Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many religious denominations which had no registered places of worship for the purpose of solemnising opposite-sex marriages prior to 2013 have registered such places of worship since 2013; and to list those denominations and places by the date of their first registration.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Five denominations, which had no places of worship registered for the purpose of solemnizing marriages prior to 2013, have since registered. They are:
Denomination | Place | Date of Registration |
Hillsong Church | Newcastle Upon Tyne | 30/09/2013 |
Scientologist | London | 18/12/2013 |
Universal Truth | Surrey | 01/06/2014 |
Glorious Church | Milton Keynes | 25/06/2014 |
Indian Orthodox | Bristol | 31/05/2016 |
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what reforms to marriage law they are currently working on; whether they plan to bring forward proposals for legal recognition of humanist marriages; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government looks forward to publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper in September and, following the final report, will decide on provision on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations.
Separately, the Government continues to explore both limited reform and non-legislative options relating to religious weddings, as well as to explore interim reform of the law governing approved premises for marriages and civil partnerships.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on plans to (1) move to an electronic system of marriage registration, (2) add mothers' names to marriage certificates, (3) allow conversions between opposite-sex marriages and civil partnerships, and (4) bring into force reforms to divorce, dissolution, and separation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is currently working on implementation plans to introduce the provisions in the Civil Partnership, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc) Act 2019. This will facilitate the move to an electronic system of marriage registration and the update of the marriage entry to include the names of both sets of parents of a couple.
The Government Equalities Office ran a six-week consultation on the future of conversion rights in summer 2019. We are analysing the responses and will publish the government response and bring forward any necessary legislation in 2020.
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act received Royal Assent in June. The Government has been clear implementing its reforms will be a significant and complex task. Given the scale of the work needed, we are working to an indicative timetable of Autumn 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to increase the take-up of Pension Credit.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Latest National Statistics estimate that 60 per cent of those eligible for Pension Credit are in receipt of it.
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on GOV.UK, in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
Potential claimants can use the Pension Credit toolkit to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found on Gov.UK
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Most recently we have provided to relevant organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the recent changes for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of those eligible for Pension Credit are taking up that benefit.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Latest National Statistics estimate that 60 per cent of those eligible for Pension Credit are in receipt of it.
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on GOV.UK, in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
Potential claimants can use the Pension Credit toolkit to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found on Gov.UK
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Most recently we have provided to relevant organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the recent changes for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of those in receipt of state pensions also receive other means-tested benefits.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
In November 2018, 17 per cent of those in receipt of the State Pension were also in receipt of Pension Credit and / or Housing Benefit.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the growth of (1) the creative industries, and (2) the design sector, relative to the UK economy as a whole across the last decade.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
DCMS have published figures setting out the growth of the creative industries in relation to the rest of the economy for the period 2010 - 2017. These are available on the government website (2017 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-2017-gva).
In 2017 the gross value added (GVA) of the creative industries was £101.5 billion, up from £66.3 billion in 2010. This represents a 53.1% increase, compared to the 29.7% increase in the rest of the economy over the same period. When viewed as a percentage of the UK’s entire GVA, the creative industries now make up 5.5% of the UK’s total GVA, a 53.1% increase since 2010.
DCMS measure the design sector under the broader category of "design and designer fashion". In 2017 these sectors contributed £3.95 billion to the economy, up from £1.97 billion in 2010. This represents a 100.6% increase and in 2017 these sectors contributed 0.2% of the UK’s GVA.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Creative Industries Sector Deal to date.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Creative Industries Sector Deal, published in March 2018, announced a £150m package of measures to encourage growth across the lifecycle of the creative industries, delivered in partnership between government and industry through the Creative Industries Council.
Evaluation measures have been established to monitor progress and assess the full economic impact when the multiple programmes that make up the Sector Deal move from delivery to completion.
Although implementation is still in the early stages, the Sector Deal is progressing well with the successful commencement of the main commitments. This includes the launch of the £80m Creative Industries Clusters Programme, including nine Research and Development partnerships led by universities across the UK, the £20m Cultural Development Fund supporting five creative clusters, the £14m Creative Careers Programme raising awareness of careers across the creative industries, the £4m Creative Scale-Up investment readiness programme aimed at increasing the investability of scaling creative industries businesses, and £16m for four Audience of the Future immersive technology demonstrator projects.
Projects are progressing to different timescales over the coming 2-3 years. We expect a clearer picture of impact to emerge as implementation continues and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms begin to report.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that businesses continue to have access to a workforce with sufficient creative and design-linked skills.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Our reforms to professional and technical education and apprenticeships are aimed at ensuring that people of all ages get access to the education and training that businesses across the sectors need.
Both apprenticeships and T levels, when they are introduced, can be a valuable way of developing skills for the creative and design sectors.
Employer-designed T levels will give students the skills needed to enter work or higher level technical study, helping young people to get a head-start in their potential careers. The first 3 T levels will be delivered in 2020, and we will confirm the timetable for the rollout of courses in creative and design before the end of this year.
New apprenticeship standards across all levels are being designed and driven by industry – creating higher quality training that will lead to a more skilled and productive economy. There are 23 Creative and Design Apprenticeship Standards approved for delivery with 6 standards currently in development.
The National College for Creative Industries, opened in September 2016, is one of 4 national colleges which we are establishing to set new standards for higher-level technical training.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide funding for additional rounds of the new capital scheme for voluntary-aided schools; and if so, how often they intend to do so.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department launched the capital scheme for voluntary-aided schools on the 15 November 2018 and the bidding round closed on 1 February 2019. We plan to launch a second bidding round in due course.