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 - Minister of State (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 - Minister of State (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 - Minister of State (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 - Minister of State (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 information is provided to newly unemployed people about the availability of new style jobseeker's allowance (JSA); and what is their estimate of the number of newly unemployed people who are not entitled to universal credit and who have not received new style JSA despite meeting the contributory conditions.
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.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion and number of universal credit claimants will be subject to the benefit cap following April's benefit uprating and increase in the local housing allowance; and what proportion and number will receive less than the full uprating and increase in Local Housing Allowance because of the cap.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
No estimate has been made. The latest figures show that 77,000 households were capped at November 2023. Benefit cap statistics released in September 2024 will show the number of households capped at May 2024.
There are various factors that determine whether a household is exempt or brought into scope of the benefit cap.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the readiness criteria used for the managed migration to universal credit; and, if not, why.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Senior Responsible Owner for Universal Credit set out the criteria for the Public Accounts Committee at its hearing on March 11, 2024, Progress in implementing Universal Credit (HC 552) Question 26 committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14467/pdf/
The formal assessments are published as part of the regular releases of Programme Board papers.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many English local authorities do not run a local welfare assistance scheme, and what assessment they have made of the impact on low-income residents in these local authority areas if the household support fund is not extended beyond this April.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Local Authorities in England have the flexibility and power to use the funding they receive from the annual Local Government Finance Settlement. We do not have robust data on the number of Local Authorities providing a local welfare scheme.
The Government is putting significant additional support in place for those on the lowest incomes from April. Subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by 6.7% while the Basic and New State Pensions will be uprated by 8.5% in line with earnings, as part of the ‘triple lock”.
To further support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the government will raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefitting 1.6m low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25. Additionally, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.
The current Household Support Fund runs until the end of March 2024, and the government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
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 case for appointing specialist single parent work coaches within Jobcentre Plus to ensure that single parents can access tailored and relevant advice on childcare, benefits and appropriate flexible job opportunities that are available in the local area.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The department keeps the Work Coach role under regular review, to ensure they are well equipped to support a range of claimants, including single parents.
All Work Coaches undergo a learning journey that equips them with the tools, knowledge, skills, and behaviours to enable them to support individuals moving closer to work. This includes childcare modules to support working single parents.
All claimants are set requirements that take into account their circumstances and capability, including caring responsibilities, health conditions and disabilities. These requirements will be tailored by the Work Coach and will be achievable and realistic, and agreed within the Claimant Commitment.
Work Coaches are also signposted to tools, guidance, and websites (internal and external), so that they have access to the most up to date advice and expertise to help them better support claimants, including single parents.
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 social security benefit cap will be lifted in line with inflation in April 2024; and if not, why.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State has a statutory obligation to review the levels at least once every five years. There is no requirement until November 2027.