Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Scottish Guardianship Service for unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, following the publication of the report An evaluation of the Scottish Guardianship Service in November 2021.

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

The Home Office takes our duty of care towards children and young people extremely seriously and we prioritise asylum applications from children and young people. We do not run the Scottish Guardianship Service and the evaluation is therefore for the Scottish government, but we welcome the support offered to unaccompanied asylum seeking children by the service.

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.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the potential impacts of reintroducing non-repayable maintenance grants for higher education students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and (2) the potential benefits of funding university students to deliver targeted tutoring to disadvantaged school pupils.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

The government is determined that the higher education (HE) funding system should deliver for the economy, for universities and for students and will look carefully at all options and come forward with proposals.

Funding plans for the HE sector will be set out at the relevant fiscal event, in line with the approach to public spending commitments across government. ​​

All HE providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS), that intend to charge higher fees, must have an Access and Participation Plan (APP) approved by the OfS. These need to set out the underrepresented groups they will support and the ways that they will do so. Interventions can include tutoring disadvantaged students in the local area, but also activities such as academy sponsorship, outreach, summer schools and student bursaries. HE providers are expected to evaluate their interventions to demonstrate effectiveness.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 2 September (HL141), what assessment they have made of the joint report by the APPGs on Poverty and on Migration, The Effects of the UK Immigration, Asylum and Refugee Policy on Poverty, published on 30 April.

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

We are determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly. Clearing the asylum backlog is our priority.

It is a financial necessity to start clearing the asylum backlog so that those costs do not continue to mount up at the expense of the taxpayer. The Home Secretary changed the law to remove the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act. This allows decision-makers to decide asylum claims from individuals who have arrived in the UK from 7 March 2023. Asylum interviews have commenced, and asylum claims are now being decided for individuals who arrived in the UK from 7 March 2023.

The Home Office continues to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives to speed up and simplify decision making, reduce the time people spend in the asylum system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 September (HL719), how much they have invested in football facilities between 2022 and 2024.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

Between 2022 and 2024, Sport England and delivery partners in other parts of the UK, invested £161 million into grassroots football facilities, providing new and upgraded pitches and facilities.

In 2024/25, the Government and our partners are investing £123 million UK-wide. This funding will provide clubs and sites with new and resurfaced pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, maintenance machinery, floodlights, goalposts, and more.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, if any, to implement the Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life published by the High Commissioner on National Minorities in October 2023, to ensure the representation of minorities including Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in the curriculum, teaching materials and teacher training.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

Every child, regardless of their background or family circumstances, deserves the opportunity to progress and succeed in school and beyond. There is no place for hate or prejudice in our education system.

Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act.

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, including maintained schools and academies, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Act; advance equality of opportunity for people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and foster good relations across all characteristics.

The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which is attached and can also be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Curriculum and Assessment Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that reflects the issues and diversities of our society, ensuring all children and young people benefit from a curriculum that represents them and their families. When the reforms coming out of the review are implemented, the department intends that all schools will be required to teach the core National Curriculum.

The review group has recently launched a call for evidence, setting out a number of key questions and themes where it would particularly welcome evidence and input.

The department respects the autonomy of schools and teachers in terms of what resources they choose to use or recommend to their individual pupils, based on individual need in their own educational context and circumstances.

School Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses must be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the end of their course.

Part Two of the Teachers’ Standards covers personal and professional conduct and specifically includes "not undermining fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs".

The Equality Act 2010 requires accredited ITT providers to ensure that they are not discriminating against applicants on the basis of any protected characteristics.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the start of the move-on period for newly recognised refugees will be triggered by the issue of an eVisa which replaces the biometric residence permit; and how an individual will be able to access their eVisa if they are unable to open a UKVI account.

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

Currently, a newly recognised refugee gets 28 days to move on from asylum accommodation following the issue of their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). The introduction of eVisas means that changes will need to be made to the move on process. We will provide further information on the initiation of the move on period before we stop issuing BRPs.

When the Home Office stops issuing Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) to newly recognised refugees without a previous BRP or valid passport, we will create a UKVI account and eVisa for them within 14 days of a positive decision on their Asylum claim being served. This action will be referenced in their decision letter.

We will inform the person that their UKVI account has been created and provide the necessary information for them to sign in. This communication will also include details on how to get support for accessing or reporting any issues with their eVisa.

Currently, people sign in to their UKVI account using a Document Number and Date of Birth. For those without a document, we will issue a new reference number, known as a UKVI Customer Number, which can be used alongside their Date of Birth to sign in and view their eVisa.

We acknowledge the existing challenges in delivering correspondence and BRP cards to newly recognised refugees. We are exploring the best ways to provide this information, including making increased efforts to capture contact details during the asylum process.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government how they are implementing the public sector duty regarding socioeconomic inequalities in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

We will commence the socio-economic duty in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 through a commencement order in due course. The duty will require public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to actively consider how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. To ensure effective implementation, we will develop guidance to help relevant authorities comply with the duty once commenced. We will be updating Parliament on this in due course.

Found: Baroness Watkins of Tavistock 37 Proposal 16: Letter from Viscount Hailsham 39 Proposal 17: Letter from Baroness