entitled Child Poverty and the Cost of Living Crisis, published on 24 January; and what steps he is taking to tackle child poverty in areas of deprivation.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	131246
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2023 answer text <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 £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>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.</p><p> </p><p>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><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 131247 question first answered 30/01/2023 16:17:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1580099

	registered interest
	date	24/01/2023
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on providing support to households to tackle early years child poverty.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	131247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2023 answer text <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 £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>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.</p><p> </p><p>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><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies grouped question UIN 131246 question first answered 30/01/2023 16:17:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1539234

	registered interest
	date	03/11/2022
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the numbers of children in poverty (a) nationally and (b) in York Central; and what fiscal steps he plans to take to reduce the numbers of children in poverty.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	78778
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2022 answer text <p>National statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2021" target="_blank">Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)</a></p><p> </p><p>Latest statistics for the levels of children who are in low income in York are published in “Children in Low Income Families”, and can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021" target="_blank">Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)</a></p><p> </p><p>Due to methodological differences, the figures in these two publications are not comparable.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is currently conducting his statutory annual review of State Pensions and benefit rates. The outcome of that review will be announced in due course.</p><p> </p><p>With 1.25 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 parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty.</p><p> </p><p>To support parents to progress in work, we are extending the support jobcentres provide to people in work and on low incomes to help them to increase their earnings and move into better paid quality jobs. The new in-work progression offer started to roll-out from April 2022. Once fully rolled out, we estimate that around 2.1m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support. This will be provided by work coaches and focus on removing barriers to progression such as support with childcare or addressing skills gaps. The progression offer is in addition to a change the government made last month to the Administrative Earnings Threshold in Universal Credit. By raising the threshold on 26<sup>th</sup> September 2022, approximately 114,000 more UC claimants on the lowest incomes will benefit from regular work coach support. The Chancellor announced that we would go further and raise the threshold again from January 2023 to expand this support to approximately 120,000 more people.</p><p> </p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The £37bn also includes up to £650 in cost of living Payments (paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324) which have targeted support at around 8 million low-income households on means-tested benefits. For those who require additional support we have provided an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 08/11/2022 13:02:07 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1544502

	registered interest
	date	22/11/2022
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Government has taken to address child poverty.
	tabling member constituency	Putney
	tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
	uin	93667
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2022 answer text <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 and over £134 billion on pensioners. Of the total amount, around £64 billion will be spent on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>From 10 April 2023 we are uprating benefits for working age households and disabled people, as well as the basic and new State Pensions, all 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%.</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>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><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 28/11/2022 17:16:50 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1642626

	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of increases in child poverty levels in Preston constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	uin	188203
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2023 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 June 2023 to question number <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions?SearchTerm=188202&amp;DateFrom=10%2F05%2F2022&amp;DateTo=01%2F12%2F2023&amp;AnsweredFrom=&amp;AnsweredTo=&amp;House=Commons&amp;Answered=Any&amp;Expanded=True" target="_blank">188202</a></p><p /><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 21/06/2023 15:56:47 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1642625

	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of child poverty in Preston constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	uin	188202
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2023 answer text <p>The latest available data shows that the proportion of children in families in absolute low income in the Preston constituency in 2021/22 was 21.9%, a reduction of 3.5 percentage points compared with 2014/15 (the first year for which comparable data is available) and a reduction of 0.7 percentage points compared with 2020/21. Absolute poverty is the government’s preferred measure as the poverty line is fixed in real terms so is not affected by overall median income.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and their children.</p><p> </p><p>From April, we uprated benefit rates by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels have also increased by the same amount.</p><p> </p><p>With 1.08 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals, including 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. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.</p><p> </p><p>To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.</p><p> </p><p>At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an ambitious package of measures designed to support people wherever they live in the UK to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.</p><p> </p><p>We are investing billions in additional childcare support for parents of toddlers, investing in wraparound childcare in schools, and increasing financial support for, and expectations of, parents claiming Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>This government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.</p><p> </p><p>For people who require additional support, whether they receive benefits or not, 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 with the significantly rising cost of living. For the period April 2023 to March 2024, Lancashire County Council has been allocated funding of £19,356,470.44 through the Fund. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 15/06/2023 12:23:00 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1588287

	registered interest
	date	22/02/2023
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Action for Children’s latest report entitled, All worked out, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of children living in poverty in Portsmouth South; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	150610
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2023 answer text <p>The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area are for 2020/21 and can be found in the annual publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2021" target="_blank">Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes in this country. In 2022/23 we will spend £245 billion through the welfare system in Great Britain including £111 billion on people of working age. In 2023/24, subject to parliamentary approval, we are uprating all benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%, and 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><p>With over 1.16 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people into and to progress in work. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risk of poverty.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/03/2023 15:50:02 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1672389

	registered interest
	date	22/11/2023
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce child poverty in Manchester, Gorton constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
	tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
	uin	3325
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2023, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1% and, subject to Parliamentary approval, working-age benefits will rise by 6.7% from April 2024, in line with inflation.</p><p> </p><p>In 2021/22 there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, including 400,000 fewer children.</p><p> </p><p>With almost one million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting people, including parents, to move into and progress in work. This approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty, after housing costs, than those where all adults work.</p><p> </p><p>To help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the voluntary in-work progression offer started to roll-out in April 2022. It is now available in all Jobcentres across Great Britain. We estimate that around 1.2m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work.</p><p> </p><p>To further support parents into work, on 28th June 2023, the maximum monthly amounts that a parent can be reimbursed for their childcare increased by 47%, from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively. Importantly, we can now also provide even more help with upfront childcare costs when parents move into work or increase their hours.</p><p> </p><p>To support those who are in work, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW.</p><p> </p><p>This government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of £104bn over 2022-25 to help households and individuals.</p><p> </p><p>Included within this, to support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the government will raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024. This will benefit 1.6 million low-income households, who will be around £800 a year better off on average in 2024-25.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 29/11/2023 16:43:13 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1642268

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2023
	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of children living in poverty in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	188080
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2023 answer text <p>Latest statistics for the levels of children who are in low income in the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency are published “Children in Low Income Families”, and can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2022/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-financial-year-ending-2022" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p> </p><p>National and regional statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2022" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p> </p><p>Due to methodological differences, the figures in these two publications are not comparable.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 13/06/2023 12:56:35 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West