Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025

Lord Bishop of Chelmsford Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Grand Committee

I finish by quoting someone with lived experience of living on benefits who is part of the Changing Realities project. Gemma is disabled and a single mother of three children, as well as a carer for her autistic nephew. She writes of sleeping in the same bed as her children to keep warm during the cold spell and of the black mould that is starting to appear: “For families like mine, living on a low income, we have run out of corners to cut. I cannot wait for warmer days. I’m at the bottom of a dark hole and there is no way of getting out. I sometimes find it difficult to imagine how my situation can get better, but it really has to because life should not be this hard”. My Government have a responsibility to give parents like Gemma some hope that their situation will get better and that their lives will not continue to be that hard. As Gemma herself advises, that has to mean bold and real change by investing in social security.

[The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford]

My Lords, it is very good to be here today and I am glad to be able to contribute on this important subject. As we consider a proposed uprating of 1.7%, as compared with 6.8% last year and 10.1% the year before, I am mindful of the different backdrop to this year’s decision. We may no longer be in a period of soaring inflation, but costs remain high in just about every area of life. The discrepancy between the inflation rate from September 2024, by which most means-tested benefits will be uprated, and the current rate of 3% will be felt particularly by those who have not benefited from wage growth this year. This is a timely moment to explore social security as the Government set out their wider agenda in this area.

The manifesto commitments to review universal credit as a means of supporting people into work and addressing poverty and to produce a child poverty strategy could give us a basis on which to improve the lives of millions of people in our country. Indeed, bold action is required in both these areas and, like other noble Lords, I await the outcome of these reviews with keen interest.

As the Church of England’s lead bishop for housing, I see the consequences of not aligning housing support with housing costs, with half of private renters on housing benefit experiencing poverty. I suggest that local housing allowance ought to be linked to private rents as a matter of course, especially taking into account research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which shows that 81% of low-income private renters in receipt of housing benefit are going without essentials such as food, heating and warm clothing. I very much hope that the Government will consider the adequacy of social security in their review of universal credit. For the first time since its introduction, we have an opportunity to explore how well the system works and to consider carefully the impact of sanctions, deductions and the five-week wait on the lives and incomes of people who rely on social security simply to make ends meet.

I welcome the introduction of the fair repayment rate, which is an important step towards ensuring that deductions do not cause people to fall below the threshold of what we would consider an acceptable standard of living. Despite this, I still worry about the impact of the deductions. I draw the Committee’s attention to the Private Member’s Bill brought forward by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester, which would equalise the standard allowance of universal credit for care leavers under the age of 25. Care leavers have shared their experiences of deductions from their universal credit, which, when taken from an already lower rate, can leave them struggling to afford essentials. This cohort of young adults cannot necessarily rely on the same level of family support as many of their peers.

Even though we have resumed uprating benefits in line with inflation, their real-terms value is low by historic standards. The major issue is that benefits are not calculated in relation to the day-to-day costs people face. One solution could be for benefits to rise in line with wages rather than prices, as advocated by, among others, the Resolution Foundation. Another could be to introduce a minimum floor in universal credit to ensure that people have the money they need to afford the essentials, as advocated by the Trussell Trust and the JRF. It seems eminently sensible to calculate benefits in relation to the day-to-day costs people face. We have a precedent for this, with pensions credit calculated by comparing a person’s income with the amount the Government think necessary to live on. I would be grateful to hear the Minister’s views on whether means-tested benefits could be subject to a similar assessment.

As I close, I reflect on the impact of poverty on our places of worship and wider communities. There will always be a place for voluntary provision, particularly when it comes to support that requires a more human and relational touch; but we must be attentive to the reasons why there is so much demand for food banks, warm spaces, breakfast clubs and the many other activities hosted in church buildings and by other faith groups and charities. We see first hand what the statistics bear out: poverty is deepening in our country. Investment in social security, alongside reforms in other areas, is essential in order to turn the tide on poverty.

[Baroness Drake (Lab)]

My Lords, I refer to my entry in the register of interests as a trustee of pension schemes, and I thank the Minister for her clear explanation of the two statutory instruments before us.

I want to raise an issue concerning the Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Increase Order 2025. Given the pace at which DB pension schemes are transitioning to buyout contracts, this raises the issue of the extent to which, and how, a buyout contract contains liability for a guaranteed minimum pension, and the contractual provision of a promise to provide at least that pension from the age of 60 or 65. Is this a liability that all buyout contract providers must take on when they accept the original transfer from the defined benefit pension scheme? Secondly, does the DWP intend to update its guidance on the guaranteed minimum pension, considering the extent of buyout activity now taking place among DB pension schemes?

Love Matters (Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households Report)

Lord Bishop of Chelmsford Excerpts

Friday 8th December 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford]

My Lords, I too thank my most reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury for securing this important debate. Love Matters is, as noble Lords have already remarked, impressive for its scale and breadth. Covering subjects from tackling child poverty to valuing single people in our churches, the report is able to draw some creative links across a range of topics.

Today, however, given my role as the lead bishop for housing in the Church of England, I want to focus my remarks on the report’s findings on bricks, mortar and the communities that well-designed, affordable housing can foster. It is in houses and flats that families and households of different shapes and sizes are built, and housing which, done right, creates homes and can enable the health and prosperity of those who live in them. I want here to thank in particular the noble Lord, Lord Mann, for his valuable contribution on housing-related issues in this debate.

Noble Lords will know that this report is the last in a series of three. The first, published in 2021, was on the work for which I am now responsible: housing, church and community. I cannot take any credit for the report itself, but I am delighted to be involved in that work. The report, to which the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury has already referred, was called Coming Home, and it recommended, among other things, that housing needed to be stable, affordable and of high quality to enable people to put down roots and build healthy lives, families and neighbourhoods.

The principle of stability goes to the heart of what I want to contribute to today’s debate—again, “stable” was a word used several times by the most reverend Primate in his opening remarks. For too many people, housing is not stable; it is unaffordable; it is not decent; the tenure is insecure and thus it is not a long-term home but a temporary base where it is impossible to put down roots. Such housing is no foundation for strong families and households. By contrast, where there is high-quality, affordable housing, it is much easier to find secure, healthy and happy families.

Let me make four points on stable housing to underscore this point. First, stable housing is healthy housing. Poor-quality housing—indicated by damp, mould, poor insulation and heating, unsafe installations, lack of natural light and overcrowding—can and does affect the health and well-being, both mental and physical, of its occupants. Poor health has knock-on effects for families—lower educational outcomes, for example, or higher caring costs—and in particular, as we have heard, for children, who we know are all too often at the sharp end of the poor health outcomes caused by low-quality housing.

The cost to the NHS of treating people whose health has been impacted by poor housing conditions is estimated at £1.4 billion per year. Unhealthy homes are a widespread and serious barrier to the creation of stable, healthy households and families. Looking back to the peak of the pandemic, as Love Matters does, we can see that housing inequality can be a driving force behind health inequality. I reiterate the call made by my most reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury that high-quality homes, and especially social housing, where the Government can have a particular hand in improving standards, should be placed at the centre of manifesto pledges ahead of the next election.

Secondly, stable housing is affordable housing. To make starting a family viable for many young couples, particularly in areas including London and the south-east where housing costs are high, genuine affordability must also be considered. If, as for many young couples, even on a dual income, the only financially viable option is a one-bedroom flat with little space and scant disposable income, couples who wish to start a family may have no choice but to delay.

At the other end of the life of a relationship, the stresses and strains of managing finances are one of the biggest contributing factors to relationship breakdowns. Where housing eats up a large slice of a household’s income, extra pressure is piled on at every stage.

Housing affordability is not an abstract concept over which we have little control. The Government can take steps in the here and now to relieve this pressure on households. In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor made the welcome and long-overdue announcement that local housing allowance would be unfrozen and brought back in line with its former level, covering the lowest 30% of local rents in a given area. While I warmly welcome the change, it is also vital that it comes into effect as soon as possible to provide a lifeline for those struggling to afford housing costs, rather than waiting until April as currently proposed. Winter is the toughest time for families and households to make ends meet. The vision of the Love Matters report for a society in which families are strong, healthy and happy will simply not be possible if the support available to those on the lowest incomes does not cover the basics. Will the Government look again at the timing of the change to LHA to promote healthy, strong homes over the coming winter months?

Thirdly, stable housing is for the long term. Earlier this year, figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities showed that record numbers of households were stuck in temporary accommodation—over 100,000 households between January and March, with over 130,000 dependent children. For refugee families, the move-on period from temporary accommodation when an asylum claim has been granted can in practice be little more than a couple of weeks. How are young refugee families looking to set down roots in the UK, often after a drawn-out and traumatic experience, supposed to feel that they can begin building a settled home? We all want to see stronger families and households, but without a commitment to long-term housing options it is not clear how this can practically be achieved.

Fourthly, stable housing is tailored to the needs of its occupants. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Brixton, for drawing attention to this matter. Not every household or family will fit one of the familiar flats or homes most common to our cities, towns and villages. We need to see more intergenerational family homes built, where grandparents can live alongside their children and grandchildren, with each able to support the other and maintain a level of independence. Such housing should take into account the family in all its fullness, including uncles, aunts, cousins and neighbours, who are like family to us but are not usually considered in the setting of family policy. There are numerous benefits to building this kind of housing: lower combined housing costs, childcare readily available from grandparents, reduced loneliness and lower care costs, to name just a few.

We know that we need to build more houses, but I take this opportunity to call on local authorities and those involved in commissioning new projects to look creatively at the breadth of housing offered. The Church of England is committed to leading by example, and as bishop for housing I am overseeing the work to change the way the Church thinks about and manages its land and property assets. Our goal is to build many more stable homes for families who desperately need good housing in our villages, towns and cities. However, I am disappointed that it is taking us so long to develop this work. We still have much to do to agree and implement a whole-Church approach to using our assets for the common good. We have made some real progress, but there is so much more to do to make the really significant impact on the housing crisis envisioned in the Coming Home report, which is possible.

I end by reiterating the words of Love Matters:

“Housing is more than bricks and mortar—it is where we should all feel safe”.


Stable housing is healthy, affordable and appropriate—and one of the most fundamental building blocks of happy and healthy families. We might get some way towards achieving the visions set out in the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households by robust and creative investment in this fundamental building block.

Food Price Rises: Impact on Low-Income Families

Lord Bishop of Chelmsford Excerpts

Thursday 25th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

We remain very aware that food banks are being used to a great extent. As I have done before, I pay tribute to those, including charities, who so ably and selflessly run them. With the Family Resources Survey that we picked up on recently, we are very aware of the issues and are determined to ensure that people do not and should not have to go to food banks.

[The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford]

My Lords, in the diocese which I serve, charities in Harlow alone have fed more than 1 million people in the last year, which, frighteningly, represents a slower than the average demand for food banks nationally. I draw the Minister’s attention to the Bounty Club, which works with local businesses and people on the edge of crisis, helping them access a large bag of fresh food for £2.50, saving households on average £20 to £40 a week. Demand in Harlow is such that queues are regularly seen from St Paul’s Church right down the street. What assessment have the Government made of the number of people who are on the cusp of falling into poverty? What strategies are they considering to prevent people requiring the use of their local food bank or even charities such as the Bounty Club?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

I take note of the point the right reverend Prelate makes about Harlow. We are alert to those who do fall into poverty. What I can tell her is that in 2021-22, there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009-10, but I am very aware of the current situation. All I can say is that we continue to keep an eye on this: we are spending £276 billion through the welfare system in 2023-24, including around £124 billion on people of working age and children, and £152 billion on pensioners, to help with this aspect.