Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what discussions the Home Office have had with the Department for Education about the guidance to local authorities on statutory duties under section 17 of the Children Act 1989; and what steps they have taken to ensure that safeguarding and the best interests of children are considered in that guidance.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 establishes the general duty of local authorities in England to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need and, so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families.
I can confirm that the Home Office is working with the Department for Education alongside other government departments and the NRPF network to produce guidance to assist local authorities in their duties to those with No Recourse to Public Funds as part of the Child Poverty Strategy.
The duty Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 duty does not apply to the Home Office. Instead, Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a duty on the Home Office to make arrangements for ensuring that immigration, asylum, nationality and general customs functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK.
The statutory guidance, called ‘Every Child Matters’, issued under Section 55 (3), sets out the key arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as they apply both generally to public bodies who deal with children in the UK (Part 1) and specifically to the Home Office (Part 2).
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what steps they are taking to ensure that the measures to support newborn babies, including voucher schemes, are accessible to families seeking asylum who use an Aspen debit card.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
In addition to the standard weekly allowance, additional financial support is available during pregnancy and for families with babies and young children, including higher weekly payments and a one-off maternity payment to help meet the costs of caring for a newborn baby. These payments are accessible through the Aspen card.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Ofsted-registered early years providers have ceased operating in England in each of the past three calendar years, broken down by region and local authority; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the funding framework for 30 hours of free childcare on those closures.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, the department expects to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled-out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. The department does not hold data on waiting lists. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places.
For Ofsted data on Ofsted-registered early years providers who have left the Early Years Register, by region and local authority, please see attached table. The data shows that there has been a slow-down in providers leaving the market.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average amount of extra charges paid by parents who claim 30 hours of free childcare; and what steps they are taking to enforce guidance that prevents providers from making mandatory charges a condition of accessing free hours of childcare.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
As part of the childcare experience survey and the childcare and early years survey of parents, parents who claim 30 hours childcare are asked to indicate any additional charges they pay to their provider. The survey does not ask whether paying the fixed charges is conditional for taking up a place.
The department has recently updated statutory guidance for local authorities. This guidance reinforces that there must be no mandatory charges. The statutory guidance is clear that there must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. We explain in the statutory guidance that while providers can charge for consumables, food and optional extra activities, as well as additional hours beyond the entitlements, that these must be voluntary for the parent. We furthermore provide a non-exhaustive list of items and services that providers cannot charge for.
Local authorities are empowered to ensure that providers follow this guidance through their provider agreements. How that will be enforced is a matter for the local authority to decide.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the outcome of the consultation of the extension of Healthy Start to children from families with no recourse to public funds; and whether they have set a timeline for making that extension a statutory scheme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. The Department is currently considering options on this issue, and further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they gave to including targets for building permanent affordable social housing in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Child Poverty Strategy was developed in collaboration with the National Plan to End Homelessness because the government is focussing on delivering long-term solutions across both agendas. The National Plan to End Homelessness includes our action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including a generational increase in new social and affordable homes. We are delivering a new 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme backed by a £39 billion investment, which aims to build 300,000 social and affordable homes over the programme’s lifetime.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce an auto-enrolment system for all children eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We want to make sure that every family that needs support can access it.
The government is introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals so that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026. This will make it easier for parents to know whether their children are entitled to receive free meals. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty and putting £500 per child back in families’ pockets.
We are also rolling out improvements to the Eligibility Checking System, the digital portal currently used by local authorities to verify if a child meets the eligibility criteria for free lunches. Giving parents and schools access will accelerate eligibility checks, making it easier to check if children are eligible for free meals.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what steps they are taking to ensure that the target to end the discharge of newborn babies into bed and breakfast accommodation or other unsuitable shared housing applies to all families, including those seeking asylum and those subject to no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into bed and breakfast or other unsuitable shared accommodation through the Child Poverty Strategy, which has now been published. We are working closely across the Government, including with the Home Office, to consider its implementation and any other associated impacts.
Asylum seeking families can access some of the support set out in the Child Poverty Strategy, including Best Start Family Hubs in England.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what steps they will take to prevent (1) families from being placed in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks, and (2) new-born babies from being placed in bed and breakfast accommodation immediately after leaving hospital.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the National Plan to End Homelessness, this government is committed to tackling the detrimental impact of living in temporary accommodation on a child’s health, wellbeing and education outcomes. We will work with councils, supported by robust NHS pathways, to make sure safe and appropriate alternatives are available and used for newborn babies. We are also setting an ambition to cut school days lost for children in temporary accommodation, backed by data so that targeted support can be provided more effectively.
Legislation is clear B&B accommodation is never suitable for families with children. There may be instances when B&B accommodation may be the only immediate option, for example emergency placements made out of hours, however such placements should be rare and there is a six-week limit to family B&B placements.
To deliver upon our target to end the use of B&B accommodation for families over the legal six-week limit by the end of this Parliament, we will scale up our Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots into a programme with £30 million funding to tackle a wider range of poor practice. We also increasing the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation through the £950 million fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund.
The Government will be introducing a new duty on councils to notify schools, health visitors and GP practices where a child is in temporary accommodation. The intention of the temporary accommodation notification duty is to strengthen information sharing so that educational institutions and health providers are aware where children may require additional or different support and can seek to improve their outcomes. MHCLG, DfE and DHSC are working closely together to develop guidance to relevant bodies, to support effective implementation of this important measure. We are undertaking impact assessments for this measure, including a new burdens assessment for councils which is being informed through engagement with the sector, including councils who have piloted this approach.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what assessment they have made of the suitability of bed and breakfast accommodation for (1) families, and (2) families with babies; and what are the legal limits on the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the National Plan to End Homelessness, this government is committed to tackling the detrimental impact of living in temporary accommodation on a child’s health, wellbeing and education outcomes. We will work with councils, supported by robust NHS pathways, to make sure safe and appropriate alternatives are available and used for newborn babies. We are also setting an ambition to cut school days lost for children in temporary accommodation, backed by data so that targeted support can be provided more effectively.
Legislation is clear B&B accommodation is never suitable for families with children. There may be instances when B&B accommodation may be the only immediate option, for example emergency placements made out of hours, however such placements should be rare and there is a six-week limit to family B&B placements.
To deliver upon our target to end the use of B&B accommodation for families over the legal six-week limit by the end of this Parliament, we will scale up our Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots into a programme with £30 million funding to tackle a wider range of poor practice. We also increasing the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation through the £950 million fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund.
The Government will be introducing a new duty on councils to notify schools, health visitors and GP practices where a child is in temporary accommodation. The intention of the temporary accommodation notification duty is to strengthen information sharing so that educational institutions and health providers are aware where children may require additional or different support and can seek to improve their outcomes. MHCLG, DfE and DHSC are working closely together to develop guidance to relevant bodies, to support effective implementation of this important measure. We are undertaking impact assessments for this measure, including a new burdens assessment for councils which is being informed through engagement with the sector, including councils who have piloted this approach.