Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what fiscal steps he is taking to (a) tackle the impact of the benefit cap on low-income families and (b) help prevent increases in child poverty.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and their children.
The Secretary of State reviewed the benefit cap levels in November 2022 and decided they should be increased from April 2023. The Secretary of State has a statutory obligation to review the benefit cap levels at least once every five years.
With 1.05 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals, including parents, to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
To support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an ambitious package of measures designed to support people wherever they live in the UK to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.
The Government recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours which is why, from 28 June, the changes to the Universal Credit (UC) childcare element announced in Spring Budget 2023 will provide generous additional financial support to parents moving into paid work and/or increasing their working hours.
This government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding for the development, processing and integration costs for the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be classified as Overseas Development Assistance.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The funding for the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is separate from, and additional to, the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is planning to produce a hydrogen transport strategy.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The British Energy Security Strategy, UK Hydrogen Strategy and Transport Decarbonisation Plan set out hydrogen’s role in the UK’s transition to a net zero economy. In transport, hydrogen has an important potential role to play in decarbonising heavier applications such as aviation, shipping,some buses and HGVs.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what percentage of Official Development Assistance is spent on programmes with a (a) significant focus on gender equality measured as Gender Equality Marker 1 and (b) principal focus on gender equality measured as Gender Equality Marker 2 in financial year 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We do not have this official data for financial year 2022-23, due to the reporting times on Official Development Assistance statistics to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC). The latest data, for 2021, sourced from the Statistics for International Development and OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System, indicates that 49 percent of FCDO bilateral programmes were marked with the Significant (1) OECD DAC Gender Policy Marker, and 10 percent were marked as Principal (2).
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether it his Department's policy that 80 per cent of Official Development Assistance expenditure will include gender equality as a (a) significant focus measured as Gender Equality Marker 1 or (b) principal focus measured as Gender Equality Marker 2.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO's new International Women and Girls Strategy commits to at least 80 percent of FCDO's bilateral aid programmes having a focus on gender equality by 2030, using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) gender equality markers, marked as significant (1) or principal (2).
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2023 to Question 148681 on Children in Care: Equality, how many organisations supported the independent review of children's care's recommendation that care experience should be a protected characteristic during her Department's two roundtable discussions with the care sector.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
In developing the Care Experience chapter of Stable Homes: Built on Love, the department held two roundtable discussions with organisations representing the care sector. The organisations were:
To enable the most robust and constructive exchange of views possible, these conversations were held in confidence.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2023 to Question 148681 on Children in Care: Equality, which organisations attended the roundtable discussions held by her Department.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
In developing the Care Experience chapter of Stable Homes: Built on Love, the department held two roundtable discussions with organisations representing the care sector. The organisations were:
To enable the most robust and constructive exchange of views possible, these conversations were held in confidence.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 196 of her Department’s consultation entitled Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation published in February 2023, what recent discussions she has had with representatives from the care sector on the potential merits of listing care experience as a protected characteristic.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department has sought the views and advice from a range of stakeholders, including the National Implementation Board, local authorities, sector organisations and sector charities in developing ‘Stable Homes: Built on Love’, the government’s implementation strategy and consultation for reforming children’s social care. The department has also sought the views of care-experienced young people in developing our response. We will continue to engage during and after the consultation.
On the Care Experience chapter, as well as regular informal engagement with key stakeholders, the department held two roundtable discussions with around 20 organisations representing the care sector. The department participated in over 10 discussion sessions facilitated by charities with care-experienced children and young people. Some of these conversations included discussion of the review’s recommendation to make care experience a protected characteristic. The department’s engagement has not shown a consensus for making care experience a protected characteristic, as some fear it would add to the stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
To tackle stigma and discrimination, the department is prioritising extending strengthened corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies. By amending the corporate parenting principles, we will ensure that policies and services that affect care-experienced young people take account of the challenges they face, remove barriers, and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
The department will hold a public consultation on the detail of these proposals in late 2023.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of care sector representatives with which her Department consulted before publishing the response to the independent review of children's social care said that care experience should become a protected characteristic.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department has sought the views and advice from a range of stakeholders, including the National Implementation Board, local authorities, sector organisations and sector charities in developing ‘Stable Homes: Built on Love’, the government’s implementation strategy and consultation for reforming children’s social care. The department has also sought the views of care-experienced young people in developing our response. We will continue to engage during and after the consultation.
On the Care Experience chapter, as well as regular informal engagement with key stakeholders, the department held two roundtable discussions with around 20 organisations representing the care sector. The department participated in over 10 discussion sessions facilitated by charities with care-experienced children and young people. Some of these conversations included discussion of the review’s recommendation to make care experience a protected characteristic. The department’s engagement has not shown a consensus for making care experience a protected characteristic, as some fear it would add to the stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
To tackle stigma and discrimination, the department is prioritising extending strengthened corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies. By amending the corporate parenting principles, we will ensure that policies and services that affect care-experienced young people take account of the challenges they face, remove barriers, and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
The department will hold a public consultation on the detail of these proposals in late 2023.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many representatives from the care sector her Department engaged with ahead of the publication of the UK Government's response to the independent review of children's care.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department has sought the views and advice from a range of stakeholders, including the National Implementation Board, local authorities, sector organisations and sector charities in developing ‘Stable Homes: Built on Love’, the government’s implementation strategy and consultation for reforming children’s social care. The department has also sought the views of care-experienced young people in developing our response. We will continue to engage during and after the consultation.
On the Care Experience chapter, as well as regular informal engagement with key stakeholders, the department held two roundtable discussions with around 20 organisations representing the care sector. The department participated in over 10 discussion sessions facilitated by charities with care-experienced children and young people. Some of these conversations included discussion of the review’s recommendation to make care experience a protected characteristic. The department’s engagement has not shown a consensus for making care experience a protected characteristic, as some fear it would add to the stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
To tackle stigma and discrimination, the department is prioritising extending strengthened corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies. By amending the corporate parenting principles, we will ensure that policies and services that affect care-experienced young people take account of the challenges they face, remove barriers, and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
The department will hold a public consultation on the detail of these proposals in late 2023.