Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many households with children are currently receiving Universal Credit as well as legacy benefits; and what proportion of those cannot fully benefit from the recent £1,000 increase in Universal Credit as that increase pushed them over the limit of the total amount of benefit they are allowed to receive.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested is not readily available and to provide a reply would require us to produce new analysis to link together several complex datasets, including Child Benefit data which is administered by HMRC, to identify if a household would have a benefit income above the cap levels due to increases in their UC award alone (independent of increases to Local Housing Allowance and CPI uprating of working age benefits). We would also need to identify if the household would otherwise be exempt from the benefit cap. This includes assessing whether or not a household has earnings over the earnings threshold, currently £604 per assessment period, is in receipt of an exempting benefit e.g. Personal Independence Payments, Carer’s Allowance etc. or is eligible for a grace period due to previous earnings. It is estimated that the time this would take to produce and quality assure the results would be in excess of 4 working days and therefore would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for charities and community groups to buy food instead of having it donated in the event of problems in the food supply chain if no Brexit deal is reached.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
As a responsible government, we are preparing for all eventualities including that of leaving the European Union without a deal. Extensive work to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario has been under way for the last two years to ensure the country continues to operate as smoothly as possible from the day we leave.
It is sensible contingency planning for the Government to ensure providers for critical public services are prepared and ready for a no deal. Lead departments for specific public sector catering (e.g. DHSC for hospital trusts, DfE for schools and MoJ for prisons) have been talking to key food suppliers to those public services to ensure resilient supply chains. Defra is also working closely with MHCLG to ensure local authorities are involved as part of wider EU Exit no deal planning.
We are committed to providing a strong safety-net for those who need it; that is why this Government continues to spend over £90 billion a year on welfare benefits.
We are exploring how we can build on current good practice to make it as easy as possible for food banks to identify and refer back to the local Jobcentre, any customers who may, for a variety of reasons, not be receiving the full formal support to which they are entitled.
In addition the Government has made £15m available in 2019 for a food waste fund to make sure that surplus food goes to those that have a need rather than going to waste.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have made to ensure that public sector institutions including (1) schools, (2) hospitals, and (3) care homes, are protected from the ten per cent rise in food prices expected by the Governor of the Bank of England in the event of a no-deal exit from the EU.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
As a responsible government, we are preparing for all eventualities including that of leaving the European Union without a deal. Extensive work to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario has been under way for the last two years to ensure the country continues to operate as smoothly as possible from the day we leave.
It is sensible contingency planning for the Government to ensure providers for critical public services are prepared and ready for a no deal. Lead departments for specific public sector catering (e.g. DHSC for hospital trusts, DfE for schools and MoJ for prisons) have been talking to key food suppliers to those public services to ensure resilient supply chains. Defra is also working closely with MHCLG to ensure local authorities are involved as part of wider planning in case of a no deal scenario. Departments are confident that the supply of quality, nutritious meals in public sector settings will be maintained, in all scenarios.
Regarding food prices, we have observed that the most important drivers of change in the cost of food on an ongoing basis are commodity prices, exchange rates and oil prices. This will continue to be the case once the UK has left the EU. The UK Government has no direct control of these factors; we work closely with industry to promote transparency for consumers and internationally to promote open global markets.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £2 billion in funding to prepare for Brexit, provided to 25 departments by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 18 December 2018, has been allocated to departments responsible for the provision of food in (1) schools, (2) hospitals and (3) care homes.
Answered by Lord Bates
HM Treasury has allocated over £2bn of additional funding for 19/20. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, laid on the 18th December.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the publication on 26 February of the report Implications for Business and Trade of a No Deal Exit on 29 March 2019, what plans they have to mitigate the impact of a 6.3 to 9 per cent shrinking of the UK economy on pupils’ health and wellbeing; and what assessment they have made of a temporary increase in eligibility for free school meal provision to all children from families receiving (1) Universal Credit, and (2) other benefits.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the government’s top priority. Our eligibility criteria for free school meals (FSM) support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by providing a free and healthy school meal each day. This is an important benefit for disadvantaged children. We have no plans to change these criteria, including under a no-deal scenario for exiting the European Union, and have made no assessment of any potential impact on the number of children eligible for FSM in a no-deal scenario.
We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. All local authorities have access to the Eligibility Checking System, which significantly reduces the time otherwise taken to check eligibility. We have also shared a model registration form and guidance, which schools can use as part of their enrolment process. In addition, we provide guidance to work coaches so that they can make Universal Credit recipients and those on income-related legacy benefits aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Education on 19 February (HC219512), whether they plan to seek to increase the number of eligible pupils who claim free school meals; and what assessment they have made of a no-deal Brexit on the number of children eligible for those meals.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the government’s top priority. Our eligibility criteria for free school meals (FSM) support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by providing a free and healthy school meal each day. This is an important benefit for disadvantaged children. We have no plans to change these criteria, including under a no-deal scenario for exiting the European Union, and have made no assessment of any potential impact on the number of children eligible for FSM in a no-deal scenario.
We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. All local authorities have access to the Eligibility Checking System, which significantly reduces the time otherwise taken to check eligibility. We have also shared a model registration form and guidance, which schools can use as part of their enrolment process. In addition, we provide guidance to work coaches so that they can make Universal Credit recipients and those on income-related legacy benefits aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to adopt and implement the Mayor of London’s junk food advertising ban across Transport for London elsewhere in England.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
We will shortly be launching a consultation on further advertising restrictions which will consider a range of options aimed at reducing children’s exposure to advertising of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products. We will consider all responses to the consultation.
We are also delivering a trailblazer programme working with local authorities to address childhood obesity. The programme will help us to learn and share what works at local level and explore the barriers to tackling childhood obesity locally and the limits of existing powers. For some local authorities, applying further restrictions on HFSS advertising to children locally is a priority.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to enforce standards of health and hygiene on online takeaway delivery companies.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Local authorities in the United Kingdom are responsible for undertaking inspections and other interventions to check that food businesses are complying with food law requirements and for enforcing these where this is not the case.
As for other food businesses, those selling or supplying food they produce via online sales platforms and those businesses delivering food ordered via the internet have a legal responsibility to register with their local authority. The business is then included in the authority’s planned programme of risk-based inspections and interventions and enforcement action will be taken as appropriate where legal requirements are not being met.
How food is sold or supplied over the internet has become increasingly diverse and complex and this poses challenges in relation to determining if an enterprise meets the legal definition of a food business and what its responsibilities are. The Food Standards Agency has recognised this and is committed to providing guidance for local authorities and for internet businesses so that public health and consumer protection are maintained.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of registered nurses in England who have Type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The information requested is not centrally held.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average cost of food per prisoner, per day, in prisons in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) allocates food budgets to prisons based on £2.02 per prisoner per day, which covers the daily prisoner food and beverage requirements.
With increased responsibilities to Governors since April 2017, and devolved budgets to prisons, what is spent on food per prisoner per day and the breakdown per meals is ultimately a decision for each Governor and their catering team, and therefore individual prison food budgets may vary.
The food budget for prisoners within privately managed prisons is agreed in the contract between the provider and the Ministry of Justice, the details of which are commercially sensitive. This is reviewed regularly.