Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing changes to the child benefit system.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Child Benefit ensures families receive support for the additional costs they face in raising a child. 7.7m million families across the UK claim Child Benefit.
To ensure that the Child Benefit payments retain their value, they will be increased in line with last September’s CPI at 6.7% from April 2024.
Further support for children from low-income households is also provided through the child element of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, which will be uprated in line with CPI.
The Government also offers a broader range of support for parents to help with childcare, including financial support with childcare through Tax-Free Childcare.
As with all Government policy, Child Benefit is kept under regular review.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the child benefit allowance to £50 a week for all children.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Child Benefit ensures families receive support for the additional costs they face in raising a child. 7.7m million families across the UK claim Child Benefit.
To ensure that the Child Benefit payments retain their value, they will be increased in line with last September’s CPI at 6.7% from April 2024.
Further support for children from low-income households is also provided through the child element of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, which will be uprated in line with CPI.
The Government also offers a broader range of support for parents to help with childcare, including financial support with childcare through Tax-Free Childcare.
As with all Government policy, Child Benefit is kept under regular review.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the high income child benefit charge on women.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Child Benefit statistics (which include data on the High Income Child Benefit Charge) are published annually by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on GOV.UK . They include information on Child Benefit claimants, and High Income Child Benefit Charge liability by gender.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the self-assessment process on individuals that receive child benefit and pay the high income child benefit charge; and whether he plans to simplify the self-assessment process.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Self Assessment tax return is currently the only means for HM Revenue and Customs to establish the correct HICBC liability.
The Government announced in July 2023 that steps will be taken to enable employed individuals to pay the HICBC through their tax code, removing the need to register for Self Assessment. This will make the process of paying the charge simpler for individuals who become liable to the charge, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to a simpler and fairer tax system.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of LGBT discrimination in the workplace; and what steps her Department is taking to mitigate such discrimination.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
It is crucial that we ensure people are treated fairly in the workplace, so that everyone can thrive and reach their full potential, whatever their background or characteristics, including LGBT people.
The Equality Act 2010 provides one of the world’s strongest legislative frameworks to prevent and tackle discrimination and harassment in employment against those with particular protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
As part of our Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022, we launched an Inclusion at Work Panel last year aimed at helping employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the conformity of adding Georgia to the list of Safe States with the duties laid out in section 80AA(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 on LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In order to inform ministerial decision making on whether to add India and Georgia to the list of Safe States in section 80AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (NIAA 2002), we made an assessment of the general situation in both countries, using evidence from a wide range of reliable sources in order to do so. This was in line with the requirements at section 80AA(3) and 80AA(4) of the NIAA 2002 (as inserted by section 59(3)(3) and 59(3)(4) of the Illegal Migration Act 2023).
Through considering country information and each country’s respect for the rule of law and human rights, we assessed that both countries met the criteria. Further information on the situation for LGBT people in Georgia and India is contained within our published Country Policy and Information Notes, available on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the conformity of adding India to the list of Safe States with the duties laid out in section 80AA(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 on LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In order to inform ministerial decision making on whether to add India and Georgia to the list of Safe States in section 80AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (NIAA 2002), we made an assessment of the general situation in both countries, using evidence from a wide range of reliable sources in order to do so. This was in line with the requirements at section 80AA(3) and 80AA(4) of the NIAA 2002 (as inserted by section 59(3)(3) and 59(3)(4) of the Illegal Migration Act 2023).
Through considering country information and each country’s respect for the rule of law and human rights, we assessed that both countries met the criteria. Further information on the situation for LGBT people in Georgia and India is contained within our published Country Policy and Information Notes, available on Gov.Uk.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many holders of physical biometric residence permits have been given access to an online UK Visas and Immigration account.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Over 5m customers currently hold a UKVI account which they use to view their status, update a variety of personal information and share their immigration status with checking parties. The majority of account holders have digital-only evidence of their immigration status, however a proportion also have a biometric residence permit or card.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his target is for the number of online UK Visas and Immigration accounts to be registered for holders of physical biometric residence permits by the end of June 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
A number of our Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) application routes already provide customers with a UKVI account, through which they can view their immigration status, update a variety of personal information and share their status with checking parties.
We are delivering the ability for existing leave holders and new flow applicants to create a UKVI account from April 2024. From this point we will begin contacting customers directly via email where possible, and will utilise a range of additional communication channels to inform customers of the need to take action to create an account before their BRP cards expire at the end of 2024. We will closely monitor take up of account creation to assess the effectiveness of our communications.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing paid fertility treatment leave.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government understands the importance of supporting people who are undergoing fertility treatment. We recognise the impact on women and couples of infertility and the importance of fertility treatment in helping them have long wished for families.
While there is no specific right to time off work for medical appointments, there are a number of ways through our existing policy and legal framework in which employees may be able to take time off to attend an appointment. Many employers are also willing to agree ‘ad-hoc’ or informal flexible working arrangements on a short-term basis.