Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Markham on 11 March (HL Deb col 1802), and taking account of the latest Households Below Average Income data, which shows a 300,000 increase in the number of children living in absolute poverty in the past year, what assessment they have made of the impact on health and well-being of the two-child limit for child benefit; and what assessment they have made of the strengths and weaknesses of using the measure of absolute poverty rather than relative poverty.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.
Child Benefit continues to be paid for all children in eligible families.
Relative poverty sets a threshold as a proportion of the UK median income and moves each year as average income changes.
Typically, a household is in relative poverty if its income is less than 60 per cent of the median household income.
Absolute poverty, by our definition, is a threshold as a proportion of the UK average income in a given year (2010/11) and moves each year in line with inflation.
This government prefers to look at Absolute poverty over Relative poverty as relative poverty can provide counter-intuitive results.
Relative poverty is likely to fall during recessions, due to falling median incomes. Under this measure, poverty can decrease even if people are getting poorer.
The absolute poverty line is fixed in real terms, so will only ever worsen if people are getting poorer, and only ever improve if people are getting richer.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of households that are (a) dual fuel, (b) connected to mains gas only and (c) connected to mains electricity only.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave on 1 February to Question 11454 and 11455. These figures are published in Table 10 of the Fuel Poverty Statistics here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics#2022-Statistics
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of households that will be in fuel poverty in winter 2024-25 and ineligible for energy bill support.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Fuel poverty is devolved; the Department has responsibility for England. The next estimates of fuel poverty in Scotland will be published by the Scottish Government on 29th February.
Targeted energy bill support is in place across Great Britain through the Warm Home Discount (WHD), the Winter Fuel Payment and additionally the Winter Heating Payment in Scotland. The fuel poverty statistics for England published on 15th February provide analysis of how WHD eligibility across 2023 supported households that would have been in fuel poverty and other low-income households in Annex F. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics#2023-statistics
Correspondence
Inquiry: Delivering new benefitsFound: Action Group, who said the data was “shocking” and ‘that anything short of scrapping the two-child
Feb. 29 2024
Source Page: Scottish House Condition Survey: Methodology Notes 2022Found: • In the reporting of 20 21 data, there was an update to fuel poverty analysis to fully meet
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Fabian Society report When I'm 64: A strategy to tackle poverty before state pension age, published on 17 April, which found that the number of people aged between 60 and the state pension age living in poverty increased by 140 per cent between 2010 and 2022, how many people currently aged over 60 and not yet eligible for the state pension are living in poverty.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, 20% (0.9m) of individuals aged over 60 and not yet eligible for the state pension were living in absolute poverty after housing costs.
Statistics on the number of individuals living in absolute and relative poverty in the UK 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)(opens in a new tab). The latest available data with age breakdowns can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an estimate of the number of people living in fuel poverty in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The latest statistics for the number of households in fuel poverty in parliamentary constituencies in England, can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty Official Statistics, in Table 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics
Correspondence May. 28 2024
Committee: Social Justice and Social Security CommitteeFound: The survey captured responses from 4,203 people aged 18+ and the data was weighted to be representative
Written Evidence Apr. 25 2024
Inquiry: Devolution of employment supportFound: across the UK, as evidenced by extensive research and data 1234.
Apr. 23 2024
Source Page: Fuel poverty in the private rented sector: letter to Amanda Solloway MPFound: Fuel poverty in the private rented sector: letter to Amanda Solloway MP