Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of financial subsidies given to the creative industries over the past five years have employment conditions attached to them so that those working and seeking work in the creative industries do not need to rely on the benefits system.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

No financial subsidies given to the creative industries over the past five years have had employment conditions attached to them.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the benefits system continues to recognise polygamy in social security regulations and, if so, why.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)

Polygamous marriages are illegal in the UK

Universal Credit does not recognise polygamous households in the benefit system. Any adults living in the household would each have to claim as a single person on the basis of their own circumstances.

Benefits such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit do recognise a small number of polygamous marriages which took place in a jurisdiction where polygamy is permitted. This number is very small and declining, since the Immigration Act 1988, it has not been possible for people polygamously married overseas to bring second wives to the UK through the spouse visa route.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether, when referencing benefits, they will gross up the value of each benefit to demonstrate a direct and fair comparison with salaries paid to people who are not claiming benefits.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of residents of Ceredigion in Wales are currently in receipt of disability benefits.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The table below shows the number of claimants in February 2024 who are on the different disability benefits, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance, including the Child element (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).

This information can be found on the published datasets on Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk)

The latest available population estimates published by the Office of National Statistics on Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk) show that the estimated population of Ceredigion in April 2023 is 73,050.

This means that 12% of the residents of Ceredigion in Wales were claiming disability benefits in February 2024.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that information published about the total value of benefits paid to claimants, including available discount schemes and grants, can be readily compared with employee salaries, which are usually quoted before tax.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has no such plans. Independent, free and anonymous benefit calculators are available that can help individuals to see how their benefits are affected if they start work or increase their hours. Benefit calculators can be found on gov.uk.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial implications of the proposal to impose VAT on independent school fees on the parents of children supported by the Continuity of Education Allowance.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education, which is why we have made the tough decision to end tax breaks for private schools. This will raise revenue for essential public services, including investing in the education system.

Recognising the enormous sacrifices our military families make, the Ministry of Defence provide the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to eligible Service Personnel. The government will monitor closely the impact of these policy changes on affected military families and the upcoming Spending Review is the right time to consider any changes to this scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether an annual Christmas bonus for benefit claimants will be paid this year; if so, how many claimants will receive that bonus; and what the total cost will be, including administrative costs, to public funds.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2024/25, it is estimated that there will be around 17.9 million recipients of the Christmas Bonus at a cost of £179 million. This information is available in Table 1c of the Outturn and Forecast tables for the Autumn Budget 2024, which can be found here: outturn-and-forecast-tables-autumn-budget-2024.xlsx

In most cases, the bonus is paid automatically with whichever qualifying benefit an individual receives, which ensures administration costs are kept to a minimum.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Get Britain Working White Paper (CP 1191), what assessment they made of the value of partnering with cultural and arts organisations, and in particular of the levels of pay and employment rights offered by such organisations.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government will work in partnership with organisations at the national and local level to join up, enhance and champion their efforts as part of our new Youth Guarantee. Our first partnerships will be developed with Channel 4, the Royal Shakespeare Company and leading sports organisations including the Premier League.​

These sports, culture and arts organisations play a vital role in our economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributing to growth. This work has become even more important since the Covid-19 pandemic, which harmed the chances and choices of so many young people.

We have partnered with these organisations on the basis that they already have a track record of building trusted relationships with young people from all walks of life, including those in schools and those from areas of socio-economic disadvantage.  As well as being heavily involved with young people in schools they all have a particular interest in young people who are not earning or learning.

We plan to expand into other sectors and organisations who also play a vital role in youth education, employment and training.

DWP does not hold data on pay by individual organisations.

The Good Work Review, published in February 2023 by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was co-funded by DCMS and is the first sectoral deep dive of its kind into job quality and working practice in the creative industries.

DCMS is working closely with the sector as it responds to these recommendations. The review set out a number of priorities, including driving improvements in workplace and management practices in the Creative Industries.

Statistics on median annual gross pay in the Creative Industries and subsectors (vs. UK as a whole) in Economic Estimates: Earnings 2023 and Employment October 2022 to September 2023 for the DCMS Sectors and Digital Sector - GOV.UK

Found: December 2024 10.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (Chair); Lord Bach; Baroness Buscombe

Found: 5 December 2024 10.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (The Chair); Baroness Buscombe

Found: 2024 10.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (The Chair); Lord Bach; Baroness Buscombe

Found: 2024 10.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (The Chair); Lord Bach; Baroness Buscombe

Found: at 15.45pm in Committee Room 3A Present: Lord Morse (Chair) Baroness Blake of Leeds Baroness Buscombe

Found: BBC Radio 4 (PFC0020) Zurich Insurance (PFC0049) Ordered, That the correspondence from Baroness Buscombe

Found: Tuesday 12 March 2024 at 12.30 pm in Committee Room 3A Present: Lord Morse (Chair) Baroness Buscombe

Found: 2024 11.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (The Chair); Lord Bach; Baroness Buscombe

Found: 2024 10.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (The Chair); Lord Bach; Baroness Buscombe

Found: 2024 10.35 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Foster of Bath (The Chair); Lord Bach; Baroness Buscombe

Found: The Bill has been subject to careful scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, chaired by Baroness Buscombe

No description available