Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to extend the Housing Support Fund.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
£500 million is being provided to enable the current Household Support Fund, including funding for Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means Local Authorities in England are receiving £421 million to support those in need locally.
The current Household Support Fund will be in place until 30 September 2024.
As a new government, we are reviewing all policies, including the Household Support Fund.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans for the taskforce on child poverty to make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the (a) the two-child benefit limit and (b) under-occupancy charge on levels of child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin and we will publish a Full Terms of Reference in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need. Alongside this we will be reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the (a) terms of reference for the taskforce on child poverty and (b) planned timescale for publishing the outcomes of that taskforce's work.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin and we will publish a Full Terms of Reference in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need. Alongside this we will be reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of children from single parent households that are in poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Our focus is on supporting parents into work as we know that work substantially reduces the chances of poverty. The latest available statistics show that in 2022/23, children in workless lone parent families were nearly 3 times more likely to be in absolute low income after housing costs than children in working lone parent families.
We have consistently set out a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling child poverty based on evidence about the important role of work, particularly where it is full-time. Single parents are better off in work under Universal Credit due to a simple taper system (claimants can keep more of their earnings).
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on steps to end child poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We have set out a clear approach to tackling child poverty based on evidence about the important role of work, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty.
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than those where all adults work. This is why our focus is firmly on supporting parents into and to progress in work.
We have no plans to reintroduce an approach to tackling child poverty focused primarily on income-based targets. This can drive action that focuses primarily on moving the incomes for those ‘just in poverty’ just above a somewhat arbitrary ‘poverty line’ whilst doing nothing to help those on the very lowest incomes or to improve children’s outcomes.
The Department for Work and Pensions currently works across Government to support the most vulnerable households. Ministers and officials work with their counterparts in other departments and external stakeholders to better understand the multidimensional nature of poverty. This includes a cross-government senior officials’ group on poverty.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has targets for ending child poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We have set out a clear approach to tackling child poverty based on evidence about the important role of work, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty.
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than those where all adults work. This is why our focus is firmly on supporting parents into and to progress in work.
We have no plans to reintroduce an approach to tackling child poverty focused primarily on income-based targets. This can drive action that focuses primarily on moving the incomes for those ‘just in poverty’ just above a somewhat arbitrary ‘poverty line’ whilst doing nothing to help those on the very lowest incomes or to improve children’s outcomes.
The Department for Work and Pensions currently works across Government to support the most vulnerable households. Ministers and officials work with their counterparts in other departments and external stakeholders to better understand the multidimensional nature of poverty. This includes a cross-government senior officials’ group on poverty.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of social security payments on levels of child poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10.
The Government is committed to supporting people on lower incomes and expects to spend around £306bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2024/25 including around £138bn on people of working age and children.
We estimate that in 2024/5 around 20 million families will benefit from the uprating of DWP and HMRC benefits in Great Britain. Over 11 million children in Great Britain will benefit from the uprating of DWP and HMRC benefits in 2024/5.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of levels of child poverty among (a) BAME, (b) Gypsy, Roma and Traveller and (c) disabled children.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty by disability in the UK are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication in “table 1_7c” and “table 1_7d” (respectively) of “summary-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2022-23-tables” at Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). The number of children living in absolute and relative poverty by ethnic group of head of household can be found in “table 4_1db_BHC” and “table 4_1db_AHC” at the link above. Poverty statistics for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are not available.
The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the main causes of poverty in (a) children, (b) pensioners and (c) adults.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Poverty is a complex subject and there are different ways to measure and assess it.
DWP tracks and monitors many different aspects of poverty, including our four statutory measures for children of relative income, absolute income, combined low income and material deprivation and persistent poverty that are published annually.
National statistics on the number of individuals living in absolute and relative poverty are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication at Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the benefits cap for families with children living in poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10.
Where possible, it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. Children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
To ensure the most vulnerable are supported, exemptions also apply to households who are entitled to disability benefits and/or carer benefits.