Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of Great British Energy on job creation in industrial communities.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy has potential to support the creation of high quality, well-paid jobs, and help to rebuild UK’s industrial heartlands. It can promote employment opportunities through the projects it supports, domestic supply chain opportunities it creates, and within the company itself.
More widely, jobs will be at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy, supporting growth sectors to create high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country. We have also set up the Office for Clean Energy Jobs which will support developing the skilled workforce to deliver the Clean Energy Superpower Mission.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on implementing the proposals outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are progressing with the delivery of our proposals through:
We have secured £240 million of funding which we will use to develop tests and trials for the digital aspect of the new national jobs and careers service, to introduce trailblazers to tackle economic inactivity in England and Wales and offer support for the development of local Get Britain Working plans.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure housing stock built in areas susceptible to flooding is adequately protected from flooding risks.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises the devastating impact flooding can have on communities. National Planning Policy is clear that development should be directed to areas with the lowest risk of flooding. Where no alternative sites are available, permission should only be granted where it can be demonstrated that it will be safe for its lifetime taking account of the vulnerability of its users, without increasing flood risk elsewhere, and, where possible, will reduce flood risk overall.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of UK Armed Forces veterans who are living overseas and in receipt of a frozen UK state pension; and what plans they have to ensure those veterans benefit from uplifts to their state pension from now on.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such estimate has been made as the relevant information is not available.
Society is grateful to those who have served in the forces to defend our country. As well as a State Pension, many overseas veterans will receive an occupational pension which is up-rated in line with the consumer price index.
The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK state pension is payable worldwide without regard to nationality and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 94 per cent increase of food parcels distributed to people in hardship by the Trussell Trust in the five years to March 2024; and what action they are taking to eliminate the need for people to use foodbanks.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. The latest Households Below Average Income statistics show that 3% of all individuals had used a food bank on at least one occasion in 2022/23. For children this figure is 6%. This is unacceptable.
On 30th July, the Secretary of State held a food poverty roundtable with experts and charities to better understand the priorities in this area. We are already taking steps to tackle poverty, including free breakfast clubs in every primary school so children don’t go hungry, protecting renters from arbitrary eviction, slashing fuel poverty and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts. Good work is the foundation of our approach, and our New Deal for Working People, including ensuring that the minimum wage is a genuine living wage along with reformed employment support, will mean that many more people will benefit from the dignity and purpose of employment.
In addition, we have extended the Household Support Fund for a further 6 months from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An estimated total package of approximately £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive £421 million to support those in need locally.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of the rise in homelessness as published on 3 October in the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government's report Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2023–24.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The statistics published on 3 October shows that the most common reason for loss of accommodation for households threatened with homelessness was termination of a private rented assured shorthold tenancy (AST). For households that were already homeless, the most common reason was that their family or friends were no longer willing or able to accommodate them. The Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 evictions for both new and existing tenancies at the same time, giving all private renters immediate security and assurance.
The Government will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Labour Force Survey released by the Office for National Statistics on 10 September, which shows there were 597,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed from May to July, an increase of 51,000 from the previous year; and what steps they are taking to take to reduce youth unemployment.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why in our plan to get Britain Working we will introduce a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or employment support. This will sit alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people.
Currently through the Youth Offer, we provide labour market support to young people aged 16-24 claiming Universal Credit through a range of tailored interventions to help reduce the barriers young people may face, bringing them closer to work or education.
Jobcentre Plus School Advisers target support to young people that schools have identified as being at greatest risk of not being in work or education, or who may be disadvantaged in the labour market.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the waiting list of people in England who are currently waiting for their first specialist appointment with an ophthalmologist.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments, including ophthalmology appointments, per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.
We will be supporting National Health Service trusts to deliver these through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.
Transforming outpatient services will also help reduce waiting times for patients. The target in the 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance to increase the proportion of all outpatient attendances that are for first appointments, or follow-up appointments attracting a procedure tariff to 46%, aims to improve access to specialist first appointments, or clinically necessary follow ups, including for ophthalmology patients. A copy of the guidance is attached.
The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce the Skills England bill.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The Skills England Bill will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The Bill will transfer functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to Skills England, and will be an important part of steps taken to establish Skills England in phases over the next 9 to 12 months.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, under the policy whereby asylum seekers whose claims have been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own can request permission to work in jobs on the Shortage Occupation List published by the Home Office, how many such requests have been (1) made, and (2) granted, since the policy was introduced; and how many asylum seekers have taken up employment under that policy.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum seekers granted permission to work are restricted by the Home Office to apply for jobs on the Immigration Salary List which replaced the Shortage Occupation List on 4 April 2024. The list itself is based on expert advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee, who will continue to review those occupations.
Asylum seekers are provided with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs if they would otherwise be destitute whilst their claim is considered.
We also encourage asylum seekers to undertake volunteering activities, so long as it does not amount to unpaid work. Volunteering provides a valuable contribution to their local community and may help them to integrate into society if they ultimately qualify for protection.
The Home Office are unable to report how many asylum seekers have applied for and been accepted for permission to work as this information is not held in a reportable format or forms part of published data.