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1606119

registered interest
date	21/03/2023
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	Household Support Fund
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by the Viscount Younger of Leckie on 9 March (HL5842), where the management information on the household support fund is published; and what steps they have taken to analyse this information.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL6684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The published management information for the Household Support Fund covering the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-management-information-6-october-2021-to-31-march-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-management-information-6-october-2021-to-31-march-2022</a>.</p><p>The information for the subsequent Household Support Fund schemes are the subject of an upcoming statistical release and will be released following the usual quality assurance.</p><p> </p><p>In terms of analysing this information, The Government collects high level data on the types of households supported to ensure that funded activities are within the scope of the Fund’s guidance and uses this to inform the design of future schemes.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 28/03/2023 11:48:38 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1605340

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Social Security Benefits: Disability
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those with disabilities are in receipt of benefits that they are entitled to receive.
tabling member printed	Baroness Adams of Craigielea
uin	HL6596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The Government makes information on benefits widely available to all those who may wish to claim, including disabled people and people with health conditions, through a variety of channels including GOV.UK. In addition, information is available from a wide range of other sources, including organisations and charities, who provide advice and support. The DWP continually seeks to improve the information it makes available to encourage people to claim the benefits they may be entitled to.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:15:42 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	631 label Biography information for Baroness Adams of Craigielea

1605358

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Employment Schemes: Young People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of the Youth Offer and Kickstart scheme against their stated aims of supporting those under 25 to find employment.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Derby
uin	HL6617
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Evaluations of the Youth Offer and the Kickstart Scheme are ongoing.</p><p> </p><p>The Kickstart evaluation will continue to assess the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. The commissioned process evaluation will conclude in Spring 2023.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We aim to publish the findings of the Kickstart Scheme evaluation once complete.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 28/03/2023 11:41:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4714 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Derby

1605373

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Universal Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement in the Spring Budget 2023 factsheet – Labour Market Measures that over 700,000 lead carers of children in receipt of Universal Credit will be made to look for work or increase the number of hours they work, what is their estimate of how this number will be broken down by (1) age of youngest child, and (2) by lone parent/other; and what additional work-related requirements will be applied to such claimants.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL6635
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>1) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by age of youngest child</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Age of youngest child</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>11%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>2) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by family type</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Family Type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Single, with children</p></td><td><p>70%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Couple, with children</p></td><td><p>30%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Caveats &amp; Data Definitions:</p><ul><li>We do not hold data that explicitly identifies lead carers, as a result, figures are estimated assuming that if one member of the household has age of youngest child as required, and is in the relevant conditionality regime, then they are a “lead carer”.</li><li>Universal Credit conditionality regimes included are Intensive Work Search, Working with requirements, Planning for work and Preparing for work</li><li>Based on average volumes 2022/23</li><li>Based on internal Universal Credit Household dataset</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 1-2 will be required to have regular work focussed conversations with a dedicated Jobcentre work coach more often.</p><p> </p><p>For lead carers of children aged 2, work coaches can offer claimants more support with work preparation activities such as, job readiness workshops; help with developing a CV; practicing interviewing skills; skills assessment; participating in training or employment programme.</p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 3-12 will be supported by their work coach to increase their work search and preparation activity and will be required to be available for higher paid or longer hours jobs to align with Department for Education’s 30hr free childcare offer.</p><p> </p><p>Work search activities could include carrying out work searches, making job applications and creating and maintaining online job profiles. The requirements will be tailored to a claimant’s circumstances (e.g., location of job, claimant eligibility for free childcare provision, availability and location of childcare provision, and transport).</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:35:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1605395

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Carer's Allowance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned research on people’s experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance; if so, whether they will publish this research; and if so, when.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL6636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The department commissioned research on experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance; and is reviewing the research results as part of our wider policy development and thinking around Carer’s Allowance. We need to ensure that policy makers and Ministers are able to do so based on the evidence and without fear of premature disclosure. Therefore, we will not publish the report while this process is ongoing. If Ministers decide to publish its findings, they will be made available to Parliament and online.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 13:47:46 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1605054

registered interest
date	16/03/2023
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	Childcare and Occupational Health
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand the workforce by improving access to (1) affordable childcare, and (2) occupational health services.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL6585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government clearly recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours which is why the changes to the UC childcare element announced in the Spring Budget 2023 will provide generous additional financial support to parents moving into work and/or increasing their working hours.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will address the issue of ‘upfront’ childcare costs by exempting any Flexible Support Fund (FSF) payment for upfront childcare costs made to childcare providers from the UC childcare cost calculation when parents move into work or significantly increase their working hours. In practice, this means that the parent will be reimbursed for up to 85% of that FSF payment, as if they had paid it themselves. This provides parents with a significant payment of childcare costs, upfront, to use for their next set of childcare costs, thereby easing UC claimants into the UC childcare costs payment cycle.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will also increase the generosity of the UC childcare costs ‘caps’ (maximum amounts) - Allowing parents to claim back over £300 more for one child or over £500 for two or more children of their childcare costs per month. This will increase the caps from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively.</p><p> </p><p>By September 2025, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to when they start school will be able to get 30 hours of free childcare in England.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>As set out in the Spring Budget, and the health is everyone’s business consultation response, increasing access to quality occupational health (OH) services can support disabled people and people with health conditions to remain in and thrive in work. This can contribute to reducing health-related inactivity.</p><p> </p><p>To increase access to OH the government is delivering a range of actions including: proposals to consult on tax incentives to encourage greater take-up of OH and new ways to boost OH coverage; an expanded trial of a subsidy for SMEs and the Self Employed to purchase OH services; a £1m fund to stimulate innovation in the OH market focussed on new models of service delivery and better use of technology; and plans to develop the multidisciplinary OH workforce needed to deliver services.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 30/03/2023 16:52:41 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1603006

registered interest
date	09/03/2023
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	Universal Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust report An Essentials Guarantee: Reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times, published on 27 February, what assessment they made of the recommendation contained in that report to "introduce an Essentials Guarantee" to ensure those on Universal Credit are not going without essential items.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL6307
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes.  As seen in measures announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, the Government have committed to a series of measures to ensure support for UK citizens. Raising the Universal Credit award by 10.1% to bring rates in-line with national inflation and ensure claimants are supported.</p><p> </p><p>The current rates of income-related benefits such as Universal Credit do not represent a minimum requirement, and are not described as such in legislation or Government literature. The Government specifies the rates which are applicable to different benefits, and these may vary according to claimants' circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be as every person has different requirements. Income-related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts for specific items of expenditure such as food or fuel charges, and beneficiaries are free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in the light of their individual commitments, needs and preferences.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost-of-living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.</p><p> </p><p>We will be delivering further cost of living payments, worth up to £900 for claimants on means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and £150 for those on disability benefits.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 23/03/2023 11:33:44 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1602552

registered interest
date	08/03/2023
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	Access to Work Programme
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 3 March (HL5641), what is the average wait time for new claims for a new job where the claimant received Access to Work support in their previous employment.
tabling member printed	Lord Blunkett
uin	HL6234
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>Applications with jobstarts in the next four weeks are prioritised; however, the specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Access to Work statistics includes how many applications result in provision being approved from 2007/08 to 2021/22.</p><p> </p><p>The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics" target="_blank">Access to Work statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/03/2023 15:35:15 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	395 label Biography information for Lord Blunkett

1602589

registered interest
date	08/03/2023
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	State Retirement Pensions: Expenditure
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what is the annual cost of aligning the women’s pre-2016 and post-2016 state pension with the amounts paid out to men.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6276
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2023 answer text <p>The way that the National Insurance system and the State Pension systems interact means that it would not be possible align payments in the way the question suggests. The amount of State Pension paid to individuals is dependent on their National Insurance contributions. State Pensions are paid in accordance with the rules in place at the point the person reaches State Pension age. This means that outcomes are calculated on an individual basis and reflect a person’s National Insurance history throughout their careers, in line with the contributory principle.</p><p> </p><p>The latest figures (August 2022) for new State Pension show that on average, women receiving the new State Pension receive £18.40 per week more than women under the pre 2016 system. It also shows that the gap between women and men has narrowed from £26.48 pw to £5.32 pw. This puts women at receiving 85% of the rate received by men under the pre 2016 system and 97% under the new State Pension. The table below shows the average amounts in payment in August 2022. The design of the new State Pension means that the gap between men and women’s outcomes is likely to continue to diminish, with outcomes being equalised in the future.</p><p> </p><p>Average State Pension amounts in payment (August 2022).</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Male</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Female</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Pre-2016 State Pension </strong>(basic State Pension, plus Additional Pension) <br> (for those reaching State Pension age before 6.4.16)</p></td><td><p>£ 178.60</p></td><td><p>£ 152.12</p></td><td><p>£ 163.17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>New State Pension </strong> (for those reaching State Pension age from 6.4.16 onwards)</p></td><td><p>£ 175.84</p></td><td><p>£ 170.52</p></td><td><p>£ 173.71</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>For people with lower amounts, Pension Credit provides a safety net for those most in need. Pension Credit provides a top up for people of State Pension age with a weekly income below £182.60 (for single people) or £278.70 (for couples). Information about Pension Credit is available from the Gov.uk website.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 22/03/2023 16:08:11 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1602176

registered interest
date	07/03/2023
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	Universal Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report An Essentials Guarantee: Reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times, published on 27 February, which found that "95 per cent of people on Universal Credit facing debt deductions are going without essentials", what steps they are taking to prevent debt from being (1) generated, and (2) sustained, in the social security system.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL6188
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>The DWP takes significant steps to ensure the accuracy of all benefit payments, and figures released in May 2022 showed the overwhelming majority of benefit, nearly 95%, was paid correctly. There are a number of measures in place to minimise the risk of debt, such as a quality checking regime and the use of HMRC’s Real Time Information.</p><p> </p><p>Where errors do occur with UC payments, the DWP takes steps to detect them at the earliest opportunity. Where debt does arise, and a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, they are encouraged to contact the DWP. When they do, we work with them to review their financial circumstances and, in most instances, agree a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment.</p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt (where applicable) the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/03/2023 15:02:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham