Welfare Assistance Schemes
Debate between Baroness Howarth of Breckland and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I will respond in the words of Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children’s Society, who said of the announcement of the additional money:
“The big winners from this announcement will be the hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty who will now be given a better chance of a fair start in life”.
The Government have responded according to local authorities’ wishes, and that should be welcome.
Baroness Howarth of Breckland (CB)
My Lords, while I welcome the funding and have confidence in local authorities, the Minister must agree that this is a postcode lottery. It will depend on the attitude of the local authority and where you live. Can the Minister say what is going to be done to monitor this, and whether there will be any information as to how different local authorities use the funding?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As I said, local authorities—and I served on a local authority myself for 10 years—deal with their budgets in a responsible fashion. The Government are committed to ensuring that there is greater welfare provision at local level. Taking the example of the better care fund, in addition to the allocation originally made, there has been an additional 39% of voluntary top-ups, and we already have 146 plans in place. Local authorities are responsible and they are responding accordingly.
Leaseholders
Debate between Baroness Howarth of Breckland and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
My noble friend makes an important point. The Government are supportive of Sarah Teather’s Bill. I think I already mentioned the steps we have taken, such as the model tenancy agreement, which safeguards the rights of tenants and, indeed, encourages much more long-term tenancies, which is I think to be welcomed by the elderly population and young families with children.
Baroness Howarth of Breckland (CB)
My Lords, tenants and leaseholders find it extraordinarily difficult, as we have already heard, to find their way through the complexities of the regulations and the present law. Could the Minister tell me what it would cost for a leaseholder, having got through that, to take action and make an application under the redress scheme regulations?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Each company is required to register under one redress scheme. If the scheme makes a decision, it will be for the company to pay. There are three different schemes and each has specific criteria. Without detailing each one, one costs £95 a year, but that is done on a case-by-case basis. Another costs £199, which is an all-inclusive cost. In the interests of time, I will write to the noble Baroness on the details of the three redress schemes, and share that information with the House.
Child Abuse
Debate between Baroness Howarth of Breckland and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
My noble friend raises quite a specific issue, but, as I am sure he is aware, the Government’s strategy in Working Together to Safeguard Children provides clear statutory guidance for school staff. As he rightly pointed out, unfortunately there are children who are not within school and safeguarding their interest is also important. If I may, I will write to him specifically on that issue.
Baroness Howarth of Breckland (CB)
My Lords, I ask the Minister what he is doing about programmes to deal with children abused in their own homes. As he will know, some 46% of children and young people who are abused are abused at home and a large number are in situational abuse, where they are abused by a babysitter or someone who happens to be around. The best programmes for that are education programmes in communities, but I note that some of those have been cut recently. Does the Minister agree that we should reinstate them?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The important point here is that, as the noble Baroness points out, abuse of children can take place anywhere—in schools or in any institution in society. The Government’s programmes have certainly been focused. Indeed, the whole basis of the new body that has been set up is to ensure that no facet of society—whether religious institutions, government bodies or political parties—falls out of the net. As far as issues go at home, of course the Government are supporting such work. For example, we have appointed the first ever Chief Social Worker for Children and Families in England, Isabelle Trowler, and we are working with her to provide independent, expert advice to Ministers on social work. She will act as a figurehead for the profession and will work with local authorities, which are very much on the front line in protecting these children in homes.