Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what mechanism they will use to enforce plans for refugees and people seeking asylum to contribute to the cost of Home Office support and accommodation.

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

As set out in the King’s Speech, and as part of a wider programme of reform, we will require individuals who have received taxpayer-funded accommodation and other support to contribute to the cost borne by the British taxpayer when they are able to do so.

The detailed mechanisms for enforcing these arrangements are being developed. Details will be shared in due course, including as part of any legislative process.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 26 May (HL111), when they last made representations to the government of Israel about the ill-treatment, including sexual assault, of Palestinian children in Israeli detention.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

Reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian children in detention, including sexual assault, are deeply concerning. FCDO ministers and officials raise concerns about human rights with our Israeli counterparts on a regular basis, including in relation to the detention of children. We are clear that the arrest and detention of children must follow due process and be in line with international juvenile justice standards.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the pilot announced in the Financial Inclusion Strategy, which aims to increase uptake of contents insurance among social renters in England, will include residents on socially rented Gypsy and Traveller sites.

Answered by Lord Livermore

Opportunities for social landlords to participate in the contents insurance pilot will open later this year.

This is part of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy which encompasses an ambitious package of measures to help people access the products they need and support household financial resilience. The Strategy recognises the important role that insurance products play in giving households the ability to weather financial shocks and identifies contents insurance as a product area with low take-up among those who may stand to benefit from it the most.

The Government’s key financial inclusion delivery partner, Fair4All Finance, is working with the insurance and social housing sectors to explore different methods of increasing contents insurance uptake for social renters. This will consider approaches to reduce friction in delivery methods, raise awareness, and increase uptake and choice.

Where a consumer has found it difficult to find cover, a broker can support them to identify and access a product which meets their needs.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people placed in the Support Group receive only New Style Employment and Support Allowance, by duration of awards (1) under two years, (2) between two and five years, (3) between five and ten years, (4) between 10 and 15 years, and (5) 15 years and longer; and what is the gender breakdown for each duration.

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

The information is in the table:

Support Group New Style Employment and Support Allowance claimants by duration and gender – November 2025

This analysis is partially based on Internal DWP administrative data. The volume of claimants by duration up to 5 years can be found on Stat-Xplore in the ESA- Data from May 2018 dataset. The published statistics amalgamate the final three categories into one category (5 years and over), in this analysis this cohort has been split into three categories using internal unpublished administrative data.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to paragraph 34 on page 12 of the Family Returns: Reforming Asylum Support and Enforcing Family Returns consultation, what was the total number of failed asylum seekers in receipt of support in February.

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

Data relating to people receiving asylum support is published on GOV.UK as part of the immigration system statistics quarterly release. The latest information, from the year ending March 2026, is available in the data set ‘Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support’.

This data includes those in receipt of section 95 and section 4 support. Those receiving section 4 support are failed asylum seekers i.e. those whose asylum claims have been refused or declared inadmissible. The data for the period ending March 2026 shows, 4,745 people were in receipt of section 4 support. Within the published section 95 data, families with dependent children who have have had their asylum claims refused will be included, however, we do not currently publish data for the section 95 cohort by claim outcome.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the response to the Family Returns: Reforming Asylum Support and Enforcing Family Returns consultation will be published on Gov.uk.

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

The Family Returns: Reforming Asylum Support and Enforcing Family Returns consultation launched on Thursday 5 March and closed on Friday 5 June.

The Government is currently analysing the consultation responses and will issue its response on GOV.UK once the analysis has been completed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safeguarding implications of any local authority relying on age assessment guidance produced before the coming into force of Part 4 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the establishment of the National Age Assessment Board.

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

Responsibility for age assessment sits between the Home Office and local authorities. Local authorities are required to determine whether they have obligations towards an individual under the relevant children’s legislation and the Home Office needs to establish age for immigration purposes. Both are subject to legal duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Throughout 2026, Facial Age Estimation (FAE) technology will continue to undergo rigorous testing, ahead of expected implementation in 2027 for small boat arrivals at Western Jet Foil, where quick decisions are critical. This testing is being carried out across diverse groups, including different ethnicities, genders and age ranges, indicating promising performance and accuracy. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute (NMI) - world leading in establishing the most accurate metrology standards, science and technology, has been commissioned to carry out the independent review of testing and trial reports produced by the Home Office.

Testing and assurance is ongoing. Equalities impacts, the impacts on children (including our duties under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009) are being considered through ongoing testing, independent analysis and policy development, in line with legal advice and public sector equality duty obligations. In addition to the introduction of FAE technology, we have also begun work to utilise the regulation-making power under section 53 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, to codify the manner in which age assessments under sections 50 and 51 of the Act must be conducted.

These regulations, which would apply to decisions made both by local authorities and the National Age Assessment Board, will enable the creation of a clear and uniform set of standards and support decision-makers to achieve greater consistency in the way age is assessed, as well as endeavouring to ensure assessments can be carried out in a more efficient, proportionate manner. The regulations will be supported by detailed guidance for those conducting these assessments and will consolidate existing best practice principles and other existing published guidance, which follow caselaw set by the courts. Existing guidance will remain relevant until subsequent guidance is published.

