Written Statements

Monday 27th February 2023 Written Statements

Monday 27 February 2023

Contingencies Fund Advance

Monday 27th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alister Jack)]

I hereby give notice of the Scotland Office’s intention to seek a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund. The Department requires an advance to meet the Scottish Government’s cash requirements pending parliamentary approval of the supplementary estimate 2022-23.



The Scottish Government are operating within their budgets, so this does not represent additional spending. However, an increase in net cash requirement will be sought in the supplementary estimate so accessing the Contingencies Fund will allow the Scottish Government to fund this existing spending in the meantime.



The advance will be repaid immediately following approval of the supplementary estimate.



Parliamentary approval for additional non-budget expenditure of £2,813,000,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the Scotland Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2,813,000,000 will be met by a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund.

[HCWS583]

Additional Jobcentre Support: Pilot Roll-out

Monday 27th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)]

I wish to inform the House that today the Department for Work and Pensions will start expanding the additional jobcentre support pilot following testing in Coalville, Crawley, Partick and Pontefract jobcentres.



The current pilot will continue to test how enhanced daily work focused support, across two weeks, can further support eligible universal credit claimants into employment in 60 jobcentres across central Scotland, Surrey and Sussex, West Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.



This additional support will increase a claimant’s employability through provision of additional one to one work search conversations with work coaches and through work search support sessions to help claimants overcome any challenges they may be experiencing. The claimant commitment, which sets out each claimant’s agreed work-related activities, will be regularly reviewed and activity will be focused on specific steps to support people to move into work.



Evidence shows that the longer a person is out of work the harder it is for them to return. A claimant’s likelihood of securing employment declines after 13 weeks, so we will focus this support on those who remain unemployed or with low earnings after 13 and 26 weeks of claiming Universal Credit.



Claimants in the intensive work search regime will receive prior notice of the requirements they will be expected to fulfil. Claimants who will not be in scope for the pilot are those:



Awaiting a work capability assessment;

Required to undertake less than 20 hours a week of work search activity;

Who are gainfully self-employed;

Who have no work related requirements;

With an easement in place; and

On a full-time provision offer.

Within the pilot, we will also test a scheme to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets. The reward scheme will be rolled out to 30 of the 60 jobcentres testing enhanced daily support and an additional 30 jobcentres.



Therefore, in addition to a control group, 90 jobcentres will now be involved in the pilot:



30 sites will test enhanced daily support only;

30 sites will test enhanced daily support and the rewards scheme; and

30 sites will test the rewards scheme only.

[HCWS582]

Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022: Commencement

Monday 27th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mike Freer)]

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Bellamy KC, has made the following written statement:

Today the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 comes into force.

The Act makes two key changes:

It raises the legal age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 in England and Wales. This means that 16 and 17-year-olds are no longer able to marry or enter a civil partnership under any circumstances, including with parental or judicial consent.

It expands the criminal offence of forced marriage in England and Wales to make it an offence in all circumstances to do anything intended to cause a child to marry before they turn 18. For the forced marriage offence to apply, it is no longer necessary to prove that a form of coercion was used to bring about the marriage of a child. The expanded offence will continue to include ceremonies of marriage which are not legally binding, for example in community or traditional settings.

This important piece of legislation helps deliver on the Government’s commitment to tackle violence against women and girls. It also delivers on our pledge in the UN sustainable development goals to end child marriage by 2030. This Government are keen to make sure that children and young people are protected and supported as they grow and develop. Child marriage can deprive them of important life chances, and that is why we have taken action to stop it. The age of 18 is widely recognised as the age at which one becomes an adult and gains full citizenship rights.

These changes apply to England and Wales only. While marriage is a devolved matter, Northern Ireland are considering this issue and we hope that Scotland will also follow suit.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire, Pauline Latham OBE MP for sponsoring this private Member’s Bill, as well as to the campaigners with whom she has worked. The Act and all of its supporting documentation is available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/28/notes/division/6/index.htm

The Government’s statutory guidance and multi-agency practice guidelines on forced marriage have also been updated to reflect this legislation, and are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-right-to-choose-government-guidance-on-forced-marriage

[HCWS584]