Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will continue to place minimum expectations on those providing family hubs to support separating and separated families, including by connecting them to mediation, shared parenting programmes and programmes to reduce parental conflict.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Reducing Parental Conflict programme continues to deliver effective relationship support for parents, working with Local Authorities (LAs), family support services and a wide network of partners including voluntary and community organisations. Following the Spending Review, the Department will be making internal funding allocations ahead of the new financial year, and decisions will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.
The Programme remains a DWP initiative, though this does not mean it is kept separate from family help programmes. The 75 LAs funded under the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme are expected, as a minimum, to ensure that staff in family hubs are aware of the evidence on the impact of parental conflict, can identify it, can distinguish it from domestic abuse and provide universal level support and initial early support. This support should be available to parents who are together, separating or separated.
From April, all Local Authorities will receive funding to establish Best Start Family Hubs. Best Start Family Hubs will draw on what we know works from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, and Sure Start to provide essential support for parents and families. Best Start Family Hubs have a vital role in connecting families to a broad range of services to ensure holistic and integrated support. The Department for Work and Pensions will work closely with the Department for Education as they review the approach to programme expectations in preparation for the roll out of Best Start Family Hubs.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will continue to place minimum expectations on those providing family hubs to deliver or refer family members to programmes and other services which reduce parental conflict.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Reducing Parental Conflict programme continues to deliver effective relationship support for parents, working with Local Authorities (LAs), family support services and a wide network of partners including voluntary and community organisations. Following the Spending Review, the Department will be making internal funding allocations ahead of the new financial year, and decisions will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.
The Programme remains a DWP initiative, though this does not mean it is kept separate from family help programmes. The 75 LAs funded under the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme are expected, as a minimum, to ensure that staff in family hubs are aware of the evidence on the impact of parental conflict, can identify it, can distinguish it from domestic abuse and provide universal level support and initial early support. This support should be available to parents who are together, separating or separated.
From April, all Local Authorities will receive funding to establish Best Start Family Hubs. Best Start Family Hubs will draw on what we know works from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, and Sure Start to provide essential support for parents and families. Best Start Family Hubs have a vital role in connecting families to a broad range of services to ensure holistic and integrated support. The Department for Work and Pensions will work closely with the Department for Education as they review the approach to programme expectations in preparation for the roll out of Best Start Family Hubs.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government where responsibility for the Reducing Parental Conflict programme now lies within government, and whether there are any plans to change the responsible department.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Reducing Parental Conflict programme continues to deliver effective relationship support for parents, working with Local Authorities (LAs), family support services and a wide network of partners including voluntary and community organisations. Following the Spending Review, the Department will be making internal funding allocations ahead of the new financial year, and decisions will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.
The Programme remains a DWP initiative, though this does not mean it is kept separate from family help programmes. The 75 LAs funded under the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme are expected, as a minimum, to ensure that staff in family hubs are aware of the evidence on the impact of parental conflict, can identify it, can distinguish it from domestic abuse and provide universal level support and initial early support. This support should be available to parents who are together, separating or separated.
From April, all Local Authorities will receive funding to establish Best Start Family Hubs. Best Start Family Hubs will draw on what we know works from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, and Sure Start to provide essential support for parents and families. Best Start Family Hubs have a vital role in connecting families to a broad range of services to ensure holistic and integrated support. The Department for Work and Pensions will work closely with the Department for Education as they review the approach to programme expectations in preparation for the roll out of Best Start Family Hubs.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to announce funding allocations for the next phase of the Reducing Parental Conflict programme.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Reducing Parental Conflict programme continues to deliver effective relationship support for parents, working with Local Authorities (LAs), family support services and a wide network of partners including voluntary and community organisations. Following the Spending Review, the Department will be making internal funding allocations ahead of the new financial year, and decisions will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.
The Programme remains a DWP initiative, though this does not mean it is kept separate from family help programmes. The 75 LAs funded under the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme are expected, as a minimum, to ensure that staff in family hubs are aware of the evidence on the impact of parental conflict, can identify it, can distinguish it from domestic abuse and provide universal level support and initial early support. This support should be available to parents who are together, separating or separated.
