Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Markham on 14 December 2022 (HL Deb col 653), what assessment they have made of the provision of freezers and fridges to increase food banks’ storage capacity.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation.
Whilst Government recognises that food charities are a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country, it is important to recognise the important distinction between government welfare support and discretionary charitable support. Therefore, the Department for Work and Pensions is unable to make an assessment as Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations who design their own delivery models and criteria to access their services.
Government understands the pressures people, including parents, are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help. Overall, the government is providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of bills.
The Government also announced over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England at the Spring Budget. This will support frontline organisations experiencing increased demand and higher delivery costs and will provide some investment in energy efficiency measures. It will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk from cost of living pressures, due to increased demand and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency measures. Further detail will be published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport shortly.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 16 November (HL3212), why they have kept the £25 Cold Weather Payment amount the same; and what plans they have to increase it in light of the increasing cost of energy bills.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
There are currently no plans to increase payment of the Cold Weather Payment scheme. The current Cold Weather Payment scheme represents a contribution towards additional heating costs, paid at the time of need.
Pensioner households are in the process of receiving an extra £300 on top of their winter fuel payment to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter. For those in receipt of Pension Credit the second Cost of Living Payment of £324 was issued in November. Pensioners in receipt of eligible disability benefits will have also received the disability cost of living payment of £150 issued in September.
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and that pensioners are disproportionately impacted by higher energy costs, and many low-income pensioner households do not claim the means tested benefits they are entitled to. That is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost of living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government has announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. In 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Cost of Living Payments. A £300 payment will be made to pensioner households and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Also included is the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24 and raising the benefit cap by 10.1% in line with inflation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 27 October (HL2653), on what basis they can provide for the Cold Weather Payment being £25; when they undertook their last review into the appropriateness of that figure; and what assessment they have made of the efficacy of a one-off payment for those eligible for the Cold Weather Payment.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
There are currently no plans to introduce a one-off payment under the Cold Weather Payment scheme. The scheme ensures that vulnerable claimants on qualifying benefits automatically receive a payment of £25 for every 7-day period of exceptionally cold weather. This represents a generous contribution towards additional heating costs, paid at the time of need.
The Government has already announced additional financial support to help vulnerable people with energy costs this winter, and the Department continues to keep its policies and procedures under review.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk to individuals from the practice of Liability Driven Investment by pension funds.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Individual member benefits were not at risk. The DB pension promise is ultimately the responsibility of the sponsoring employer and does not depend on the performance of the fund. The steep rise in gilt yields and subsequent market turmoil at the end of September did not result in any DB schemes being at risk of insolvency. If any schemes do suffer losses which result in a funding deficit, this can be addressed through investment returns and additional contributions from the sponsoring employer over a reasonable period.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Pensions Regulator regarding the use of Liability Driven Investment by pension funds.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Individual member benefits were not at risk. The DB pension promise is ultimately the responsibility of the sponsoring employer and does not depend on the performance of the fund. The steep rise in gilt yields and subsequent market turmoil at the end of September did not result in any DB schemes being at risk of insolvency. If any schemes do suffer losses which result in a funding deficit, this can be addressed through investment returns and additional contributions from the sponsoring employer over a reasonable period.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the Cold Weather Payment given increased energy costs.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Cold Weather Payments help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet the additional costs of heating during periods of severe cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. We keep all policies, including Cold Weather Payment, under constant review.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Christians Against Poverty Shipshape or sinking ship?, published on 21 July, what plans they have to review whether social security meets (1) the basic cost of living, and (2) the Eatwell Guide.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income and material deprivation, including by receipt of benefit, are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication.
Universal Credit (UC) awards are formed of a Standard Allowance, paid according to age and family status, plus help with eligible housing costs, which can then be supplemented with additional elements for groups recognised as having additional needs, such as parents, disabled people and carers. The rates of benefit are not determined by individuals' living costs.
This Government firmly believes that people should be free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in light of their individual needs and preferences. Everyone’s requirements vary and to attempt to base rates upon personal expenditure of individual recipients would produce an unfair and unsustainable system.
UC is a personalised system without the ‘cliff edges’ featured across legacy benefits, where money was lost when working more than 16, 24 and 30 hours. UC makes work pay by introducing a smoother, more transparent reduction of benefits at a consistent and predictable rate when people move into work and increase their earnings. A single taper, of 63 per cent per £1 is applied as earnings rise.
We have expanded the Holiday Activities and Food programme to all children in every local authority in England, covering Easter, Summer and Christmas in 2021. We also expanded Healthy Start payments from £3.10 to £4.25 a week from April 2021, to ensure pregnant women and children under 4 have access to basic food and vitamins.
We take the issue of food insecurity seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20 and these questions remain in the survey for 20/21. Statistics on levels of food insecure households covering 2019/20, can be found on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rate of child poverty in Luton; and what plans they have to provide additional financial support to the Luton Borough Council to help it address that rate. [T]
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The national and regional statistics on the number and proportion of people in low income as set out in the annual ‘Households Below Average Income’ publication are not available at local authority level due to limitations around the survey sample.
New experimental data on Children in Low Income families was published on 26 March 2020 and is available at Local Authority level. For the Luton Local Authority area, 23 per cent of children were in families with absolute low income in 2018/19 compared with 25 per cent in 2014/15.
Our current focus is on helping vulnerable families cope with the financial hardships brought about by COVID-19. We have increased Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £1,000 from 6 April 2020 for one year, benefiting over four million of the most vulnerable households, and increased Local Housing Allowance rates - putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets.
In addition, Local Authorities in England will now be able to use the £500 million Hardship Fund announced at the Spring Budget to help working people on Local Council Tax Support to provide additional help to vulnerable people locally through arrangements such as Local Welfare Schemes.
This Government’s long-term ambition remains to build an economy that will support work, and ensure that everyone has opportunities to enter work and progress, while being supported by the welfare system in their time of need. This is based on clear evidence of the important role of work in reducing child poverty. In 2018/19, only three per cent of children in households where both parents work full time were in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared to 47 per cent in households where one or more parent was in part-time work.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to assess the impact of welfare reforms since 2012 on homelessness; and if such assessments have been undertaken, what were the conclusions.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The causes of homelessness are numerous and complex. There is currently no clear evidence of the impact of welfare reform amongst all of the other potential causes of homelessness; homelessness reflects a combination of individual, local and national factors. The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to work with the Department for Communities and Local Government to improve our understanding of local housing markets and welfare reform, helping us evaluate fully the causes of homelessness. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced on 30 November 2017 that his Department, working with Department for Work and Pensions, will be commissioning a feasibility study to determine how we can carry out robust and useful research into the causes of homelessness and rough sleeping.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 16 November (HL Deb, col 2187), whether they plan to revert to uprating working age benefits in line with inflation at the end of the current four-year freeze.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 has frozen the majority of working-age benefits and tax credits for four tax years, from 2016-17 to 2019-20. These rates will therefore remain the same over this period.
Once these provisions cease to have effect, the pre-existing statutory obligations will re-apply, requiring the Government to undertake a review of the rates of tax credits and benefits in light of price inflation in the preceding year.