Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 21 May (HL7259), when they last made an estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Pay applicable from the first day of employment, and what that estimate was.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government has not made an estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay available to the self-employed or of making Statutory Paternity Pay available from the first day of employment. This Government has committed to a review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will publish cost estimates of any policy options being taken forward following the Review.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of making statutory paternity leave and pay available to the self-employed.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government has not made an estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay available to the self-employed or of making Statutory Paternity Pay available from the first day of employment. This Government has committed to a review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will publish cost estimates of any policy options being taken forward following the Review.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of making statutory paternity pay applicable from the first day of employment.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has not made a recent estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Pay available from the first day of employment.
However, we have committed to a review of the parental leave system as a whole to ensure that it best supports all working families. Planning work is already underway.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 1 April, what assessment they have made of the number of people who moved into work as a result of previous employment programmes, and what the cost of those programmes was.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There have been many impact assessments that estimate the extra people in work as a result of previous employment programmes, and also the benefits saved to the Exchequer and Society set against the costs of the programmes. Some recent evaluations cover the: Work Programme, European Support Fund, Work Choice, Job Entry Targeted Support, Job Finding Support and Kickstart programmes. I am depositing these impact documents in the Libraries of the House. See links to these reports below.
The Work Programme: impact assessment - GOV.UK
Impact evaluation of the European Social Fund 2014-2020 programme in England - GOV.UK
Work Choice impact evaluation - GOV.UK
JETS (Job Entry Targeted Support) Impact Evaluation - GOV.UK
Job Finding Support programme: A Quantitative Impact Assessment - GOV.UK
Kickstart Scheme: A Quantitative Impact Assessment - GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how many of the additional 250,000 people moved into relative poverty by welfare changes will be in work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s impact assessment regarding Health and Disability reform is available at: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts
This assessment does not include the impact of the £1 billion a year, by 2029/30, funding for measures to support those with disabilities and long-term health conditions into employment, which we expect to mitigate the poverty impact among people it supports into work. It is not possible, therefore, to assess how many more working people will be in relative poverty in 2029/30 as a result of these changes.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people they expect to move into employment as a result of the £1 billion employment package announced on 18 March.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP published an impact assessment which explained how employment interventions can have a significant and enduring impacts on peoples’ employment prospects and showed the substantial savings associated with supporting disabled people into work. For every 10,000 additional people in full time work, there would be fiscal savings of around £180m per year, with societal savings around £280m per year, (£80m and £150m respectively if in part-time work.
The Department has extensive evidence on what works, which includes the evaluation of Work Choice, a specialist employment programme for disabled people and those with health conditions, that showed people receiving tailored support were 40% more likely to be in work eight years later. We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 25 March (HL5735), in what way they plan to broaden the National Wealth Fund's legislative remit beyond infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will introduce legislation when Parliamentary time allows to broaden the National Wealth Fund’s (NWF) legislative mandate beyond infrastructure to enable it to better support the Government’s growth and clean energy missions.
At that point, and subject to Parliamentary consent, the NWF will focus on enabling investment in capital intensive projects, businesses, or assets. For example, the NWF will have the scope to invest in a broader range of supply chains and critical sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence and quantum, where access to finance gaps exist.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what responses they received to questions on transparency and large employers publishing their family-related leave and pay policies following their consultation on the ‘Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families’; and how have they responded to the outcomes of the consultation regarding these questions.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The consultation on publication of parental leave and pay policies was undertaken by the previous government.
This government is committed to supporting working families. The Employment Rights Bill will make the right to request flexible working the default, make Paternity and Parental Leave Day one rights, and will require large employers to produce equality action plans, amongst other measures.
As a result, we do not believe that requiring businesses to publish their family-related leave and pay policies is necessary at this time.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to change the remit of the National Wealth Fund.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will introduce legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows to broaden the National Wealth Fund’s legislative remit beyond infrastructure.
The Government published the National Wealth Fund’s new Statement of Strategic Priorities on 19 March. It directs the National Wealth Fund to prioritise investment into the clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and transport sectors. It can already invest in infrastructure projects in these areas.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the remit of the National Wealth Fund to include defence investment.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published the National Wealth Fund’s new Statement of Strategic Priorities on 19 March. It directs the National Wealth Fund to consider the role it can play in delivery of the wider Industrial Strategy, including in the defence sector.
The National Wealth Fund will also consider investments in dual-use technologies across its priority sectors of clean energy, digital and technologies, advanced manufacturing and transport, to better support the UK’s defence and security.
The National Wealth Fund retains the flexibility to invest where financing gaps emerge to ensure it can respond swiftly to emerging Government priorities.