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1734379

registered interest
date	15/10/2024
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	Winter Fuel Payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of means-testing the winter fuel payment on trends in the level of excess deaths in winter.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	9177
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2024 answer text <p>This Government is committed to pensioners. Everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement. We will do this through protecting the triple lock, keeping energy bills low through our Warm Homes Plan, and bringing real stability to people’s lives.</p><p> </p><p>However, given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.</p><p> </p><p>The Household Support Fund (HSF) is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting consumers, including pensioners, through our Warm Homes Plan which will transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run. The Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation, low carbon heating and other home improvements to cut bills.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, there are multiple targeted schemes in place to deliver energy efficiency measures to low income and fuel poor households. Schemes include the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS).</p><p> </p><p>Pensioners if eligible may also receive the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 annual rebate off energy bills for eligible low-income households until 2025/26.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance to help people stay safe in cold weather has been published by UKHSA. This will help ensure that organisations and staff are prompted to signpost those vulnerable to cold weather to sources of support for keeping their home warm, with cost of living support, including help to manage energy bills, as needed. As well as advice on simple measures to improve home energy efficiency and safety to reduce risks that may increase in cold weather (for example from carbon monoxide exposure).</p><p> </p><p>Details of excess winter deaths in England and Wales can be found at: <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/excesswintermortalityinenglandandwales/2021to2022provisionaland2020to2021final" target="_blank">Winter mortality in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wycombe answering member printed Emma Reynolds grouped question UIN 9337 9355 question first answered 21/10/2024 14:57:39 answering member 4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1734380

registered interest
date	15/10/2024
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Hospitality Sector Council: Membership
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the selection criteria for membership to the Hospitality Sector Council is.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	9178
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>The Hospitality Sector Council’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/650171dc1886eb001397726b/Hospitality_Sector_Council_Terms_of_Reference.pdf" target="_blank">Terms of Reference</a> is publicly available, outlining that membership is by invitation only and is subject to final agreement by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Ministers in consultation with the joint chairs. Members are selected to provide a breadth of knowledge and experience across the hospitality sector and Government. All members are selected in a personal capacity and will be expected to speak for their areas of expertise rather than the specific interests of their organisation.</p><p> </p><p>Membership is reviewed by DBT and it may be amended to take account of changing priorities in the sector to ensure appropriate representation and expertise is maintained.</p> answering member constituency Harrow West answering member printed Gareth Thomas question first answered 23/10/2024 16:12:41 answering member 177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1734381

registered interest
date	15/10/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase pay in the further education sector.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	9179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE). This remains the responsibility of individual colleges who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.</p><p>The government recognises the vital role that FE teachers play in developing the skills needed to drive our missions to improve opportunity and economic growth. That is why the department is investing around £600 million in FE across the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. The department also continues to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through our Taking Teaching Further programme.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced a Budget on 30 October, to be followed by a multi-year Spending Review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.</p> answering member constituency Lewisham East answering member printed Janet Daby grouped question UIN 9234 9357 question first answered 23/10/2024 16:34:45 answering member 4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1734383

registered interest
date	15/10/2024
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Flexible Working: Women
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support flexible working by women.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	9180
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2024 answer text <p>Through the recently introduced Employment Rights Bill, we are amending existing legislation to ensure employers accept flexible working requests, except where they are not reasonably feasible. These changes will support employees to access flexible working, including women. We know flexible working is particularly important supporting women who combine work with caring responsibilities.</p> answering member constituency Ellesmere Port and Bromborough answering member printed Justin Madders question first answered 22/10/2024 16:05:45 answering member 4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1734387

registered interest
date	15/10/2024
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	Menopause: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure employers support women managing the menopause in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	9181
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2024 answer text <p>The Government believes in the vital importance of equality of opportunity and of treatment in the workplace. The plan to Make Work Pay includes clear action to place equality, diversity and inclusion issues on a statutory footing. This includes requiring large employers to publish plans detailing the action they're taking to improve gender equality and support employees during the menopause. Alongside this, the Government has appointed a Menopause Employment Ambassador who will work with employers to improve the support for women experiencing menopause symptoms at work.</p> answering member constituency Birkenhead answering member printed Alison McGovern grouped question UIN 9236 9359 question first answered 23/10/2024 10:52:29 answering member 4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1730491

registered interest
date	04/10/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Carers and Foster Care: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide additional funding to equalise allowances between foster and kinship families.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	6239
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2024 answer text <p>This government recognises the valuable and important role that kinship carers play and appreciates that they often take on this role at a time in their lives when they are least expecting to raise a family.</p><p>Statutory guidance issued to local authorities makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare.</p><p>Local authorities have the powers to provide a range of services, including financial support, to support children and families. As local authorities know their carers best, they have the power to decide what financial support should be provided to carers and their children and any payments should be made in accordance with their model for assessing support needs. The government does not set a maximum or minimum allowance for local authorities to administer. While the government recognises the financial constraints on local authorities, guidance makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare.</p><p>The government is committed to work with local government to support children in care, including through kinship, foster care, and adoption, as well as strengthening regulation of the children’s social care sector.</p><p>This government is considering how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including how best to support kinship families.</p> answering member constituency Lewisham East answering member printed Janet Daby question first answered 14/10/2024 16:07:48 answering member 4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1730492

registered interest
date	04/10/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Carers and Foster Care: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide the same level of access to (a) training and (b) support to (i) kinship and (ii) foster carers.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	6240
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2024 answer text <p>Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve. It is also necessary to achieve financial stability for local authorities.</p><p> </p><p>This government is committed to helping children thrive, and we want the best for every child and family. We want to build on the foundations laid by local authorities to create a care system that works for everyone.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This government recognises the valuable and important role that kinship and foster carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children. Our manifesto committed to working with local government to support children in care, including through kinship and fostering arrangements.</p><p> </p><p>The government is extending the delivery of over 140 peer support groups across England, available for all kinship carers to access, where they can come together to share stories, exchange advice and support each other. The department is also delivering a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access.</p><p> </p><p>It is important that foster carers receive the support they need to fulfil this role and to meet the needs of the children in their care. The department is investing over £36 million this spending review to deliver 10 local authority regional fostering recruitment and retention hubs, covering 64% of local authorities in England. The majority of hubs launched this summer and include rollout of the Mockingbird programme in all local authorities, which offers peer-support to foster carers and the children in their care.</p><p> </p><p>The department is also funding Fosterlink, a new support service for local authority fostering services not in the regional programme. This identifies areas for improvement and creates a national network to share best practice.</p><p> </p><p>The department also encourages fostering service providers to adhere to the Foster Carer Charter. The Charter sets out clear principles for how foster carers should be treated and recognises their invaluable work. This was refreshed in February 2022 and sets out the responsibilities of foster carers, fostering services and the corporate parent. It aims to deliver best practice in fostering for all involved, including carers and children.</p><p> </p><p>The Charter can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/get-involved/our-campaigns/foster-carers-charter-0" target="_blank">https://www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/get-involved/our-campaigns/foster-carers-charter-0</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Lewisham East answering member printed Janet Daby question first answered 11/10/2024 12:42:59 answering member 4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1730493

registered interest
date	04/10/2024
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Carers: Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing the same rights to leave for kinship carers as are are in place for adoption leave.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	6241
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2024 answer text <p>The Government greatly values kinship carers who come forward to care for children who cannot live with their parents. The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it better supports working families. We will set out more information in due course.</p> answering member constituency Ellesmere Port and Bromborough answering member printed Justin Madders question first answered 14/10/2024 09:50:09 answering member 4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1730494

registered interest
date	04/10/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Carers and Foster Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide the same access to (a) health and (b) therapeutic support for children in kinship care as those in formal care settings.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	6242
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2024 answer text <p>This government recognises the importance of health and therapeutic support services for all children, including those in kinship care. Ensuring every child receives the support they need is a key priority.</p><p>The department recently renamed the Adoption Support Fund, the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, to increase awareness among families in kinship arrangements who are eligible for therapeutic support through the fund.</p><p>We are committed to working with local government to support children in care, including through kinship arrangements. We are considering how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including how best to support kinship children and families.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Lewisham East answering member printed Janet Daby question first answered 14/10/2024 16:09:40 answering member 4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1730495

registered interest
date	04/10/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent comparative assessment of the educational needs of (a) children in kinship care and (b) other children.
tabling member constituency	Blyth and Ashington
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	6243
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2024 answer text <p>Children in Special Guardianship and Child Arrangement Orders have higher attainment than children in local authority care but perform worse compared to all children.</p><p>In 2022/23 the average Attainment 8 score for children who left care on a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangement Order was 28. By comparison, the average attainment for children in care at March 31 was 18, while for the overall pupil population it was 46.</p><p>This department is determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve. We know that many children who receive care from relatives and friends need extra support, including in school. We are working to ensure their needs are met, and that they have the best possible opportunity to succeed.</p><p>In September 2024, the role of virtual school heads was expanded to include championing the education, attendance, and attainment of children in kinship care, to ensure they receive the help they need to thrive at school.</p><p>This government is considering how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including how best to support kinship children and families.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Lewisham East answering member printed Janet Daby question first answered 14/10/2024 16:12:29 answering member 4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery