Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of issuing a commencement order for curfews for non-compliant parents refusing to pay child maintenance.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service already has a suite of strong enforcement powers at its disposal. These include using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving licence or UK passport, deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts or even commitment to prison.

The Department has explored how curfews could be implemented as an additional enforcement measure to improve compliance. Several enforcement initiatives aimed at improving compliance are currently in train. These initiatives need to be implemented and their effects assessed before we can best see how curfews might fit with them.

The Department plans to enhance effectiveness in collecting arrears payments by delivering changes via regulations, thereby streamlining the enforcement process. This will remove the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order and instead allow the Secretary of State to issue an administrative liability order. The introduction of this simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those Paying Parents who actively avoid their responsibilities.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Autumn Budget 2024 on trends in the level of household income.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq

UK living standards, as measured by Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) per capita, have not grown at the pace many would have hoped for over recent years. If RHDI per capita had grown at the same rate between 2010 and 2023 as it did between 1997 and 2010, people’s incomes would have been over £4,000 higher in 2023.

The 2019-2024 parliament was the worst for living standards growth since ONS records began in the 1950s, with average annual growth of just 0.2%.

In their October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR forecast living standards to grow by an annual average of 0.5% over this parliament. This is more than double the pace of living standards growth observed in the 2019-2024 parliament.

GDP per capita, an alternative measure of living standards that captures higher spending on public services, is set to grow even faster, at an annual average of 1.1% over this parliament. This compares to a 0.1% annual average decline in GDP per capita over the 2019-2024 parliament.

Through the growth mission, the government is restoring stability, increasing investment, and reforming the economy to drive up prosperity and living standards across the UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Autumn Budget 2024 on the number of people living in poverty by household type.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to tackling poverty. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health, and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. We are taking the first steps to tackle poverty through our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers. Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit and we will set out the details in due course.

HM Treasury have published distributional analysis showing the estimated impact of tax, welfare and public service spending decisions on household incomes, across the household income distribution. This can be found here Impact_on_households.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Autumn Budget 2024 on trends in the number of people living in poverty.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to tackling poverty. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health, and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. We are taking the first steps to tackle poverty through our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers. Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit and we will set out the details in due course.

HM Treasury have published distributional analysis showing the estimated impact of tax, welfare and public service spending decisions on household incomes, across the household income distribution. This can be found here Impact_on_households.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on Hezbollah’s non-compliance with UN Resolution 1701.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The announcement of a ceasefire agreement to end hostilities between Israel and Lebanese Hizballah offers hope. The UK was the first G7 country to call for an immediate ceasefire in September and we have worked relentlessly since, with our allies and partners, to apply pressure to end this conflict. We strongly urge all parties to use this agreement to open a pathway to a lasting peace. A long-term political settlement, consistent with UN Security Council resolution 1701, is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people. The UK will continue to support the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon's (UNIFIL) essential role in maintaining peace along the Blue Line and the Lebanese Armed Forces, as the only legitimate military force in Lebanon.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have spoken to counterparts from Israel, Lebanon and the US in recent weeks. Any deliberate attack against UNIFIL contravenes International Humanitarian Law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701. UNIFIL plays an essential role in Southern Lebanon and all parties must ensure freedom of movement for UNIFIL personnel.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions is currently conducting an evaluation of the Household Support Fund that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published in due course.

Management information on the Household Support Fund from April 2023 to March 2024, including details of how funding was spent is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-4-management-information-for-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to publish a consultation on fit note reform.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The call for evidence was launched under the previous government to seek views on how the current fit note process works and the support required to facilitate meaningful work and health conversations. It closed on the 8 July 2024 and received around 1,900 responses. We are still in the process of thoroughly analysing the responses received. These responses will play a crucial role in shaping our ongoing policy development.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her planned timetable is for responding to her Department's consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer of payments, published on 8 May 2024.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

A consultation on proposed reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. These proposed reforms included removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster, as well as exploring how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. This consultation followed the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act which received royal assent in July 2023.

The consultation was extended by this Government at the end of July and ran until 30 September 2024. We are analysing the responses we have received, and the Government will publish a response in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the terms of reference will be for her Department's review of universal credit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to and meeting our objectives of making work pay and tackling poverty. We have already begun this work with the introduction of the new fair repayment rate announced in the Budget. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders as the review progresses to seek views on proposed areas of focus and untapped opportunities in UC. Parliament will be updated on progress and future changes accordingly.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department (a) made and (b) has since made an assessment of the potential impact of Autumn Budget 2024 on trends in the level of income inequality.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

HM Treasury have published distributional analysis showing the estimated impact of tax, welfare and public service spending decisions on household incomes, across the household income distribution. This can be found here Impact_on_households.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Question

To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, how much (a) the Church Commissioners distributed to and (b) was certificated by the Archbishops’ Council under section 2(6) of the National Institutions Measure 1998 in each year since 1998; and how much was granted by the Church Commissioners pursuant to section 1 of the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2018 to the Archbishops’ Council in each year since 2018.

Answered by Marsha De Cordova

The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Found: Presented by Sir Edward Leigh supported by Rachael Maskell , Sir John Hayes , Danny Kruger , Sir