Housing Benefits (18 to 21-year-olds)
Debate between Caroline Nokes and Lisa Nandy(7 years, 9 months ago)
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Caroline Nokes
The anticipation is that the policy will save in the region of £105 million over the period of this Parliament. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that victims of domestic violence are exempt from the policy. We recognise the impact on young women who have been victims of domestic violence and the importance of supporting them.
Lisa Nandy (Wigan) (Lab)
The young people the Minister describes bear no resemblance to the young people I used to work with at the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint, many of whom had experienced horrendous physical, mental and emotional abuse, which meant that they understandably no longer had a relationship with their families. How does she expect those young people to prove that they cannot return home? They cannot simply pick up the phone to their parents, and they should not be forced to recount to a stranger again and again the stories of what had happened to them. What will the Minister do to make sure that young people are not subjected to reliving the horrendous abuse that they have already suffered?
Caroline Nokes
Those who have reported abuse to a stakeholder or a trusted professional will be exempt from the policy. It is our intention to ensure that we establish a long list of stakeholders who can take on that reporting. It should, of course, be the case that they should only have to report it once.
Sixth-Form Colleges (VAT)
Debate between Caroline Nokes and Lisa Nandy(10 years, 11 months ago)
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Lisa Nandy
Absolutely. I pay tribute to the work done by my hon. Friend and many of the other Members present. The fact that there are so many Members here for such a short debate should tell the Minister that there is huge strength of feeling throughout the House on this issue.
All of this would make more sense if the sector were failing, but taken as a whole, sixth-form colleges are not only lean and efficient institutions, according to the National Audit Office; they are also among the best existing provision for 16 to 19-year-olds. Some 80% of them are rated as good or better, and they consistently rate higher than other types of provision in terms of added value. I know that St John Rigby college in my constituency does tremendous work with young people from deprived backgrounds and outdoes almost every other type of provision in getting those young people to university.
Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)
I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. Does she agree that 16 to 19 provision in further education colleges—outside a school setting—can sometimes provide the impetus that 16-year-olds who might not have done well at school need to enable them to achieve their GCSEs and then go on to A-levels?
Lisa Nandy
The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I am grateful to her for raising that issue. The culture in sixth-form colleges is enormously beneficial to such young people, and the staff are obviously passionate and determined to ensure that those young people reach their potential.
In conclusion, Ministers have accepted that this situation is unfair, so will the Minister who is here in Westminster Hall today take steps to create a level playing field for sixth-form colleges?