From April, all Local Authorities will receive funding to establish Best Start Family Hubs. Best Start Family Hubs will draw on what we know works from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, and Sure Start to provide essential support for parents and families. Best Start Family Hubs have a vital role in connecting families to a broad range of services to ensure holistic and integrated support. The Department for Work and Pensions will work closely with the Department for Education as they review the approach to programme expectations in preparation for the roll out of Best Start Family Hubs.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the breakdown of spending by local authorities of Reducing Parental Conflict grants, in terms of matters such as internal human and other resources, training, and direct delivery to parents; and what are local evaluations showing is the impact of the way the grant is allocated locally.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
This phase of the Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme (2022-25) focuses on supporting and funding Local Authorities (LAs) to integrate RPC into their family help offer. As such, the programme does not directly put parents through RPC interventions, these decisions are instead taken at a local level.
LAs receive RPC funding through the RPC Local Grant, which makes up to £19m available from 2022-25. In the first year of grant funding, LAs have directly supported around 18,000 parents, and over 30,000 training places for staff. Further details on LA breakdowns of grant funding have been appended to the end of this PQ.
In the first year of the RPC Local Grant, LAs had spent £159,000 of their Local Grant funding to undertake evaluation activities. As we are at the start of the second year of a three-year grant process, this work is ongoing. There are however positive findings emerging from local evaluation work. For instance, through our partnered working with ‘Foundations’, these have been published on their website.
LAs are not required to provide data on whether those parents are together or separating/separated. The forthcoming Reducing Parental Conflict evaluation reports, announced on 19th July, will provide further detail on the effects of support on the relationships between intact parents and separating/separated parents.
RPC Local Grant Year 1 | |
Activity Type | LA Spend |
Training | £3,430,000 |
Delivery | £1,260,000 |
Co-ordination | £2,520,000 |
Admin | £400,000 |
Evaluation | £159,000 |
To Note:
The information in this PQ is derived from internal management information and is not quality assured to Official Statistics standards.
As this is ongoing Management Information, derived from 134 LAs, small amounts of additional resource which LAs have committed beyond their Grant Funding has not been disaggregated from the figures, as such totals may slightly exceed overall allocation in some places and the final reported figures will differ.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many parents have been directly supported since the start of phase two of the Reducing Parental Conflict programme through tested interventions that are proven to help parents who (1) want to stay together, and (2) are separating or separated.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
This phase of the Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme (2022-25) focuses on supporting and funding Local Authorities (LAs) to integrate RPC into their family help offer. As such, the programme does not directly put parents through RPC interventions, these decisions are instead taken at a local level.
LAs receive RPC funding through the RPC Local Grant, which makes up to £19m available from 2022-25. In the first year of grant funding, LAs have directly supported around 18,000 parents, and over 30,000 training places for staff. Further details on LA breakdowns of grant funding have been appended to the end of this PQ.
In the first year of the RPC Local Grant, LAs had spent £159,000 of their Local Grant funding to undertake evaluation activities. As we are at the start of the second year of a three-year grant process, this work is ongoing. There are however positive findings emerging from local evaluation work. For instance, through our partnered working with ‘Foundations’, these have been published on their website.
LAs are not required to provide data on whether those parents are together or separating/separated. The forthcoming Reducing Parental Conflict evaluation reports, announced on 19th July, will provide further detail on the effects of support on the relationships between intact parents and separating/separated parents.
RPC Local Grant Year 1 | |
Activity Type | LA Spend |
Training | £3,430,000 |
Delivery | £1,260,000 |
Co-ordination | £2,520,000 |
Admin | £400,000 |
Evaluation | £159,000 |
To Note:
The information in this PQ is derived from internal management information and is not quality assured to Official Statistics standards.
As this is ongoing Management Information, derived from 134 LAs, small amounts of additional resource which LAs have committed beyond their Grant Funding has not been disaggregated from the figures, as such totals may slightly exceed overall allocation in some places and the final reported figures will differ.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support older workers who left the labour market during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now in financial hardship get back into work.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The latest study by The Office of National Statistics (Working and workless households in the UK: January to March 2023) shows a decrease of 23,000 in the number of people aged 50-64 in workless households against the same period in 2022.
