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755106

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2017
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government how they define, monitor and assess (1) poverty, and (2) the root causes of poverty, in the UK.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL1114
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/08/2017 answer text <p>This Government is committed to an approach that tackles the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. Through <em>Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families</em>, published on 4 April, it published its evidence and analysis on the root causes of disadvantage and the impact they can have on children’s lives. It also set out nine national indicators and underlying measures to track progress in tackling these disadvantages and to drive continued action on improving outcomes for disadvantaged children and families, now and in the future.</p><p>The most commonly used measure of poverty is ‘relative low-income’. Estimates on the number and proportion of people in low income are published annually in the ‘Households Below Average Income’ series. It measures how the incomes of one group compare to median incomes in the UK, with those incomes below 60 per cent of the median classified as being in relative low-income.</p><p>For more details on the definitions of low income please see the latest Households Below Average Income report attached.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/08/2017 15:42:37 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name HBAI Report.PDF title HBAI Report
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

753265

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the lessons to be learned from the reports of the Scottish Government's Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality in the light of persistent poverty levels in the United Kingdom.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL953
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2017 answer text <p>The Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality was appointed in 2015 to offer advice to the Scottish Government on the action it could take to tackle poverty in Scotland.</p><p> </p><p>Nevertheless, the UK Government has taken note of the Advisor’s two publications: <em>Shifting the Curve</em> (and its most recent progress report) and <em>The Life Chances of Young People</em>.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government remains committed to tackling the root causes of child poverty and disadvantage, and has set out a framework for continued action in <em>Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families</em>, published on 4 April.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 25/07/2017 10:30:43 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

753266

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of (1) children, (2) adults, and (3) working families, living in poverty across the United Kingdom; and what long-term plan they have to prevent such poverty.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL954
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2017 answer text <p>The most commonly used measure of poverty is relative low income.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data series show that there are: 2.7 million children, 5.7 million working-age adults, and 2.1 million pensioners in relative low income in the United Kingdom on a ‘before housing costs’ (BHC) basis.</p><p>Analysis of the HBAI data shows that there are 2.1 million families in relative low income BHC where at least one adult member works at least part-time.</p><p>This Government is committed to tackling the root causes of poverty, thereby preventing the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.</p><p> </p><p>This is why we repealed the income-related targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010 and replaced them with statutory measures that drive action on parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – the two areas that we know can make the biggest difference to disadvantaged children, now and in the future.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions published Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families in April 2017. Here we set out further non-statutory indicators on a wider set of parental disadvantage and children’s outcomes, which will drive collective action on areas that matter in tackling disadvantage.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL955 question first answered 28/07/2017 10:40:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

753267

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Buscombe on 13 July (HL Deb, cols 1296–98), what emphasis they place on the prevention of poverty; and how they are working to ensure that the prevention of poverty is prioritised by every Department.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL955
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2017 answer text <p>The most commonly used measure of poverty is relative low income.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data series show that there are: 2.7 million children, 5.7 million working-age adults, and 2.1 million pensioners in relative low income in the United Kingdom on a ‘before housing costs’ (BHC) basis.</p><p>Analysis of the HBAI data shows that there are 2.1 million families in relative low income BHC where at least one adult member works at least part-time.</p><p>This Government is committed to tackling the root causes of poverty, thereby preventing the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.</p><p> </p><p>This is why we repealed the income-related targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010 and replaced them with statutory measures that drive action on parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – the two areas that we know can make the biggest difference to disadvantaged children, now and in the future.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions published Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families in April 2017. Here we set out further non-statutory indicators on a wider set of parental disadvantage and children’s outcomes, which will drive collective action on areas that matter in tackling disadvantage.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL954 question first answered 28/07/2017 10:40:12 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

845382

	registered interest
	date	20/02/2018
	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: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children were living in poverty in working families in each year since 2010.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL5582
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2018 answer text <p>National statistics on the number of children, in a family with at least one adult in work, in relative low income can be calculated from figures published in the annual &quot;Households Below Average Income&quot; publication.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of children living in relative low income before housing costs in a family with at least one adult in work</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>1.4m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>1.4m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>1.5m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>1.5m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>1.5m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>1.7m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>1.8m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The increase is partly driven by more families being in employment. The number of children in a family with at least one adult in work has increased by 800,000 since 2009/10. The chances of a child being in relative low income (before housing costs) when living in a family with at least one adult in work was 15% in 2015/16, which is the same as before the financial crisis (e.g. 2007/08).</p><p> </p><p>This publication also shows that the chances of a child being in relative low income are diminished when work is the norm. The figures show that children in households where all adults work are five times less likely to be in relative low income before housing costs than children in workless households.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 06/03/2018 13:35:05 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

