Lord Bishop of Newcastle

I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 6 January 2025 to Question HL3616.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity and we want to rebalance opportunities towards young people, who have the most to gain from apprenticeships.

From April 2025, the Apprentice Minimum Wage will increase by 18% from £6.40 to £7.55. This welcome increase will boost the hourly wage for thousands of young apprentices across a range of sectors, and those in their first year of an apprenticeship. We also know that many employers pay their apprentices more than the minimum. Latest data shows that the median gross hourly pay for apprentices in 2023 was £11.63 an hour.

The department continues to provide employers and providers with additional funding to support more apprenticeship opportunities for young people. The department provides £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and up to age 24 for apprentices with an education, health and care plan, or who have been in local authority care. These payments can be used to support costs such as work equipment, uniforms or travel.

Apprentices aged under 25 who have been in local authority care may be eligible for a £3,000 bursary, as well as wages from their employer. The bursary is not subject to tax and is not treated as income for benefits purposes.

Apprentices may also be eligible for local discounted travel schemes. For example, apprentices over 18, living in a London borough and in the first year of an apprenticeship, can get discounted travel with an Oyster photocard.

The government is driving an agenda of change through working across local and national government to break down the barriers of opportunity and reduce child poverty.

Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. That is why the government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new Ministerial taskforce has been set up to begin work on a Child Poverty Strategy, co-chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

To set children up for the day and ensure they are ready to learn, while also supporting parents and carers to work, the government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school.

Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18 year old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils are registered to receive free school meals (FSM) and a further 90,000 are registered to receive further education free meals. In addition, all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals, which benefits around 1.3 million pupils. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to FSM under review.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has started urgent work to develop the Child Poverty Strategy, setting out the plan to reduce child poverty and deal with impacts that poverty has on children’s lives.

The Taskforce held its second meeting on 19 September and heard from local leaders, including the North East Mayor, about the challenges faced in different communities and how the Taskforce can best work with mayors, local authorities and other bodies to develop innovative solutions to tackle child poverty. This marked the first of a series of thematic sessions with key organisations, charities and experts on specific topics that will help to shape the government’s ambitious Strategy.

The government also recognises the importance of capturing the experiences of those living in poverty, which is why the Taskforce will also draw on findings from wider external engagement events in all regions and nations of the UK. These events will convene a broader range of voices, including front line staff and the perspectives of families and children themselves.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has started urgent work to develop the Child Poverty Strategy, setting out the plan to reduce child poverty and deal with impacts that poverty has on children’s lives.

The Taskforce held its second meeting on 19 September and heard from local leaders, including the North East Mayor, about the challenges faced in different communities and how the Taskforce can best work with mayors, local authorities and other bodies to develop innovative solutions to tackle child poverty. This marked the first of a series of thematic sessions with key organisations, charities and experts on specific topics that will help to shape the government’s ambitious Strategy.

The government also recognises the importance of capturing the experiences of those living in poverty, which is why the Taskforce will also draw on findings from wider external engagement events in all regions and nations of the UK. These events will convene a broader range of voices, including front line staff and the perspectives of families and children themselves.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) supports DCMS in their work to tackle Loneliness and social isolation through Jobcentres, who carry out an important role in identifying people at risk of loneliness, directing people to tailored support such as social prescribing, volunteering opportunities, befriending schemes and other local community opportunities and helping them to return to, or prepare to return to the labour market.

More specifically, the Jobcentre network promote local opportunities relevant to those at risk of Loneliness such as the Warm Welcome Spaces in the community.

The government’s current work to tackle loneliness includes the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, a grant fund designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.

Jobcentres carry out an important role in identifying people at risk of loneliness by directing people to tailored support such as social prescribing, volunteering opportunities, befriending schemes and other local community opportunities and helping them to return to or prepare to return to the labour market. Good work is also a key element in our approach to tackle poverty and reduce mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

No assessment has been made of the financial impact of the 5-week-wait. The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.

The Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of its design.

When customers are paid Universal Credit is determined by the date of entitlement. The first payment is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made. The first calendar month is the initial assessment period. At the end of that period, entitlement for that month is calculated and paid 7 days later. Payments thereafter are made monthly in arrears.

It is not possible to award a Universal Credit payment as soon as a claim is made as the assessment period must run its course before the award of Universal Credit can be calculated.

If new customers need support before their first payment is made, all new customers can request an advance of their entitlement to support them. New Claims Advances of up to 100% of potential UC entitlement are available urgently if a customer needs support during their first assessment period and budgeting support is available for anyone who needs extra help.

In 2023, there were 8,274 alcohol-specific deaths, namely deaths wholly due to alcohol, in England, which was an increase of 63.8% from 5,050 deaths in 2006 and a 4.6% increase since 2022. Most of these deaths are caused by alcohol-related liver disease. The North East of England has consistently seen the highest rate of alcohol deaths over the previous decade. Through our mission-driven Government, we will prioritise actions targeted at reversing this trend.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. Considering the recent data, this plan is being revised to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths and responding to these. Last year the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths to prevent future deaths. Additionally, OHID has published Commissioning Quality Standard: alcohol and drug services, providing guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services. This is available on GOV.UK in an online-only format.

In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department of Health and Social Care allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.

The Department of Health and Social Care will soon publish the clinical guidelines for the United Kingdom on alcohol treatment which will include recommendations on arranging access for appropriate testing for liver disease, providing health assessments and facilitating access to appropriate treatment for people with co-occurring alcohol problems and physical or mental health conditions, health promotion and harm reduction interventions. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug and alcohol related deaths, and to drive improvements in continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess local need and plan to meet it.

In 2024/25, North East local authorities (LA) received £25.5 million to improve drug and alcohol treatment, recovery and inpatient detox provision. OHID is supporting LAs to use this funding to develop and improve services, including for people living with alcohol issues. All North East LAs have targets to increase the number of people receiving support for alcohol dependency from community treatment and access is increasing. The North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care System is collaborating to improve health and reduce health inequalities, including those associated with alcohol harm. A regional action plan, co-produced with all 12 Las, is in place and includes activity to strengthen alcohol harm prevention, harm reduction and recovery support.

The Government is committed to addressing current high levels of rough sleeping and deliver long term solutions. We will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.

As announced by the Chancellor on 29 July, spending plans for 2025-26 will be set alongside the Budget on 30th October. Following departmental review and processes, funding allocations for rough sleeping services will be announced via gov.uk.

The Government is committed to addressing current high levels of rough sleeping and deliver long term solutions. We will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.

As announced by the Chancellor on 29 July, spending plans for 2025-26 will be set alongside the Budget on 30th October. Following departmental review and processes, funding allocations for rough sleeping services will be announced via gov.uk.