Baroness Janke
Main Page: Baroness Janke (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Janke's debates with the Department for Education
(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Barran (Con)
—but I do not accept that they were weakened. As I say, there is sensible flexibility to allow schools to respond to their local community.
Baroness Janke (LD)
My Lords, the findings of the House of Lords Select Committee report Hungry for Change found that to pay for government healthy eating recommendations, the poorest 10% of UK households would need to spend 74% of their post-housing disposable income on food. The report also found that the cost of healthy eating did not factor in the calculation of benefit rates. Would the Minister urge her colleagues in government to make sure that realistic benefit rates pay for a healthy diet, even for the poorest people?
Baroness Barran (Con)
I am more than happy to share those figures on benefit rates with my noble friend sitting next to me on the Front Bench. More seriously, there are so many variables in this. I remind the House of the scale of support that this Government have given every household over 2022-23 and 2023-24: an average of over £3,300 per UK household.