1133775

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	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	Health
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any lessons to be learnt for improving the environmental, social, economic and cultural well-being of people in all regions of the UK from the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL16526
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 relates to devolved matters therefore it is for the Welsh Government to consider any lessons learnt in respect of Wales.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 03/07/2019 14:11:59 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

845381

	registered interest
	date	20/02/2018
	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 effectiveness of their preventative approach with regard to addressing the root causes of poverty in the long term.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL5581
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2018 answer text <p>This Government is committed to action that tackles the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. We are undertaking the most ambitious reform to the welfare system in decades to ensure that it supports people to find and progress in work. This is because we have clear evidence that work offers families the best opportunity to get out of poverty and to become self-reliant. Adults in workless families are 4 times more likely to be in poverty than those in working families. We also know that children living in workless households are 5 times more likely to be in poverty than those where all adults work. We are making good progress. Nationally, there are now 954,000 fewer workless households, and 608,000 fewer children living in such households compared with 2010.</p><p> </p><p>In <em>Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families</em>, we set out a framework for a continued focus on improving children’s long-term outcomes. This includes nine national indicators to track progress across government in tackling the disadvantages that can affect families and their children. The Government has a statutory duty to report annually against two of these indicators - parental employment, and children’s educational attainment.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 06/03/2018 16:26:36 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

918911

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2018
	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	Social Security Benefits
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, or intend to make, of the effects of delayed benefit payments on the creditworthiness of benefit recipients who fall into arrears as a result of such delays.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL8408
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2018 answer text <p>An assessment has not been made.</p><p> </p><p>The latest Universal Credit data shows that around 80 per cent of new claims are paid in full and on time. In many cases, where full payment is not made on time by the end of the first assessment period, this is as a result of unresolved issues: claimants have not signed their Claimant Commitment or passed identity checks, and the others have outstanding verification issues, such as for housing and self-employed earnings. Whilst their verification is ongoing, many of these claimants receive a part payment for those elements of the claim that have been resolved.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are available to provide financial support until the first payment and these can now be repaid over a course of 12 months and can consist of up to 100 per cent of the indicative monthly award. We have also abolished waiting days and now provide 2 weeks of housing support to claimants moving to Universal Credit from Housing Benefit.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 18/06/2018 12:10:04 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

947537

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2018
	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: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, or intend to make, of the report of the Resolution Foundation, Living Standards Audit 2018, published on 24 July, and its conclusion that the proportion of children in poverty has risen by 21 per cent in the five years to 2016, rather than their estimate of 11 per cent.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL9830
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Benefit under-reporting in household surveys is a well-known, long standing issue. To date it has not been possible to accurately resolve this. The Resolution Foundation’s report published on 24 July attempts to correct this issue. However, they do not have accurate information on which households are under-reporting. Consequently, they use a series of assumptions to select a number of households in the survey, allocating them additional income from benefits. This means the conclusions in the report will be sensitive to the households selected; different assumptions will give different results.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is currently working towards a more accurate solution to correct this issue, whereby survey records are combined with administrative data to improve the quality of the survey data. Making this correction is likely to reduce the number of individuals classed as being in low income.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:51:06 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

800427

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2017
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have had with the devolved administrations since 2010 about possible coordinated actions across the UK to reduce (1) poverty, and (2) child poverty; whether they have learned any lessons from specific initiatives introduced by those administrations that may now be applied in England; and if so, what.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bird
	uin	HL3814
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2017 answer text <p>This Government is committed to an approach to tackling poverty that goes beyond a focus on the safety net of the welfare system. Work is the best route out of poverty and our welfare reforms are designed to incentivise employment and support people to progress in work. There are now 954,000 fewer workless households and 608,000 fewer children in workless households across the UK compared with 2010. Through <em>Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families</em> we have set out a framework for a continued focus for improving outcomes for workless families, now and in the future.</p><p> </p><p>The Scottish Government has powers in the Scotland Act 2016 to introduce new provision in areas where responsibility is devolved and the Devolved Government in Wales and Scotland are also free to develop their own approaches to tackling child poverty.</p><p> </p><p>Officials in DWP continue to have regular engagement with devolved administrations on a wide range of welfare issues, including constructive discussions about the Improving Lives evidence base and approaches to tackling poverty.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 12/12/2017 15:16:39 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird