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1666292

registered interest
date	19/10/2023
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 how money from the Household Support Fund is allocated; and what criteria they use when deciding how much money each local authority is given.
tabling member printed	Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
uin	HL10694
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2023 answer text <p>The Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England this financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion.</p><p> </p><p>In England this is being delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. It is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p><p> </p><p>The year-long Household Support Fund extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary cost of living support to those most in need.</p><p> </p><p>The distribution of the funding is targeted at the areas of the country with the most vulnerable households, on the basis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) local population estimates and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) scores. Allocation amounts for upper tier Local Authorities in England are therefore reflective of population size and relative deprivation.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 25/10/2023 10:52:58 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4214 label Biography information for Lord Palmer of Childs Hill

1666299

registered interest
date	19/10/2023
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 Services: Rural Areas
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 provision of employability services in rural areas.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL10701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>Jobcentre Plus employer and partnership leads work closely with local employers and providers to understand labour market needs and to ensure provision is available to address skills gaps, and that the delivery of local employment support services is tailored to the needs of communities, alongside our national support offer. For example, our successful Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs) combines work experience, job specific training and a guaranteed interview to support claimants into local vacancies.</p><p> </p><p>Every Jobcentre Plus district has a place-based plan that uses local knowledge, experience, and insight to shape the services and activities in the area, in collaboration with local employers and partners. This includes taking account of the needs of claimants living in rural communities to access employment support services and vacancies, such as any barriers around travel and how these might be overcome.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 26/10/2023 10:08:25 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1665559

registered interest
date	17/10/2023
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	Hornets
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they are making in accelerating the granting of licences for insecticides that will enable apiarists to control the spread of the Asian hornet.
tabling member printed	Lord Colgrain
uin	HL10619
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2023 answer text <p>The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator responsible for authorising biocidal products (which include insecticides) on the market in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>Insecticide control options are already available to expert government officials carrying out treatments to destroy Asian hornet nests. Whilst there are currently no insecticide biocidal products specifically authorised for use against Asian hornets, there are a number of products available for use against hornets. Manufacturers of insecticides can apply to HSE if they wish to add specific claims for Asian hornets to their products.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 25/10/2023 10:58:41 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4596 label Biography information for Lord Colgrain

1665578

registered interest
date	17/10/2023
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	Sustainable Development: Developing Countries
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1 in the UK.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL10632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing 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, and around £152 billion on pensioners. Of this, around £79 billion will be spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.</p><p> </p><p>From April, we uprated 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 also increased by the same amount.</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, 1 million fewer working age adults and 200,000 fewer pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>With almost one million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals 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 working age adults living in workless families were 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in families where all adults work.</p><p> </p><p>Through the ambitious package announced at the Spring budget we are delivering measures that are designed to support people to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.</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>To 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. 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 1.4m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work.</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> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 25/10/2023 11:00:35 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1664745

registered interest
date	16/10/2023
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	Asylum
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have expanded the capacity of the Department of Work and Pensions to provide local support to refugees who have been given asylum recently as a result of the backlog of applications being cleared.
tabling member printed	Lord German
uin	HL10528
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>Work Coaches have access to information on a range of services and support available in their local area for vulnerable claimants, including refugees. We also have access to a range of translation services to assist, should a claimant need support to overcome any language barriers.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches receive training to help them build supportive relationships with claimants, including refugees, encouraging them to openly discuss any barriers, concerns, or problems as they emerge.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches will provide tailored employment support to meet their customer’s needs. They utilise a wide range of tools to ensure that we are providing intensive employment support to these customers. This includes the use of Flexible Support Fund, Sector based work academy programme, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Jobs Fairs, collaboration with local partners and Group Information Sessions.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can also give permission to share their UC account journal with support workers. The opportunity to combine face to face contact with on-line support has helped alleviate some of the communication barriers within legacy benefits which were traditionally more reliant on telephone and written forms of communications. Work Coaches can also use the on-line account to remind claimants of any information needed in order to ensure that their claim is processed smoothly.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>More generally, we are increasing capacity in our Decision Making teams, during both this and the next quarter, to help meet demand for benefit decisions.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL10529 question first answered 26/10/2023 09:44:54 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

