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1231009

registered interest
date	02/09/2020
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	Basic Income
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research from Finland that suggests that Universal Basic Income improves employee mental health and boosts employment.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL7724
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2020 answer text <p>No assessment has been made. Universal Basic Income does not take any account of people’s needs and circumstances, is not targeted at the poorest in society and would be hugely expensive.</p><p> </p><p>This Government believes Universal Credit is the right strategy for the UK because it simplifies the benefits system, promotes and incentivises work and provides targeted support to those in most need, in a way that is affordable.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 16/09/2020 16:45:24 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1224743

registered interest
date	14/07/2020
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: Ethnic Groups
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 report by the Social Metrics Commission Measuring Poverty 2020, published on 1 July, which suggests that BAME households are more likely to live in poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL6869
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s current focus is on supporting people financially during these unprecedented times. Our long-term ambition remains to build an economy that supports employment, ensuring opportunities for all to enter and progress in work where possible, whilst providing a strong welfare safety net for those that need it.</p><p> </p><p>This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of work in tackling poverty now and in the future. Working age adults in households where all adults are in work are six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than adults in a household where nobody works.</p><p> </p><p>We are also committed to levelling up skills and opportunities across the country. Using latest data from the Race Disparity Audit, and the Department for Work and Pensions’ own analysis, we continue to help those underrepresented in the labour market and are also investing £90 million towards activities that address disparities in youth unemployment.</p><p> </p><p>On 8 July, the Chancellor announced a series of employment support measures, with a particular focus on young people, who we know are two and a half times as likely to work in a sector that has been closed. This includes a new Kickstart Scheme in Great Britain, a £2 billion fund to create hundreds of thousands of high quality six-month work placements aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long term unemployment from Autumn this year.</p><p> </p><p>As the economic outlook becomes clearer, we will adapt our offer to ensure we are targeting our support at the right people. We have a flexible and agile package we will continue to tailor our response as we continue to learn more about the impact on different sectors of the economy and different parts of the country.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 23/07/2020 15:21:01 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1197829

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
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: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what continuous financial support they plan to provide to vulnerable people who are unable to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL4807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>Employers are able to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which will help them to continue paying part of their employees’ wages if they would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. The Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) scheme has also been extended to strengthen the safety net for vulnerable people where employers have chosen not to make use of CJRS. SSP is now payable from the first day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth, to those required to self-isolate because they, or someone in their household, has symptoms of COVID-19. SSP is now also payable to individuals identified as clinically extremely vulnerable who have been advised to stay at home (known as shielding) and to anyone who has had close contact with someone who has tested positive and are being asked to self-isolate.</p><p>Any worker not eligible for SSP may be able to claim Universal Credit or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 04/06/2020 14:47:34 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1144202

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
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	Food Banks: Schools
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that there has been an increase in the number of food banks set up in UK schools.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL17690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">There is no official data or record of the number of foodbanks in the UK. However, the Government wants to develop a better understanding of household food needs to help ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. This is why the Government has worked with food insecurity experts, the Office for National Statistics and the Scottish Government to introduce a new set of food security questions in the Family Resources Survey starting from April 2019. This means that we will in future be able to able to monitor the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity across the UK and for specific groups, to better understand the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">To help families on low incomes we are supporting 1.3 million children with free school meals, investing up to £26 million in school breakfast clubs, providing approximately 2.3 million children aged 4-6 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school, and, through the Healthy Start Programme, hundreds of thousands of low income families benefit from vouchers which can be redeemed against fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula.</ins></p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 09/09/2019 15:53:12 question first ministerially corrected 30/09/2019 14:57:52 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott previous answer version 135004 answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1077098

registered interest
date	25/02/2019
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	State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
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 impact of a no-deal Brexit on UK pension claimants living in EU countries.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL14018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2019 answer text <p>As the Government set out in its Policy Paper ‘Citizens’ Rights – EU citizens in the UK and UK Nationals in the EU’ we wish to secure continued reciprocal arrangements covering the up-rating of State Pensions even in the event of a no deal exit. UK State Pensions will be uprated, as they are currently, for those recipients living in EU countries for 2019/2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 08/03/2019 13:43:54 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1064623

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
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	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help reduce levels of child poverty in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL13942
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2019 answer text <p>There is clear evidence that work offers the best opportunity for families to move out of poverty and towards financial independence. Children in workless households are around 5 times more likely to be in poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. 62% of children living in a workless couple family are in relative poverty (before housing costs) compared with only 3% where both adults work full-time.</p><p>This is why we are continuing to undertake the most ambitious reform to the welfare system in decades – so that it supports people to find and to stay in work. Nationally, there are now over 3.5 million more people in work. Universal Credit is at the heart of these reforms. It is designed to promote full-time work and employment for partners where possible, through smoother incentives to increase hours.</p><p>Working parents on UC can have up to 85% of their childcare costs reimbursed – worth up to £1,108 per month for someone with two or more children. We have also introduced additional flexibility on support for up front childcare costs, increased work allowances, and doubled free childcare available to working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours per week.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 27/02/2019 15:58:26 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