We are planning targeted engagement to draw on the expertise and experience of specific relevant stakeholders, including local authorities and the Department for Education, and hearing children’s voices, which will be essential to the development of the regulations and guidance.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of local authority guidance on age assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, in particular whether such guidance is current and authoritative; and whether they will require local authorities to publish any such guidance.

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

Responsibility for age assessment sits between the Home Office and local authorities. Local authorities are required to determine whether they have obligations towards an individual under the relevant children’s legislation and the Home Office needs to establish age for immigration purposes. Both are subject to legal duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Throughout 2026, Facial Age Estimation (FAE) technology will continue to undergo rigorous testing, ahead of expected implementation in 2027 for small boat arrivals at Western Jet Foil, where quick decisions are critical. This testing is being carried out across diverse groups, including different ethnicities, genders and age ranges, indicating promising performance and accuracy. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute (NMI) - world leading in establishing the most accurate metrology standards, science and technology, has been commissioned to carry out the independent review of testing and trial reports produced by the Home Office.

Testing and assurance is ongoing. Equalities impacts, the impacts on children (including our duties under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009) are being considered through ongoing testing, independent analysis and policy development, in line with legal advice and public sector equality duty obligations. In addition to the introduction of FAE technology, we have also begun work to utilise the regulation-making power under section 53 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, to codify the manner in which age assessments under sections 50 and 51 of the Act must be conducted.

These regulations, which would apply to decisions made both by local authorities and the National Age Assessment Board, will enable the creation of a clear and uniform set of standards and support decision-makers to achieve greater consistency in the way age is assessed, as well as endeavouring to ensure assessments can be carried out in a more efficient, proportionate manner. The regulations will be supported by detailed guidance for those conducting these assessments and will consolidate existing best practice principles and other existing published guidance, which follow caselaw set by the courts. Existing guidance will remain relevant until subsequent guidance is published.

We are planning targeted engagement to draw on the expertise and experience of specific relevant stakeholders, including local authorities and the Department for Education, and hearing children’s voices, which will be essential to the development of the regulations and guidance.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish (1) the internal Home Office report on the performance of facial age-estimation technology, (2) an equality impact assessment, and (3) a Child Rights Impact Assessment, before facial age-estimation technology is used to perform initial age assessments in a live decision-making setting.

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

Responsibility for age assessment sits between the Home Office and local authorities. Local authorities are required to determine whether they have obligations towards an individual under the relevant children’s legislation and the Home Office needs to establish age for immigration purposes. Both are subject to legal duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Throughout 2026, Facial Age Estimation (FAE) technology will continue to undergo rigorous testing, ahead of expected implementation in 2027 for small boat arrivals at Western Jet Foil, where quick decisions are critical. This testing is being carried out across diverse groups, including different ethnicities, genders and age ranges, indicating promising performance and accuracy. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute (NMI) - world leading in establishing the most accurate metrology standards, science and technology, has been commissioned to carry out the independent review of testing and trial reports produced by the Home Office.

Testing and assurance is ongoing. Equalities impacts, the impacts on children (including our duties under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009) are being considered through ongoing testing, independent analysis and policy development, in line with legal advice and public sector equality duty obligations. In addition to the introduction of FAE technology, we have also begun work to utilise the regulation-making power under section 53 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, to codify the manner in which age assessments under sections 50 and 51 of the Act must be conducted.

These regulations, which would apply to decisions made both by local authorities and the National Age Assessment Board, will enable the creation of a clear and uniform set of standards and support decision-makers to achieve greater consistency in the way age is assessed, as well as endeavouring to ensure assessments can be carried out in a more efficient, proportionate manner. The regulations will be supported by detailed guidance for those conducting these assessments and will consolidate existing best practice principles and other existing published guidance, which follow caselaw set by the courts. Existing guidance will remain relevant until subsequent guidance is published.

We are planning targeted engagement to draw on the expertise and experience of specific relevant stakeholders, including local authorities and the Department for Education, and hearing children’s voices, which will be essential to the development of the regulations and guidance.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether Child Rights Impact Assessments conducted by the Home Office are equivalent to the Child Rights Impact Assessments conducted under the Department for Education template; and whether those assessments evaluate the impact of proposed asylum and immigration reforms against the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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

Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a legal duty on the Secretary of State to make arrangements for ensuring immigration, asylum, nationality and general customs functions are carried out with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK.

This legal duty requires us to develop policy in respect of children through the lens of safeguarding, welfare as well as the best interests of children as primary (although not the only consideration), as set out in our statutory guidance.

Accordingly, as policy development continues on this government’s asylum and immigration reforms, my policy teams will complete Home Office Children’s Impact Assessments. Section 55 is a bespoke statutory duty for the Home Office, and it is not an equivalent to assessments conducted by other government departments.

Home Office Ministers have committed to complete Children’s Impact Assessments in accordance with Section 55 but have made no such commitments to complete Children’s Rights Impact Assessments.

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 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.