However, the Government recognises the challenges that older jobseekers face which is why we are delivering a comprehensive package of support to help them return to work.
In addition to the help in place for all Universal Credit claimants, eligible older jobseekers can access additional intensive, tailored support in the first 9 months of their Universal Credit claim.
A network of dedicated 50PLUS: Champions are in place in Jobcentre Plus districts across Great Britain, upskilling Work Coaches in supporting over 50s to return to work and engaging with employers to maximise opportunities for recruitment.
The Midlife MOT is delivered in Jobcentres across Great Britain, to help older workers to take stock of their finances, skills and health and, on 5th July 2023, an enhanced digital Midlife MOT went live to provide access to financial, health and career guidance.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the £500 million Household Support Fund will be made available; and what amount has been allocated for each of the financial years for which the Fund will be available.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The £421m Household Support Fund has been available to Local Authorities in England since 6 October 2021 and runs until 31 March 2022. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million. The devolved administrations are responsible for making their own plans to spend their funding.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many jobs facilitated by the Kickstart Scheme have (1) been approved, (2) been advertised, and (3) started, in each region of Great Britain.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
As of the 22nd July, 50,000 young people have started Kickstart jobs.
As of the 21st of July, over 155,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply for through the Kickstart Scheme with over 263,000 jobs approved for funding by the Scheme.
Between 23/06/2021 and 22/07/2021 an average of almost 600 young people started a Kickstart job each working day.
We are currently unable to provide data on the number of approved jobs by location, as at that stage in the process we do not hold information about the exact location of a job, only the head office of the employer.
Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 21st July and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Location | Jobs Made Available | Total Jobs Started |
East Midlands | 10,200 | 3,000 |
East of England | 12,200 | 3,500 |
London | 30,400 | 11,110 |
North East | 6,000 | 2,400 |
North West | 20,200 | 6,300 |
Scotland | 11,200 | 4,400 |
South East | 18,100 | 5,400 |
South West | 11,600 | 3,400 |
Wales | 8,900 | 2,600 |
West Midlands | 14,400 | 4,400 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 11,900 | 3,700 |
*These numbers are rounded and so may not match provided totals. Figures provided include jobs created but not funded by the scheme. |
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|
Sector | Jobs Made Available | Total Jobs Started |
Administration | 38,800 | 12,900 |
Animal Care | 700 | 400 |
Beauty & Wellbeing | 1,100 | 400 |
Business & Finance | 5,700 | 1,800 |
Computing, Technology & Digital | 11,400 | 4,600 |
Construction & Trades | 4,900 | 1,700 |
Creative & Media | 11,800 | 5,100 |
Delivery & Storage | 4,800 | 1,500 |
Emergency & Uniform Services | 300 | 100 |
Engineering & Maintenance | 5,400 | 1,500 |
Environment & Land | 2,900 | 1,000 |
Government Services | 600 | 100 |
Healthcare | 4,600 | 1,200 |
Home Services | 1,200 | 200 |
Hospitality & Food | 15,400 | 3,600 |
Law & Legal | 300 | 200 |
Managerial | 1,000 | 300 |
Manufacturing | 3,700 | 1,400 |
Retail & Sales | 23,600 | 8,000 |
Science & Research | 700 | 200 |
Social Care | 3,900 | 800 |
Sports & Leisure | 3,800 | 1,100 |
Teaching & Education | 7,700 | 1,800 |
Transport | 600 | 100 |
Travel & Tourism | 500 | 200 |
* These numbers are rounded and so may not match provided totals. Figures provided include jobs created but not funded by the scheme. |
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Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
We keep Child Maintenance policy and our operational delivery under review. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has introduced new digital services – such as the Apply Online Service that has reduced average application times from 45 to 15 minutes – which are available 24/7 and allow greater flexibility for separated parents to contact the CMS.
Operational reforms such as these help improve outcomes for children by enabling parents to set up and manage child maintenance arrangements in ways that suit their own circumstances.