997097

registered interest
date	29/10/2018
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	Housing Benefit
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 claim by the Centre for Social Justice in its report, A Social Housing Strategy, published on 27 October, that the cost of housing benefit will treble to more than £70 billion a year by 2050.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL11101
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2018 answer text <p>In their 2018 Fiscal Sustainability Report, the Office for Budget Responsibility projected that relative to the size of the UK economy, spending on Housing Benefit in 2050/51 will be very similar to current levels, at 1.2% of GDP.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 05/11/2018 12:36:15 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

967547

registered interest
date	04/09/2018
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	Workplace Pensions: Small Businesses
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises that have set up an auto-enrolment pension scheme have done so correctly, and (2) safeguard workers against pension contribution errors made by their employers.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL10030
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment has been a great success, with over 9.8 million employees enrolled and more than 1.3 million employers having met their duties to date.</p><p>The Department and The Pensions Regulator remain committed to enabling small and micro employers to comply with automatic enrolment by making the experience as straightforward as possible for this group.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this work, the Regulator launched an interactive step-by-step guide. This simplified guide to meeting automatic enrolment duties is designed to meet the specific needs of employers who may not have pensions experience, including those with just one or two staff. The guide includes an online tool so that employers can easily find out what they will need to do to comply and when. Using the online tool also means employers will receive tailored communications relevant to their circumstances. The step-by-step guide to automatic enrolment can be found on their website.</p><p> </p><p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate compliance framework. This is administered by The Pensions Regulator, and includes detailed regulatory guidance about how to comply with the law. An employer is required to select a qualifying pension scheme; enrol qualifying staff into that scheme, and deduct any contributions payable under automatic enrolment.</p><p>Employers are also required to pay those contributions across to their chosen pension provider by a set deadline. Although the deadlines for contribution payments vary, depending on the type of scheme being used, there is an overall legal deadline of the twenty-second day of the following month; which aligns with the HMRC deadline for paying tax and National Insurance.</p><p>Qualifying pension schemes for automatic enrolment are subject to the same regulatory framework as all trust-based workplace pension schemes, also overseen by The Pensions Regulator. The Regulator has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions; provide information to help members check their contributions; and report material payment failures to the Regulator.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 11/09/2018 15:44:53 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

947127

registered interest
date	23/07/2018
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	Universal Credit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their plans to address payment errors and delays for people attempting to claim Universal Credit.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL9817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>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 such as: some 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 on-going, many of these claimants receive a part payment for those elements of the claim that have been resolved. Within five weeks of the payment due date, 95 per cent of claims are paid in full.</p><p>DWP continues to monitor payment timeliness and we have made changes to improve payment timeliness. For example, we have built processes into the system to make it easier and quicker for people to verify information such as their housing costs.</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><p> </p><p>If a claim has been delayed due to error, DWP can also consider awarding an ex-gratia payment, as set out in the guide of Financial Redress for Maladministration, available on gov.uk, and which is attached.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:50:40 question first ministerially corrected 31/07/2018 14:41:10 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name HL9817 Financial Redress for Maladministration FR.PDF title Financial Redress for Maladministration previous answer version 72633 answering member printed Baroness Buscombe answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

944434

registered interest
date	18/07/2018
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	Older Workers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to (1) encourage more people over 50 years old to participate in the work place, and (2) increase training and skills opportunities available for this age group.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL9669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The number of workers aged 50 and over currently in employment is at a record high of 10.1 million - an increase of 1.4 million over the last 5 years and an increase of 2.2 million over the last 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>The Equality Act 2010, already provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer or an employment service provider such as a recruitment agency, to discriminate against an older employee or job applicant because of their age, and this applies both where the employer is making arrangements to fill a job, and in respect of anything done during the course of a person’s employment. DWP continues to work with businesses and stakeholder organisations to support older workers to remain in and return to work and challenge outdated perceptions about older workers.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to the labour market and in Feb 2017, published a new strategy ‘Fuller Working Lives: A Partnership Approach’. The Strategy is led by employers, but also sets out the case for action by individuals, and the role of Government in supporting older workers to remain in and return to work. The Strategy and supporting evidence base are available on the gov.uk website. Additionally, the Government announced a National Retraining Scheme in the Autumn Budget 2017 - an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult learning and retraining. The National Retraining Scheme will give individuals the skills they need to progress in work, redirect their careers and secure the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future, focusing on those individuals and places who need it most.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL9614 question first answered 31/07/2018 12:11:40 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick