Supporting Disadvantaged Families

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, has withdrawn her name, so I call the next speaker, the noble Lord, Lord Rooker.

[Lord Rooker (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, what is happening about the decline in the number of health visitors in respect of the youngest children in disadvantaged families? If the Government, as was said in the Statement, are taking a long-term holistic approach, why has there been no national health inequality strategy since 2010? Is this why life expectancy in England has stalled since 2010—something that has not happened since 1900, according to The Marmot Review 10 Years On?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

There is an exam question to finish this session. I will need to ask my colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to provide the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, with the information about health visitors and the other valid points that he raises.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, all speakers who wished to ask questions on the Statement have done so. We will move straight on to the next Statement, but I recommend that we just take a few moments to allow Front-Bench Members and others to find their right places.

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013 (Remedial) Order 2019

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Grand Committee

Motion agreed.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

I remind Members to sanitise their desks and chairs before leaving the room.

Pension Schemes Bill [HL]

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Committee stage & Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 26th February 2020 Grand Committee

Relevant documents: 4th Report from the Delegated Powers Committee and 2nd Report from the Constitution Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, good afternoon. I remind the Committee that, in the event of a Division in the Chamber, the Committee will adjourn at the sound of the Division Bell and resume after 10 minutes.

Clause 109: Duty to give notices and statements to the Regulator in respect of certain events

Amendment 27

Moved by

Local Welfare Assistance

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Buscombe]

My Lords, what the noble Earl has said about family breakdown and what this leads to is quite right. Indeed, that is why we have a strong focus now on the family parental conflict programme, to which we will be contributing £30 million in the coming two years. We have also invested up to £200 million in universal support, which provides budgeting advice and digital support to claimants, delivered by local authorities. This support is tailored to local needs and our work coaches, who gauge claimants’ financial needs from their first interview. We are doing a variety of things to help people at a local level. The noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, shakes his head, but we are doing an awful lot more than his Government ever achieved. I am proud of what we are doing.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, will the noble Baroness please have another go at answering the question put to her by my noble friend Lord Howarth? Can she confirm that local authority budgets have been cut by 40%, and if she cannot, what figure does she think is the right one? Can she further say whether she thinks that—if that figure or anything like it is correct—it is at all likely that there has been no major impact on services that were previously provided?

[Baroness Buscombe]

My Lords, it is a great shame that under the Labour Government so much taxpayers’ money was wasted, leaving our local councils bereft of funds. We have worked hard to ensure that there are emergency provisions in place. Although there may be cuts to local authorities, we are ensuring that there is proper provision, but we are leaving it to local authorities to decide the best way to provide for the needs that people have at local level.

Mental Health at Work

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Wednesday 1st November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Buscombe]

My Lords, I hope that we can continue to use this report and the response to the review as part of building awareness of that. The right reverend Prelate is absolutely right. We understand more than in the past that mental health conditions are a barrier to work but, if we can help more people into employment, work can be part of the solution for many. I very much take on board his suggestion that workplace chaplaincy is an example of where people can seek guidance and help. Sometimes it is important to think about whether it can be done very quietly and anonymously. There is a lot to think through. The review is an enormous step forward. We want to become one of the leading nations in the world in supporting mental health.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that in particular sectors it is sometimes the actions and behaviour of government itself that brings about stresses that some people in certain areas find very hard to cope with? I am thinking in particular about education, which was mentioned by my noble friend in his Question. A constant barrage of change and new requirements is very difficult for people who are already working under very high pressure to accommodate. Will she say whether her department or any of her colleagues’ departments take this into account when they assess how they bring new requirements to bear on the people who depend on them?

[Baroness Buscombe]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question and say straightaway that in the Department for Work and Pensions we have introduced a new system of line managers so that people always have someone they can go to immediately for help. The truth is that people in both the public and private sectors are under enormous pressures off and on in their lives, as we have said. The reality is that people face pressure, whether from government or through family crises. A lot of it begins at home and we know that conflict in the home can lead into the workplace and affect people’s ability to cope. We need to focus on the coping strategies, whether in the workplace or elsewhere. This review is about supporting people into work.

Employment: Universal Jobmatch

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

That is one of the specific areas in which our terms and conditions rule out going on to Universal Jobmatch. We will look at those jobs and employers and suspend them and withdraw those jobs.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister did not answer my noble friend Lord Davies on the subject of prosecutions for age discrimination. Does he have that information?

[Lord Freud]

I do not have to hand how many prosecutions we have made, but I will of course write when I know that information.

Pensions Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, I need to announce a correction to the voting figures on the first Division this evening, which was on Amendment 23. The correct figures were Contents 210; Not Contents 251.

Schedule 20: Pension Protection Fund: increased compensation cap for long service

Amendment 32

Moved by

Pensions Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Wednesday 18th December 2013 Grand Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall)]

My Lords, I remind the Committee that in the event of a Division in the Chamber, the Committee will adjourn for 10 minutes from the sound of the Division Bell.

Clause 2: Entitlement to state pension at full or reduced rate

Amendment 9

Moved by

Benefits: Sanctions

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Monday 16th December 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, the relative figures are that since 2010 the volume of sanctions has run at between 3% and 5.5% whereas between 2005 and 2010 the rate was running between 2% and 4%. One of the most encouraging elements of the new regime is that the proportion of people on high-level sanctions has fallen quite steeply and is now down by 40% from 10,000 per calendar month to 6,000 per calendar month.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister tell the House whether the officials working in the DWP are working to targets, and whether this has any impact on the number of sanctions that are applied?

[Lord Freud]

We are not working to targets. We have made it absolutely plain that that is not our policy. We have had a study done on that by the head of JCP, Neil Couling, which reported in May and found that we did not run targets. Obviously, we collect management information, without which we could not give out the kind of data that is requested.

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Monday 14th January 2013 Grand Committee

Relevant documents: 9th and 10th Reports from the Delegated Powers Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall)]

My Lords, I remind the Committee that, in the event of a vote in the Chamber this afternoon, the Committee will adjourn for the duration of that vote. If it occurs while the Committee is debating the first two matters on the Marshalled List, we shall have to adjourn until the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, returns from the Chamber, where she will be a Teller, which may take slightly more than 10 minutes. If the vote or votes occur at another time, the Committee will adjourn for 10 minutes from the sound of the Division Bell.

Clause 57 : Equality Act 2010: third party harassment of employees and applicants

Debate on whether Clause 57 should stand part of the Bill.