Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
type
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1109967

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to conduct an equality impact assessment in relation to the child maintenance service arrears strategy, and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241423
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>DWP considered the impact of the compliance and arrears strategy on those with the relevant protected characteristics in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).</p><p>We determined that there would be no direct discrimination from this strategy across the eight protected characteristics as none of the characteristics are a factor in how the regulations are applied.</p><p> </p><p>Some groups may be indirectly affected more than others as a result of the caseload demographic.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 11/04/2019 14:38:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1109968

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial assessment she has made of the effect of writing off child maintenance arrears on (a) her Department's budget and (b) families who are entitled to claim child maintenance; and how much money has been transferred from the legacy system and is in the process of being written off.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241424
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>In December 2017 we published a public consultation document detailing the financial assessment of writing off child maintenance arrears owed to Government and arrears owed to parents. The consultation can be found through the following link:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/667033/child-maintenance-compliance-arrears-consultation.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/667033/child-maintenance-compliance-arrears-consultation.pdf</a></p><p>New statistics will be published in June 2019 which will include arrears transferred from the legacy system or in the process of being written off. Information on the planned changes to the Child Support Agency Quarterly Statistical Summary to incorporate this information can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-statistics-publication-strategy" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-statistics-publication-strategy</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/04/2019 12:08:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1109969

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of families affected by her Department's decision to write off child maintenance arrears of (a) £65.01 and £500, and (b) more than £500, and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241425
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>In the “Child Maintenance: A New Compliance and Arrears Strategy” document which was published in December 2017, estimates were made regarding the number of parents who would be affected. There were estimated to be approximately 360,000 cases where parents would not be offered the opportunity to make representation (below £500 and less than 10 years old or below £1000 and over 10 years old) and approximately 475,000 cases where they would (over £500 and less than 10 years old or over £1000 and over 10 years old). This can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/child-maintenance-a-new-compliance-and-arrears-strategy" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/child-maintenance-a-new-compliance-and-arrears-strategy</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Information for how many parents have currently had their arrears written off is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics, however we expect these new statistics to be published in June 2019. Information on the planned changes to the Child Support Agency Quarterly Statistical Summary to incorporate this information can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-statistics-publication-strategy" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-statistics-publication-strategy</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/04/2019 12:15:40 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1109970

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	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 the consultation on changes to the collection of child maintenance arrears, launched in December 2017, how many responses her Department received, and how many of those responses opposed the proposal to write off historical arrears.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241426
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The consultation closed on 8 February 2018. We received a total of 99 responses, 11 from organisations and 88 from private individuals (of which 21 identified themselves as paying parents, and 24 as receiving parents). Respondents were asked 15 question, four of which discussed the proposal to write off historical arrears.</p><p>Accurately assessing the number of responses opposed specifically to the proposal to write off historical arrears is not straightforward. Not all respondents chose to answer the specific questions, and a large number of responses were about individual case circumstances, and didn’t raise issues within the scope of the consultation. Of the nine responses which were focused on the scope of the consultation, four opposed the write off and three had a mixed view.</p><p>The Government published a detailed response to this consultation on 12 July 2018, accessible through the link below.</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724358/response-child-maintenance-compliance-and-arrears-strategy-consultation.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724358/response-child-maintenance-compliance-and-arrears-strategy-consultation.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 10:44:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1110003

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Croydon
	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 she had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on child poverty in working families in the London borough of Croydon .
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We have not made an assessment at this level.</p><p> </p><p>The best way to help people improve their lives is through employment, and people on Universal Credit move into work faster and stay in work longer. We are committed to helping the most vulnerable to improve their life chances by tackling the root causes of poverty, and ensuring that children have the best possible start in life.</p><p> </p><p>We want to see child poverty falling, and we remain determined to tackle it. We will look at what more can be done to help the most vulnerable and improve their life chances by tackling the root causes of poverty, ensuring that children have the best possible start in life.</p><p> </p><p>That is why we have recently implemented a £1000 increase in Work Allowance rates as part of a package worth £1.7 billion in 2023/24 to some of the most vulnerable low paid working families. It will increase the amount that hardworking families can earn before Universal Credit is tapered away, providing 2.4 million working families with an extra £630 a year.</p><p> </p><p>A child growing up in a home where all the adults work is around five times less likely to be in poverty than a home in which no one is working.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting that absolute and relative poverty rates for children in London are lower than in 2010, on both a before and after housing cost basis.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:44:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1110004