1664746

registered interest
date	16/10/2023
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	Asylum
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have expanded the capacity of the Department of Work and Pensions to provide local support to refugees who, as a consequence of the backlog of applications being cleared, have recently been given asylum.
tabling member printed	Lord German
uin	HL10529
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>Work Coaches have access to information on a range of services and support available in their local area for vulnerable claimants, including refugees. We also have access to a range of translation services to assist, should a claimant need support to overcome any language barriers.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches receive training to help them build supportive relationships with claimants, including refugees, encouraging them to openly discuss any barriers, concerns, or problems as they emerge.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches will provide tailored employment support to meet their customer’s needs. They utilise a wide range of tools to ensure that we are providing intensive employment support to these customers. This includes the use of Flexible Support Fund, Sector based work academy programme, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Jobs Fairs, collaboration with local partners and Group Information Sessions.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can also give permission to share their UC account journal with support workers. The opportunity to combine face to face contact with on-line support has helped alleviate some of the communication barriers within legacy benefits which were traditionally more reliant on telephone and written forms of communications. Work Coaches can also use the on-line account to remind claimants of any information needed in order to ensure that their claim is processed smoothly.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>More generally, we are increasing capacity in our Decision Making teams, during both this and the next quarter, to help meet demand for benefit decisions.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL10528 question first answered 26/10/2023 09:44:54 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

1664767

registered interest
date	16/10/2023
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: Canada
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, why UK state pensioners resident in Canada do not receive an annual pension increase; what assessment they have made of whether, in the light of the annual pension increases received by UK state pensioners in the USA and other counties, UK state pensioners resident in Canada should also receive such an increase; and what plans they have to provide such an increase to UK state pensioners resident in Canada.
tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
uin	HL10597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 26/10/2023 11:11:15 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1664798

registered interest
date	16/10/2023
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: Refugees
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 ability of newly recognised refugees to apply for Universal Credit and receive a first payment within the 28-day move-on period.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL10560
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>Asylum Support is available to asylum seekers through the Home Office whilst their status is under consideration. This support continues for 28 days after refugee status is granted. A claim to Universal Credit can be made immediately once refugee status is granted and Asylum Support is not deducted from the Universal Credit award during the 28 days period. Individuals should not wait until the end of the 28 days to make a Universal Credit claim and have received guidance to encourage them to apply for Universal Credit as soon as they receive a decision on their asylum claim.</p><p> </p><p>The first regular Universal Credit payment is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made. New claimants, including refugees, who need financial support before the end of their first assessment period can apply for a Universal Credit advance as soon as their ID and immigration status is verified. This will mean that they may be able to receive payments within the 28-day move-on period. This is an advance of up to 100% of their total expected award, which is paid back over a period of up to 24 months.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 26/10/2023 10:14:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1664817

registered interest
date	16/10/2023
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to rebuild the social security system.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL10590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>Universal Credit is a modern, flexible benefit which is replacing six benefits. The six benefits being replaced all have complex and inefficient systems based on aging, inflexible IT. Universal Credit uses a modern, digital system which stood up to the test of Covid-19 where it quickly ensured three million new claimants were protected from the financial impact of the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit reduces the complexity of the working age benefits system and removes the distinction between in work and out-of-work support.</p><p> </p><p>Work incentives are improved by introducing a smoother, more transparent reduction of benefits at a consistent and predictable rate when people move into work and increase their earnings.</p><p> </p><p>In March we published <em>Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper</em> which sets out our ambitious plans to transform the health and disability benefits system for the future so it focuses on what people can do rather than on what they cannot.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 26/10/2023 09:59:05 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1662616

registered interest
date	02/10/2023
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	National Insurance Contributions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what estimates they have made, if any, of the cost savings that would result from increasing the minimum years of National Insurance contributions required for a full State Pension from 35 to 45.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL10441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2023 answer text <p>No such assessment has been made. The number of Qualifying Years required for a full State Pension strikes a balance between achieving wide coverage, maintaining the contributory principle and ensuring the overall affordability of the State Pension.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 16/10/2023 16:45:14 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann