Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 29 April (HL3846), what plans they have to (1) roll out Family Hubs to the remaining 242 local authorities, and (2) sustain the funding for the Family Hubs programme beyond 2025.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)

The department is currently investing around £300 million in 75 local authorities, half of all upper tier local authorities in England, to transform to a Family Hub model. Funding has been targeted to the most deprived local authorities, ensuring families get the support they need.

The department has also invested in a £12 million transformation fund to open Family Hubs in 13 additional local authorities in England.

All 88 local authorities now have opened at least one Family Hub, with over 400 government-funded Family Hub sites now open across the country.

Further funding for the current programmes is dependent on future fiscal events. It was confirmed at Spring Budget that the next spending review will come after a General Election, the timing of which is still to be determined.

The government would like to see Family Hubs across the country, but it is crucial that the department now focuses on delivering well in these local authorities and building the evidence base.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what analyses they carried out to suggest that disability benefit reforms will increase the employment rate of people with disabilities.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Pathways to Work Green Paper sets out our plans for reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and protect disabled people.

The disability employment rate is affected by external factors such as the composition of the underlying disabled population and overall labour market performance, as well as DWP activity. The Office of Budget Responsibility has committed to produce an assessment of the labour market impacts of the proposals in the Pathways to Work Green Paper at the time of the autumn budget.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to evaluate the impact of disability benefits reform on the employment rate of people with disabilities.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Office of Budget Responsibility has committed to produce an assessment of the labour market impacts of the proposals in the Pathways to Work Green Paper at the time of the autumn budget.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A programme of analysis to support development and evaluation of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of reforms to incapacity and disability benefits on the employment rate of people with disabilities; and what plans they have to evaluate and monitor the impact of these reforms once they have been introduced.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Pathways to Work Green Paper sets out our plans for reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and protect disabled people.

The plans include increased funding for employment support for disabled people, rising to an additional £1 billion per year by the end of the Parliament.

The Office of Budget Responsibility has committed to produce an assessment of the labour market impacts of the proposals in the Pathways to Work Green Paper at the time of the autumn budget.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper and to monitor and evaluate their impact will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to announce a commencement order for the socio-economic duty in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer of 5 June 2025, Official Report, PQ HC 53909.

Question:

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to enact the socioeconomic measures in the Equality Act 2010.

Answer:

The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require specified public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consider actively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage.

We will work in partnership with public authorities, civil society and others in order to ensure that the implementation of the duty is as effective as possible. As part of this, we have included questions in relation to the socio-economic duty in a call for evidence on equality law, which was launched on 7 April and will be open until 30 June. This will enable public authorities and others to input into plans in relation to the socio-economic duty at an early stage.

Found: supported by Lord Aberdare, Lord Boateng, Baroness Keeley, Lord Knight of Weymouth, the Lord Bishop of Leicester

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Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill 42 LORD BIRD BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER

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Found: After Clause 96 BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT BARONESS BENNETT OF MANOR CASTLE THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER

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Found: After Clause 96 BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT BARONESS BENNETT OF MANOR CASTLE THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER

Found: After Clause 96 BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT BARONESS BENNETT OF MANOR CASTLE THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER

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Found: LORD BIRD BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER LORD HAMPTON 163_ After Clause

Found: LORD BIRD BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER LORD HAMPTON 163_ After Clause

Found: LORD BIRD BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER LORD HAMPTON _ After Clause

Found: LORD BIRD BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT THE LORD BISHOP OF LEICESTER LORD HAMPTON _ After Clause