Domestic Abuse
Debate between Baroness Massey of Darwen and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
As I mentioned, there is the concession for domestic violence, which allows people to be looked after outside the Immigration Rules, but the Joint Committee which looked at the Domestic Abuse Bill, which is coming to your Lordships’ House, recommended that this be reviewed further. The noble Baroness, Lady Burt, who asked the Question, was a member of that committee. The Government have carried out that review and, flowing from that, my honourable friend the Minister for Safeguarding announced during the Second Reading of the Bill in another place a £1.5 million fund to launch a programme to support migrant victims of domestic abuse so that we can see what further work needs to be done in this area.
Baroness Massey of Darwen (Lab) [V]
My Lords, as has been said, children who witness domestic violence are also innocent victims who suffer trauma. There is an increasing need for support for such children, yet 60% of service providers state that they have had to cancel their services for children during the Covid pandemic. How will the Government ensure that such services are restored and improved?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
A number of organisations do brilliant work in this area, looking after children who, as the noble Baroness said, are witnesses to these appalling crimes. That is particularly difficult at the moment, when face-to-face help cannot be provided. As I have mentioned, a number of the charities have moved to online support during the crisis, and of course we will continue to work with them, as we have been doing throughout the pandemic, to make sure that they are able to help everybody who needs their assistance.
Student Loans
Debate between Baroness Massey of Darwen and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
My Lords, this website is certainly an improvement on the situation when I was paying back my student loan, when it was very difficult to find out the balance and how much still needed to be paid. That led to many people making excessive repayments, which then had to be paid back. It might be helpful to your Lordships if I cite briefly from the message on the new website, which makes it very clear that “there is no obligation” to make a voluntary repayment and that students should
“carefully consider whether it’s appropriate to make voluntary repayments because any outstanding balance is written off at the end of the loan”.
That makes the situation quite clear.
Baroness Massey of Darwen (Lab) [V]
My Lords, the Student Loans Company states that the online repayments service was
“extensively researched and tested prior to launch”,
and says:
“We constantly listen to our customers to improve our service”.
Are the Government satisfied that this service is being adequately monitored? How will they ensure that comments are taken on board and changes made where necessary?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
My Lords, that is a key example of our taking on board comments and making changes. That is exactly what we have done in response to the representation from Martin Lewis pointing out that, on one section of the website, the message that he was keen to see was not present. It has now been put there.