Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the £63 million of local welfare assistance to be used by local authorities announced by the Prime Minister on 10 June 2020, whether this funding is ring-fenced for children on free school meals during the school holidays.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
All of the £63 million is additional funding, sitting alongside the £6.5 billion of extra support the Government is providing through the benefits system to ensure the most vulnerable in our society are protected throughout this crisis.
We are currently finalising the amounts to be allocated to different local authorities.
The funding is not ring-fenced for children on free school meals. The Government has recently announced a further £120 million of funding to continue free school meals for children during the school holidays.
This funding is a one-off boost to local authorities in recognition that some people in our communities are facing sudden and severe financial difficulties.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the £63 million of local welfare assistance to be used by local authorities announced at Prime Minister’s Questions on 10 June 2020, whether he plans to make the same level of additional funding in each of the next five years.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
All of the £63 million is additional funding, sitting alongside the £6.5 billion of extra support the Government is providing through the benefits system to ensure the most vulnerable in our society are protected throughout this crisis.
We are currently finalising the amounts to be allocated to different local authorities.
The funding is not ring-fenced for children on free school meals. The Government has recently announced a further £120 million of funding to continue free school meals for children during the school holidays.
This funding is a one-off boost to local authorities in recognition that some people in our communities are facing sudden and severe financial difficulties.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect people on universal credit who live in flood risk areas and who may be unable to afford flood insurance premiums.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Flood Re, launched in 2016, is a joint initiative between Government and industry designed to improve the availability and affordability of flood insurance for households at high risk of flooding.
Flood Re allows insurance companies to pass on the flood risk element of household insurance policies to them for a below market rate set premium. Premiums charged by Flood Re to insurers are based on the Council Tax band of the property. This means that people on universal credit who live in flood risk areas will benefit from Flood Re. From May 2019, 99% of households with prior flood claims can now receive quotes from 5 or more insurers due to Flood Re. Four out of five householders with a prior flood claim saw price reductions of over 50%.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect people living in rented accommodation in flood-risk areas who cannot afford flood insurance premiums.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Flood Re, launched in 2016, is a joint initiative between Government and industry designed to improve the availability and affordability of flood insurance for households at high risk of flooding. Flood Re allows insurance companies to pass on the flood risk element of household insurance policies to them for a below market-rate set premium.
For renters, insurers can ask Flood Re to cover the flood risk part of a contents insurance policy, as long as the property meets certain criteria, including: being used for private; residential purposes; having a domestic Council Tax band A to H; being a single residential unit or building comprising two or three units; being insured on an individual basis; and being built before 01/01/2009.