Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Buscombe on 13 July (HL Deb, cols 1296–98), what emphasis they place on the prevention of poverty; and how they are working to ensure that the prevention of poverty is prioritised by every Department.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The most commonly used measure of poverty is relative low income.
The latest statistics from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data series show that there are: 2.7 million children, 5.7 million working-age adults, and 2.1 million pensioners in relative low income in the United Kingdom on a ‘before housing costs’ (BHC) basis.
Analysis of the HBAI data shows that there are 2.1 million families in relative low income BHC where at least one adult member works at least part-time.
This Government is committed to tackling the root causes of poverty, thereby preventing the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.
This is why we repealed the income-related targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010 and replaced them with statutory measures that drive action on parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – the two areas that we know can make the biggest difference to disadvantaged children, now and in the future.
The Department for Work and Pensions published Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families in April 2017. Here we set out further non-statutory indicators on a wider set of parental disadvantage and children’s outcomes, which will drive collective action on areas that matter in tackling disadvantage.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of (1) children, (2) adults, and (3) working families, living in poverty across the United Kingdom; and what long-term plan they have to prevent such poverty.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The most commonly used measure of poverty is relative low income.
The latest statistics from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data series show that there are: 2.7 million children, 5.7 million working-age adults, and 2.1 million pensioners in relative low income in the United Kingdom on a ‘before housing costs’ (BHC) basis.
Analysis of the HBAI data shows that there are 2.1 million families in relative low income BHC where at least one adult member works at least part-time.
This Government is committed to tackling the root causes of poverty, thereby preventing the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.
This is why we repealed the income-related targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010 and replaced them with statutory measures that drive action on parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – the two areas that we know can make the biggest difference to disadvantaged children, now and in the future.
The Department for Work and Pensions published Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families in April 2017. Here we set out further non-statutory indicators on a wider set of parental disadvantage and children’s outcomes, which will drive collective action on areas that matter in tackling disadvantage.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the lessons to be learned from the reports of the Scottish Government's Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality in the light of persistent poverty levels in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality was appointed in 2015 to offer advice to the Scottish Government on the action it could take to tackle poverty in Scotland.
Nevertheless, the UK Government has taken note of the Advisor’s two publications: Shifting the Curve (and its most recent progress report) and The Life Chances of Young People.
The UK Government remains committed to tackling the root causes of child poverty and disadvantage, and has set out a framework for continued action in Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families, published on 4 April.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prioritise preventative policy-making in their poverty and early intervention programmes.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Prime Minister has set out clearly that she is committed to building a country that works for everyone – not just the privileged few.
Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this government. To do this, we need to focus on the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. This is why we have introduced two statutory measures of parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment – to drive action on the two areas that can make the biggest difference to children’s outcomes.
As part of our approach, we fully recognise the importance of the right intervention, at the right time. This is why, for example, we are developing a new approach to parental conflict. It is based on the latest evidence from the Early Intervention Foundation that children exposed to frequent, intense and poorly resolved conflict between their parents are at risk of poorer long term outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to involve children and young people in any initiatives to tackle the root causes of poverty.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Prime Minister is clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government. We intend to bring forward a social justice green paper in the New Year. As is customary with the development of any green paper, we are engaging in discussions with a range of organisations and individual experts.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Early Intervention Foundation's Report <i>The Cost of Late Intervention: EIF analysis 2016</i>; and what plans they have to prioritise preventative interventions in seeking to dismantle the root causes of poverty.
Answered by Lord Freud
This Government is committed to action that tackles the root causes of poverty and disadvantage, not just the symptoms. As part of our approach, we fully recognise that the right intervention, at the right time, can make a real difference to the lives of children and their families. This is why, for example, we are developing a new approach to relationship support. This is based on the latest evidence from the Early Intervention Foundation that children exposed to frequent, intense and poorly resolved conflict between their parents are at risk of poorer long term outcomes. Our approach targets couples and parents during key life transitions; and by doubling the available funding since April 2016 for the remainder of this Parliament we can ensure that more families benefit from this new approach.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trial of an early warning sanctions system piloted in Scotland; and what plans they have to introduce an early warning system for people issued with benefit sanctions in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Freud
A Jobseeker’s Allowance Sanctions “Early Warning” Trial was launched in March 2016 in Scotland. The trial ran until September 2016 and a full evaluation is being undertaken. The Government will respond to the final evaluation report in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Eurostat figures and analysis published on 17 October, <i>The share of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU back to its pre-crisis level</i>, what plans they have to work with (1) the EU and other international partners, and (2) the UK devolved administrations, in reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Answered by Lord Freud
The PM has been clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, will be a priority for this Government. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has said that he will return to the House with further announcements over the coming months.
The Devolved Administrations have an important role in reducing the numbers of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion and we will continue to engage with them where appropriate.
Additionally, the UK participates in the Semester process. The European Semester was set up in 2010 to implement the Europe 2020 strategy, which includes a target for poverty reduction. As such, this includes looking at the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount and proportion of funding from their poverty prevention programmes currently in operation has been allocated to (1) preventing the underlying causes of poverty, (2) dealing with emergency effects of poverty, (3) managing the ongoing effects of poverty, and (4) alleviating the effects of poverty, in (a) each of the last five years, and (b) to date in 2016.
Answered by Lord Freud
This Government’s welfare reforms are focused on supporting people to find and keep work whilst ensuring that we are protecting the most vulnerable. At the end of the Parliament we will be spending over £60bn – 3% of GDP – supporting people on low incomes.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty. Evidence shows that almost three-quarters of poor workless families who found full employment escaped poverty; and that the highest poverty exit rate of 75% was for families that moved from part to full employment. The number of children living in workless households is down by 449,000 since 2010
Our new life chances approach to poverty and disadvantage will include a set of indicators to measure progress in tackling the root causes of poverty such as worklessness, educational attainment and family stability.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Office for National Statistics report on the levels of (1) persistent, and (2) overall, poverty rates in the United Kingdom, what new actions they intend to take to eradicate poverty and the causes of poverty in this Parliament.
Answered by Lord Freud
This Government’s welfare reforms are focused on supporting people to find and keep work whilst ensuring that we are protecting the most vulnerable. At the end of the Parliament we will be spending over £60bn – 3% of GDP – supporting people on low incomes.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty. Evidence shows that almost three-quarters of poor workless families who found full employment escaped poverty; and that the highest poverty exit rate of 75% was for families that moved from part to full employment. The number of children living in workless households is down by 449,000 since 2010
Our new life chances approach to poverty and disadvantage will include a set of indicators to measure progress in tackling the root causes of poverty such as worklessness, educational attainment and family stability.