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Croydon
	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 she had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on levels of homelessness in the London borough of Croydon .
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241435
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>We do not track homelessness at Jobcentre level so the assessment asked for is not available, but statutory homelessness and rough sleeping figures for Croydon are available within Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s homelessness statistical release: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The causes of homelessness are numerous, varied and complex.. A joint study between the Department and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has shown that there is not a direct causal link between welfare and homelessness. This report was published on 25 March 2019 and can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/causes-of-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-feasibility-study" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/causes-of-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-feasibility-study</a>. Attributing homelessness to a single Governmental policy would simplify the issue, and this approach would wrongly deny it the multi-faceted approach which we’re committed to delivering.</p><p> </p><p>It is our priority to ensure that those who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, get the appropriate support to stabilise their lives and move into work. We have provided around £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding since 2011 to protect the most vulnerable claimants.</p><p> </p><p>There is a range of support available for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, such as access to Alternative Payment Arrangements, easements to work-search requirements and partnerships between Jobcentres and homeless charities and housing services. By law, work coaches in England must offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority.</p><p> </p><p>Data on homelessness by local authority level, provided by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/04/2019 12:03:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1109917

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Child Rearing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if the Government will take steps to ensure that non-working women are able to afford to raise their children at home.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241393
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government Equalities Office is working to address the persistent gendered barriers that women and men face at every stage of their lives. As part of our new strategy we will set out what the Government is doing to ensure that people have financial independence and resilience, as well as real choice and influence over the economic decisions in their lives. This includes the choices that women make around whether to have children, and how to balance work and care.</p><p> </p><p>The Government provides a range of support for new mothers, depending on their needs and the needs of their families. These include breastfeeding, perinatal mental health, and health visitor support.</p><p> </p><p>Enabling women and men to spend quality time with their child in the first year is important to support families to bond. The right to request flexible working, and the introduction of Shared Parental Leave helps parents to balance work and care between them, in a way that works for their families.</p><p> </p><p>If mothers want to return to work, childcare support is available, we have doubled the childcare entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds, from 15 to 30 hours a week as well as introducing Tax-Free Childcare. This means that this year we will be spending around £6bn on childcare support, this is more than any previous government.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 241394 question first answered 11/04/2019 11:56:01 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1109918

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Reproduction
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage woman to have children; and what support the Government provides to new mothers.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241394
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government Equalities Office is working to address the persistent gendered barriers that women and men face at every stage of their lives. As part of our new strategy we will set out what the Government is doing to ensure that people have financial independence and resilience, as well as real choice and influence over the economic decisions in their lives. This includes the choices that women make around whether to have children, and how to balance work and care.</p><p> </p><p>The Government provides a range of support for new mothers, depending on their needs and the needs of their families. These include breastfeeding, perinatal mental health, and health visitor support.</p><p> </p><p>Enabling women and men to spend quality time with their child in the first year is important to support families to bond. The right to request flexible working, and the introduction of Shared Parental Leave helps parents to balance work and care between them, in a way that works for their families.</p><p> </p><p>If mothers want to return to work, childcare support is available, we have doubled the childcare entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds, from 15 to 30 hours a week as well as introducing Tax-Free Childcare. This means that this year we will be spending around £6bn on childcare support, this is more than any previous government.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 241393 question first answered 11/04/2019 11:56:01 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1109921

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Periods: Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the provision of (a) inclusive and (b) positive education about periods and the human body in schools.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241411
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>The Minister for Women and Equalities recently announced a new Taskforce that will bring together representatives from all sectors to develop comprehensive and sustainable solutions to period poverty. Preparation for this has included discussions with a number of Ministerial colleagues.</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce will present the opportunity for discussions on education around menstruation. The government is making Health Education compulsory in all state-funded schools, alongside Relationships Education for all primary pupils, and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) for all secondary pupils from September 2020. As part of this subject, all pupils will be taught about menstruation and menstrual wellbeing at a timely point.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/04/2019 16:41:40 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1110002

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Equal Pay: Gender
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference the publication of the pay comparison data collected by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the gender pay gap; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	241408
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>In 2017 we introduced ground-breaking regulations requiring large employers to publish their gender pay gaps annually. We have recently passed the second reporting deadline, and over 10,000 employers have provided their data. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will take action with those who have failed to report or provided inaccurate data.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting employers to take action to reduce their gaps. We have recently published guidance on how to diagnose the causes of a gap and how to create an effective action plan.</p><p> </p><p>The government is also taking action to close the gender pay gap by making flexible working a reality for all employees, introducing Shared Parental Leave, supporting the Hampton-Alexander Review to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions, and doubling the childcare entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/04/2019 16:46:39 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick