Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to better equipping social workers to support families in need, including through the provision of delegated budgets for them to provide material support to families.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 14 May (HL Deb cols 565–70), whether they will now answer the question as to whether the family test was applied to the changes in the Immigration Rules.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
During the Motion of Regret Speech on 14 May 2024, in answer to Baroness Lister’s question, I set out the evidence and advice that was taken in to account before making the decision to increase the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR).
We did not seek further advice from the Migration Advisory Committee, but we did consider its previous advice and evidence regarding net fiscal contributions and access to benefits.
We also took into account reports about the impact of the MIR on families by the Migration Observatory, the Journal of Economics, Race and Policy and the Justice and Home Affairs Committee.
For the avoidance of doubt, this means the Family Test was not applied when making the decision to increase the MIR. There is no legal obligation for the test to be applied.
A full regulatory assessment and equalities impact assessment on the changes to the Immigration Rules laid on 14 March will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information is provided to newly unemployed people about the availability of new style jobseeker's allowance (JSA); and what is their estimate of the number of newly unemployed people who are not entitled to universal credit and who have not received new style JSA despite meeting the contributory conditions.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 25 April (HL3770), how they intend to assess entitlement for contributory working age benefits and pensions, should they abolish national insurance contributions in line with their stated ambition.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Cutting NICs rates does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of international students to the UK economy.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that international students make to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector.
International tuition fee income at HE providers can be found on the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/income.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of findings from a recent IDP Connect survey which found that nearly half of prospective students surveyed were reconsidering or unsure of their plans to study in the UK following changes in policy and rules regarding international students.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy while maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030.
The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top 10, and 17 in the top 100. The UK has a highly sought after higher education (HE) experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running, with 679,970 international students studying at a UK university in 2021/22.
However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb the abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system. The department continues to work closely with the Home Office, the Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on HE providers.
HE providers are autonomous bodies, independent of government. As such, they are responsible for their own admission decisions. The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the HE admissions system is fair and works closely with HE providers and sector bodies to make sure the system works well for students.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion and number of universal credit claimants will be subject to the benefit cap following April's benefit uprating and increase in the local housing allowance; and what proportion and number will receive less than the full uprating and increase in Local Housing Allowance because of the cap.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has been made. The latest figures show that 77,000 households were capped at November 2023. Benefit cap statistics released in September 2024 will show the number of households capped at May 2024.
There are various factors that determine whether a household is exempt or brought into scope of the benefit cap.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 April (HL3589), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what is their assessment of the implications for calculating entitlement to contributory working age benefits and pensions of abolishing, rather than cutting, national insurance contributions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government already cut employee NICs by 4p, self-employed NICs by 3p and abolished the requirement to pay Class 2 for self-employed people across Autumn and Spring without increasing borrowing or cutting spending. That is the model the Government wants to follow when it is prudent to go further.
The ambition to abolish NICs is about reducing tax and rewarding work, not about reforming the contributory benefits system. It is a long-term ambition, and the Government has been clear, this cannot be done overnight and this can only be done in a fiscally responsible way.
Cutting NICs rates does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Gender Apartheid Inquiry report Shattering Women's Rights, Shattering Lives: Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Inquiry Into The Situation Of Women And Girls In Afghanistan And Iran, published by the International Bar Association on 4 March, with particular reference to the forthcoming 79th meeting of the UN General Assembly Sixth Committee in April.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO is aware of the report. There are complex legal and political questions which arise in considering any new crime of 'gender apartheid'. We are considering these questions and consulting legal advisers and subject matter experts. The situations of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran are distinct and we will consider the unique circumstances of each country when assessing the recommendations of the Inquiry.
We have repeatedly condemned Taliban and Iranian policies and actions that restrict the rights of women and girls. Officials from the UK Mission to Afghanistan regularly press Taliban acting ministers to reverse their harmful policies on women and girls. Since Iran's mass protests of 2022-23, we have sanctioned 94 individuals or entities for human rights abuses, including senior decision makers responsible for Iran's oppressive hijab law. We will continue to work with the international community to address women and girls' rights issues in Afghanistan and Iran.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 18 March (HL Deb col 82), what is their assessment of the implications for calculating entitlement to contributory working age benefits and pensions of abolishing national insurance contributions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Cutting NICs does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.