Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the report, Unshielded Childhood: Palestinian children and teenagers killed by Israel in the West Bank in 2025, published by B'Tselem on 29 June, for the conduct of United Kingdom foreign policy towards Israel and Palestine.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

We have been deeply concerned both by this report, and the related 18 June report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

We believe that the impact of the conflict in Gaza on children is a moral outrage, and the allegations that children have been deliberately targeted by Israeli forces are deeply alarming. International law is clear that children must always be protected, and their rights upheld, and any violation of those principles must be treated with the utmost seriousness.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to use measures of socioeconomic deprivation to inform targeted tree planting programmes in urban areas.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Trees Programme includes a number of schemes that support urban tree planting. We know that lower urban tree cover often correlates with higher socioeconomic deprivation. England’s Community Forests (ECF) help address this by planting trees in and around urban areas; improving wellbeing, tackling climate change and creating places for nature with over 1800 Ha planted in 2025/26.

In line with development of spatial targeting, informed by the Land Use Framework, we are exploring new datasets and tools to better target new trees and woodlands, including future support for urban trees, and how to prioritise areas of deprivation.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether access to trees and green spaces varies between communities with different levels of socioeconomic deprivation; and what steps they intend to take in response to any such variation.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Spending time in nature benefits health and wellbeing but use and experience of green and blue spaces varies by factors including geographical location, green space size, income and ethnicity, and further evidence is needed to understand these differences.

The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out this Government’s plans for more inclusive access to nature including delivering 9 new national river walks, investing over £1 billion in tree planting and forestry support and supporting communities most in need through the Nature Towns and Cities programme.

Assessment of access to nature is made through Defra’s Access to Green and Blue Space statistics and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework Mapping Tool, which maps greenspace, tree cover, deprivation and environmental pressures. The Forestry Commission uses deprivation and woodland access data to target additional grant payments where benefits are most needed. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £5.8 billion over ten years to support neighbourhoods experiencing the highest levels of deprivation.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the high income child benefit charge on the overall take up of child benefit, and what steps they are taking to improve take up of child benefit.

Answered by Lord Livermore

The Government publishes statistics annually on Child Benefit which includes detail on the trends and explanations of take-up, including the implications from the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC), at: Child Benefit Statistics: annual release, August 2025 - GOV.UK

HMRC administers Child Benefit and regularly undertakes communications campaigns in press and social media to encourage people to claim. Last year, over 500,000 flyers were issued to new parents with a QR code that takes customers straight to the Child Benefit claim page on GOV.UK. HMRC also regularly runs communication campaigns and engages with partner organisations to remind families of the monetary and non-monetary benefits of claiming Child Benefit.

HMRC has also taken steps to simplify the administration of the HICBC and continues to keep these processes under review, while working to ensure that clear guidance is available so that eligible families can make informed decisions about claiming Child Benefit.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they will assess whether investment in early intervention children’s services is contributing to reducing and alleviating child poverty, in line with the child poverty contextual outcome in the Local Outcomes Framework.

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

We are taking significant action to rebalance children’s services, investing in effective early intervention to reduce the need for costly crisis support and improve outcomes for children and families. This includes investing £2.4 billion in the Families First Partnership programme, which gives families and children access to better local family help services to and supports more children and families to stay safely together.

Addressing child poverty is a key priority of this government. We will assess the contribution of this investment in early intervention services through the child poverty contextual outcome in the Local Outcomes Framework and through the monitoring and evaluation of the Child Poverty Strategy. We will continue to monitor progress against outcomes framework metrics, including the Keeping Children Safe priority outcome.

We also continue to have a dedicated child poverty team monitoring progress across government, bringing together departmental reporting and evidence on delivery and outcomes, with ministers providing oversight through the Interministerial Group on Child Poverty.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the findings of their review of Universal Credit; and if so, when.

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

Since launching the Universal Credit Review in late 2024, we have engaged extensively with stakeholders, organisations and customers to understand better how Universal Credit is working in practice and where there may be opportunities for improvement. The Review has strengthened the Department’s evidence base and informed work across a number of policy areas where stakeholders and customers identified opportunities to improve how Universal Credit operates in practice.

We are not planning to publish a single final report, as the Review has been designed as a continuing programme of engagement, evidence gathering and policy development. This approach allows the Department to respond to evidence as it emerges and take forward improvements where appropriate.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which children living in poverty have unequal access to trees and green spaces compared to other children and of the implications for their health and well being; and what steps they are taking to address any such inequality as part of the child poverty strategy.

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

The Child Poverty Strategy recognises that place is fundamental to child poverty, shaping the environment in which children grow up, and the opportunities parents have to provide for their children. Access to green space is a key part of this, providing opportunities for play, physical activity, social interaction and improved mental wellbeing, supporting healthier childhood development and life outcomes.

Local people know best what change is needed and empowering local areas to improve outcomes and opportunities for children is a fundamental principle of the strategy. Through the Pride in Place Programme, we will invest £5.8 billion in 284 communities over the next decade. Communities will develop plans for the future of their areas based on local priorities, which could include creating and improving green spaces.

The Pride in Place Impact Fund will also provide up to £150 million of funding to 95 places to support the development of community spaces, public spaces (including parks and playgrounds) and to revitalise local high streets. The £18 million Playgrounds Fund will improve children’s access to safe, inclusive, high‑quality local play spaces in communities where there is the greatest need.

This sits alongside Best Start Family Hubs, the Better Futures Fund and wider investment in local services and neighbourhoods.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the White Paper Restoring Control over the Immigration System (CP 1326), published in May 2025, what steps they intend to take to secure the status of children entering adulthood, including care leavers and children who have been in care; and what plans they have to secure those young people’s citizenship rights.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Secretary set out in the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May 2025 that the Home Office will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle. This also included a clear pathway for those children in care without status.

In light of this commitment, we are considering the specific position of migrant children in care who reach adulthood without having secured immigration status and the support currently available to help them regularise their status. We are considering appropriate safeguards for these children, through our ‘children in care’ policy, recognising that many of these children may have been unaware of their unlawful status.

A range of reforms are underway across the immigration and asylum system, and the development of a pathway to settlement for children in care without status must be considered alongside these changes.

No formal consultation will take place. Instead, we will undertake targeted engagement with external stakeholders to help us to understand the challenges in this area and develop a policy solution which supports children in care without status while upholding the need to have a robust and coherent migration system.

Any changes for this cohort will complement the existing work already undertaken by our Public Protection Specialist Safeguarding Team in relation to nationality issues.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement (CP1448), published November 2025, whether they have conducted the separate and targeted consultation for children in care and care leavers; and if so, with whom did they consult.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Secretary set out in the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May 2025 that the Home Office will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle. This also included a clear pathway for those children in care without status.

In light of this commitment, we are considering the specific position of migrant children in care who reach adulthood without having secured immigration status and the support currently available to help them regularise their status. We are considering appropriate safeguards for these children, through our ‘children in care’ policy, recognising that many of these children may have been unaware of their unlawful status.

A range of reforms are underway across the immigration and asylum system, and the development of a pathway to settlement for children in care without status must be considered alongside these changes.

No formal consultation will take place. Instead, we will undertake targeted engagement with external stakeholders to help us to understand the challenges in this area and develop a policy solution which supports children in care without status while upholding the need to have a robust and coherent migration system.

Any changes for this cohort will complement the existing work already undertaken by our Public Protection Specialist Safeguarding Team in relation to nationality issues.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the White Paper Restoring Control over the Immigration System (CP 1326), published in May 2025, what steps they intend to take to fulfil their commitment to reduce the financial barriers to young adults securing British citizenship if, during their childhoods in the UK, a citizenship application was not made on their behalf.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The white paper ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’, published on 12 May 2025, stated that consideration would be given to reducing financial barriers to acquiring British citizenship for young adults who have lived in the UK through their childhood. Reflecting this commitment, the fee for an application to register as a British citizen for individuals under the age of 18 was reduced from £1,214 to £1,000 on 8 April 2026.

Fees are kept under review. However, no further announcements have been made at this time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether transitional protection will be considered for those affected by the 2022 changes to the long residence policy and current proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The government’s proposals for settlement reform were set out in the Command Paper ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ (CP1448) and were the subject of a public consultation between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026. The Command Paper proposed there would no longer be a separate long residence route.

We received over 200,000 responses from the public and organisations and are now considering all responses received.  This will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome, including any transitional measures publicly.  This will also include both economic and equality impact assessments.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 July (HL1821), how they will inform stakeholders and parliamentarians of changes to Universal Credit as a result of the Universal Credit Review.

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

The Universal Credit Review has been designed as an ongoing flexible programme of engagement, evidence gathering and policy development rather than a single review culminating in a final report. This approach has allowed the Department to respond to evidence as it emerges and take forward improvements where appropriate.

Any future changes to Universal Credit arising from the Review will be announced in line with established Government and Parliamentary processes.