"Before the Minister sits down, could I confirm what I think I heard, that the amendments to the borders and immigration Bill will cover the use of substitute workers and substitute clauses with the extension of right-to-work checks?..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, given the hour, I will be incredibly brief. My noble friend and I do not always find common cause—even though we are on the same Benches—but this is an extremely sensible amendment, and my noble friend has explained the extent to which she has shaped it in accordance …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, today’s growth figures make tax rises in the autumn all the more likely, but one rise that we do not have to wait for is the 5% increase to council tax each year planned for in this spending review. The Minister will know that council tax is a …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, when your Lordships’ House debated the original changes to the winter fuel payment, it was suggested that we should not means-test the winter fuel payment but tax it instead. The noble Baroness the Minister rejected that option, saying that it failed on two fronts: it did not meet …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, this has been an excellent debate so far, based on an excellent report. That is unsurprising, since it has taken place under the expert chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Patel. I will focus my remarks on the support that we give to parents who have had preterm …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister talked about the research that the Government are doing on the impact of phones on children. The research is overwhelming on the impact of screen use on early years development for children, but there appears to be no specific guidance to help parents navigate that. What …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 127, 128 and 139 in my name. Before doing so, I would like to add my support to all the amendments in this group, in particular Amendment 76 of the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, to which I have also added my name.
"The Minister said that this brings paternity leave in line with maternity leave, but for maternity leave, the right to pay is also a day-one right. Does he acknowledge that the Bill does not create alignment between maternity and paternity?..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"Will the noble Lord clarify whether he just said that there are no day-one rights to parental pay, including for maternity?..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"Does the noble Lord acknowledge that, in linking the payments to CPI, what is actually happening is that we are seeing a bigger gap between statutory payments and people’s salaries, as the national minimum wage is increasing by a greater degree? The process that the noble Lord has laid out …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech