Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will suspend the operation of the “bedroom tax” during the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to ensure that established food banks have sufficient supplies to meet the needs in their localities during the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
Food banks are independent charitable organisations and, as such, are best placed to decide on the most appropriate arrangements for supporting people who use them. As both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
The Prime Minister and colleagues at DEFRA have recently addressed this issue in their daily briefings and statement.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to employers of people in insecure employment including (1) people on zero-hours contracts, (2) self-employed individuals working for organisations as if they were employees, and (3) people in similar precarious circumstances where it is not possible to claim statutory sickness benefit, in situations where people are advised to self-isolate due to contracting COVID-19, experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, or having been in contact with cases of COVID-19; and what advice they are giving to people in such circumstances.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether compulsory service charges paid by housing tenants over and above their rent for communal facilities on their estate are taken into account in the calculation of Housing Benefit and Universal Credit.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Services charges for communal facilities can be included in a claimant’s Housing Benefit award or Universal Credit Housing Cost Element. Most service charges will be eligible for assistance.
There are, however, some exceptions. For example, charges related to the heating or lighting of communal areas are eligible for assistance but not charges related to heating and lighting of the tenants own home.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of households in (1) the County of Lancashire, and (2) the Borough of Pendle, that will experience reductions in their housing benefit as a result of the new cap introduced on 7 November; and what will be the total estimated annual reduction in each area.
Answered by Lord Freud
It is estimated that around 1,700 households in the County of Lancashire and 100 households in the Borough of Pendle will be affected by the lower benefit cap in 2016/17.
The annual benefit reduction from the lower cap is estimated to be around £3,900,000 in the County of Lancashire and £200,000 in the Borough of Pendle in 2016/17 if the cap was in place for the full financial year, however actual savings will be much lower in view of the lower cap only applying to the latter part of the year.
Notes:
The benefit cap will be lowered from 7th November from £26,000 to £20,000, except in London where it will be lowered to £23,000 (a lower cap applies to single adult households). To help ensure Local Authorities are able to protect the most vulnerable Housing Benefit claimants and to support households adjusting to our welfare reforms, the Government will provide £870m funding for Discretionary Housing Payments over the next 5 years from 2016/17.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they define "full employment", as used in the Gracious Speech.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Prime Minister set out his bold aim of achieving full employment in the Conservative Manifesto.
We are preparing the Full Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill for Introduction. That Bill creates a duty to report on progress towards achieving full employment and the Government will set out the definition when the first report on progress is published.