Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what they estimate the total cost for all types of benefits available to working age adults and children will be for each 0.1 per cent increment increase in April 2025.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year. The Secretary of State announced her decisions to Parliament on 30 October.
The basic and new state pensions, and the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit, will be increased by 4.1%, in line with the increase in average weekly earnings in the year to May-July 2024. Other state pension and benefit rates covered by the statutory review will be increased by 1.7%, in line with the increase in the consumer prices index in the year to September 2024. The full list of proposed State Pension and benefit rates for 2025/26 will be published in November.
This increases expenditure on state pensions and benefits by £6.9 billion in 2025/26 compared with not uprating in 25/26, of which, £4.7 billion will be from state pensions and pensioner benefits, £0.9 billion from disability and carers benefits, and £1.2 billion from working-age benefits.
Statistics on the number and type of families and individuals in families benefitting from the uprating of benefits, were also made available on 30 October. Further detail can be found here Benefit uprating: estimated number and type of families and individuals in families benefitting from the uprating of benefits in financial year 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
No estimate has been made of what the total cost for all types of benefits available to working age adults and children would be for each 0.1 per cent increment increase in April 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to increasing the number of black and minority ethnic families sampled as part of the Family Resources Survey to improve the available data on poverty among different ethnic groups.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the latest year [2022-23] of the Family Resources Survey approximately 11% of adults were black or minority ethnic individuals. This sample is large enough to provide income and poverty data breakdowns by ethnicity.
The Family Resources Survey sample is drawn by address with stratification of postcode areas by economic standing, such that the achieved sample is representative by economic status. The FRS sample is not drawn by any family characteristic, protected or otherwise, because only the address is known at the point of draw; the address’ occupants are unknown until the later stage of interview. Thus, there is no direct mechanism to alter the issued sample to increase the number of black or minority ethnic families.
We already publish accredited official statistics, including poverty data broken down by ethnicity, in the annual Family Resources Survey-based Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
In addition, we use the Family Resources Survey data to publish additional low income data by ethnicity in the Ethnicity Facts and Figures portal - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk_ (opens in new tab).
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any disparities in Universal Credit sanctioning between ethnic groups between April 2023 and April 2024, and the reasons for such disparities.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the ethnic group of those who have received a Universal Credit (UC) adverse sanction decision from April 2023 to April 2024, are available in section 4.2 of the latest release of the Benefit Sanction Statistics publication and in table 7.1 on the latest data tables on the GOV.UK website.
However, these statistics are descriptive and as such do not facilitate consideration of disparities. To measure any disparities would require analysis of the sanction rate, which is calculated by dividing the number of claimants undergoing a sanction by the number of UC claimants who are in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied, at a point in time.
The level of ethnicity declarations for those claimants included within the sanction rate measure, which would be needed to assess any disparities, has not reached the minimum level of 70% in any month. The Department will continue to monitor the level of ethnicity declarations in relation to the sanction rate with the goal of publishing statistics on sanction rate and ethnicity once the 70% threshold is reached.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 24 July (HL300), what is their most recent estimate of the cost of abolishing the two-child limit; and how this compares with the external estimates referred to.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimates have been published.
While we cannot commit to changing the two child policy at this time, tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. This is why the child poverty taskforce will look at all available levers to reduce child poverty, including social security reforms, before publishing a strategy in Spring 2025.
The taskforce will engage external experts throughout the strategy development process including through a rolling programme of meetings, with sessions built thematically to bring together a broad range of experts on specific topics.
The Government also recognises the importance of capturing the experiences of those living in poverty which is why the taskforce will also draw on findings from wider external engagement events in all regions and nations of the UK. These events will convene a broader range of voices, including bringing in the perspectives of families and children themselves.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the papers (1) Capped and trapped: how the benefit cap makes it almost impossible to find affordable housing, and (2) An impossible move?, by CASE, published in July.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
Our Back to Work Plan will provide further support and help to improve the lives of working people. People who are working and earning money are much less likely to be affected by the benefit cap.
Customers can apply to their local authority to be considered for additional financial support through Discretionary Housing Payments or the Household Support Fund.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will announce their decision on the extension of the Household Support Fund beyond 20 September; what assessment they have made of how the current uncertainty over its continuation will affect local authorities' delivery of the fund, should it be continued; and what assessment they have made of the calls from charities and local authorities for a longer-term statutory local crisis support scheme in place of the fund in addition to local welfare assistance schemes.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.
An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.
As with previous HSF schemes, the Fund will be made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to provide discretionary support to those most in need.
The HSF scheme guidance and individual Local Authority funding allocations for the forthcoming extension will be announced as soon as possible ahead of the scheme beginning on 1 October 2024.
DWP is conducting an evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund. This includes research with a selection of representative Local Authority case study areas, consisting of interviews with Local Authority officials and their delivery partners, and surveys and interviews with recipients of the HSF. This evaluation will provide key evidence on how Local Authorities are delivering the scheme, and their experiences of doing so, as well as the effectiveness of the funding for recipients.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated annual cost of abolishing the two-child limit, with respect to (1) Universal Credit, and (2) Child Tax Credit.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No recent estimates have been published but external estimates are available. Tacking child poverty is at the heart of this Government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Our new Ministerial Taskforce will oversee the development of an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle its root causes, and give every child the best start to life.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the child poverty taskforce will (1) look at the poverty experienced by migrant children, and (2) include as stakeholders organisations working with migrant children.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
We will continue to engage with leading organisations, charities, campaigners and parents to shape and inform these plans. After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin, and the Taskforce terms of reference will be published in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what role the Sustainable Development Goals will play in the work of the child poverty taskforce.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
We will continue to engage with leading organisations, charities, campaigners and parents to shape and inform these plans. After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin, and the Taskforce terms of reference will be published in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to involve parents and children with experience of poverty in the work of the new Child Poverty Taskforce.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
We will continue to engage with leading organisations, charities, campaigners and parents to shape and inform these plans. After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin, and the Taskforce terms of reference will be published in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need.