Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, The inequality of poverty, what steps they are taking to address the higher incidence of deficit household budgets among adults of ethnic minorities compared to white adults.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling poverty and supporting people into good work will be the foundation of our approach. We are committed to creating a more equal society and supporting economic growth. Talent is widely distributed, and opportunity is not. We are tackling this through our Growth and Opportunity Missions and our £240 million Get Britan Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out details of reforms to employment support to create an inclusive labour market in which everybody, regardless of their background, can participate and progress in work. Further measures addressing inequality are included within the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and the Employment Rights Bill.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Tackling poverty means helping those that need help most and these are often those with protected characteristics. In developing individual policies that contribute to the Strategy, departments do have regard to equalities impacts.
Our plan to Make Work Pay, including increases to the National Living Wage benefiting over three million workers, will help more people stay in work, make work more secure and family-friendly, and put more money in working people's pockets. Women, younger and older workers, workers with a disability, and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are expected to benefit the most from the April 2025 increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
The Fair Repayment Rate will mean more than a million households retain more of their award to meet essential living costs. We will also improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase, announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
To further support struggling households, we have provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, Child poverty in the UK, what action they are taking to support parents and carers experiencing financial distress.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling poverty and supporting people into good work will be the foundation of our approach. We are committed to creating a more equal society and supporting economic growth. Talent is widely distributed, and opportunity is not. We are tackling this through our Growth and Opportunity Missions and our £240 million Get Britan Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out details of reforms to employment support to create an inclusive labour market in which everybody, regardless of their background, can participate and progress in work. Further measures addressing inequality are included within the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and the Employment Rights Bill.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Tackling poverty means helping those that need help most and these are often those with protected characteristics. In developing individual policies that contribute to the Strategy, departments do have regard to equalities impacts.
Our plan to Make Work Pay, including increases to the National Living Wage benefiting over three million workers, will help more people stay in work, make work more secure and family-friendly, and put more money in working people's pockets. Women, younger and older workers, workers with a disability, and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are expected to benefit the most from the April 2025 increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
The Fair Repayment Rate will mean more than a million households retain more of their award to meet essential living costs. We will also improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase, announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
To further support struggling households, we have provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, Employment and financial difficulty, what steps they are taking to address the impact of rising costs of essentials on working households.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling poverty and supporting people into good work will be the foundation of our approach. We are committed to creating a more equal society and supporting economic growth. Talent is widely distributed, and opportunity is not. We are tackling this through our Growth and Opportunity Missions and our £240 million Get Britan Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out details of reforms to employment support to create an inclusive labour market in which everybody, regardless of their background, can participate and progress in work. Further measures addressing inequality are included within the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and the Employment Rights Bill.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Tackling poverty means helping those that need help most and these are often those with protected characteristics. In developing individual policies that contribute to the Strategy, departments do have regard to equalities impacts.
Our plan to Make Work Pay, including increases to the National Living Wage benefiting over three million workers, will help more people stay in work, make work more secure and family-friendly, and put more money in working people's pockets. Women, younger and older workers, workers with a disability, and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are expected to benefit the most from the April 2025 increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
The Fair Repayment Rate will mean more than a million households retain more of their award to meet essential living costs. We will also improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase, announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
To further support struggling households, we have provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to fund research to establish safe microplastic exposure thresholds and identify key interventions to improve neglected areas, including soil and air quality.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency carried out research to understand if there are potential health risks from exposure to micro and nano plastics through inhalational and oral routes. This was part of the National Institute of Health and Care Research funded Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Exposures and Health.
In addition, the potential impact of microplastic materials on human health has been assessed by the UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. The most recent statement was published in 2024, a copy of which is attached.
Under the 2022/23 UK REACH Work Programme, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs initiated a research proposal to investigate the risks of intentionally added microplastics. The evidence project has reviewed their emissions and the risks they pose both to human health and the environment. The project also included a socio-economic assessment. This project is expected to report in early 2025. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Welsh and Scottish Governments will consider its findings once complete.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to tackle rural homelessness.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Homelessness levels are far too high. The Government is taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness, including rural homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services has increased by £233 million this year, taking total spend to nearly £1 billion.
The Government is also developing a new cross-Government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness, including rural homelessness.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, Employment and financial difficulty, what assessment they have made of the levels of problem debt among full-time workers, and what measures they are taking to support full-time workers who are in financial difficulty.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government regularly engages with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor personal finances and debt levels. The Money and Pensions Service conducts an annual survey of people in financial difficulty. The results of their latest survey were published on 29 February 2024.
To support those in debt to manage their finances, the Government funds national and community-based debt advice services, through the Money and Pensions Service, for hundreds of thousands of individuals and families in need across England. The Government also provides funding for debt advice in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. As debt advice is a devolved matter, responsibility for delivering these services rests with those devolved governments.
Funding levels for both the Money and Pensions Service and the devolved governments are regularly reviewed to reflect demand, inflation, and evolving needs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, In-person debt advice, what plans they have to address the scale of problem debt.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government regularly engages with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor personal finances and debt levels. The Money and Pensions Service conducts an annual survey of people in financial difficulty. The results of their latest survey were published on 29 February 2024.
To support those in debt to manage their finances, the Government funds national and community-based debt advice services, through the Money and Pensions Service, for hundreds of thousands of individuals and families in need across England. The Government also provides funding for debt advice in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. As debt advice is a devolved matter, responsibility for delivering these services rests with those devolved governments.
Funding levels for both the Money and Pensions Service and the devolved governments are regularly reviewed to reflect demand, inflation, and evolving needs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address (1) the under-representation of women in health data, and (2) the lack of female-only UK clinical trials.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to ensuring that women are represented across all forms of health data, including National Health Service patient data and data that is used for research. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and recognises that increasing the diversity of people taking part in research is key to ensuring the evidence and data generated by research is relevant for the whole population.
On 10 March 2025, the NIHR launched its sex and gender policy, which is expected to come into force later in 2025. A document containing the NIHR’s sex and gender policy is attached. This outlines an NIHR statement of intent on integrating sex and gender into health and care research. Implementing such a policy will ensure research accounts for sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, thus facilitating funding into topics that impact males and females and, crucially, a greater understanding of how males and females might be impacted differently by the same health condition.
The Department and NHS England fund the Research Engagement Network Development Programme, which aims to increase diversity in research participation through the development of research engagement networks with communities who are often underserved by research, and by ensuring diversity in research is considered by integrated care systems.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, In-person debt advice, what steps they are taking to expand access to and fund free debt advice services authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government regularly engages with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor personal finances and debt levels. The Money and Pensions Service conducts an annual survey of people in financial difficulty. The results of their latest survey were published on 29 February 2024.
To support those in debt to manage their finances, the Government funds national and community-based debt advice services, through the Money and Pensions Service, for hundreds of thousands of individuals and families in need across England. The Government also provides funding for debt advice in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. As debt advice is a devolved matter, responsibility for delivering these services rests with those devolved governments.
Funding levels for both the Money and Pensions Service and the devolved governments are regularly reviewed to reflect demand, inflation, and evolving needs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have a tri-service policy that sets out the process to be followed in the event that a serving soldier develops a gambling addiction.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Further to the answer I gave the Noble Lord Bishop on 15 April 2025 to Question HL6578, there is currently a comprehensive Gambling clinical pathway in the Defence Medical Services that assesses and supports Service personnel who come forward with a gambling issue.