Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on the roll out of Universal Credit to Tax Credit claimants including those that are farmers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit (UC) was legislated for in 2012. We continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to UC activity and remain committed to ensuring that the transition to UC works as smoothly as possible for all individuals. Latest findings of the Move to UC process were published here: Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)”
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16834 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur's report entitled Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate action and human rights relating to the transparency of investor-State dispute settlements.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to Question 16553 on 11 March.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will assess the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for students in vulnerable groups in the 16 to 19 bursary fund to include young carers.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department is determined that all young carers get the support they need to succeed.
The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.
In the 2023/24 academic year, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education. This is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department also made available around £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, for example those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits.
Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. Institutions develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area and must publish information on this for students.
The intention of the vulnerable group bursaries is to help young people who are in a particularly vulnerable situation and unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers. These bursaries provide up to £1,200 to eligible young people to help meet the costs of participating in education that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Young people who are living at home and financially supported by parents or carers are not considered eligible to receive a vulnerable group bursary. Students who do not meet the criteria for bursaries for vulnerable groups may be eligible to apply for funding from the discretionary bursary fund and should approach their education institution for further advice.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to work coaches on the flexible work fund; and what steps he is taking to promote uptake of that funding.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides comprehensive guidance which is regularly updated to support our Work Coaches use of the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). We are currently reviewing our guidance to increase both usage and clarity of FSF.
We have recently promoted the availability of FSF on Gov.uk specifically in relation to Upfront Child Care costs Universal Credit childcare costs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will undertake a review of the rules on voting eligibility to equalise voting rights between refugees from Commonwealth countries and those from other countries.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The entitlement of resident Commonwealth citizens to vote reflects our close historical ties with Commonwealth countries. The right to reside, whether under refugee status or any other status, does not confer the right to participate in democratic processes in the UK.
Accordingly, the Government has no plans to review such voting rights.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of voting rights on the integration of refugees; and if he will publish any such assessment.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The entitlement of resident Commonwealth citizens to vote reflects our close historical ties with Commonwealth countries. The right to reside, whether under refugee status or any other status, does not confer the right to participate in democratic processes in the UK.
Accordingly, the Government has no plans to review such voting rights.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to communicate information on voting rights to eligible commonwealth citizens resident in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The entitlement of resident Commonwealth citizens to vote reflects our close historical ties with Commonwealth countries. The right to reside, whether under refugee status or any other status, does not confer the right to participate in democratic processes in the UK.
Accordingly, the Government has no plans to review such voting rights.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 19150, which (a) loans and (b) grants young carers are entitled to.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment, and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.
Over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education, which is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department has also made available £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, such as those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits.
Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. They develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area, and must publish information on this for students.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support young carers in full-time education to access financial support.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department is determined that all young carers get the support they need to succeed.
The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.
In the 2023/24 academic year, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education. This is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department also made available around £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, for example those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits.
Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. Institutions develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area and must publish information on this for students.
The intention of the vulnerable group bursaries is to help young people who are in a particularly vulnerable situation and unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers. These bursaries provide up to £1,200 to eligible young people to help meet the costs of participating in education that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Young people who are living at home and financially supported by parents or carers are not considered eligible to receive a vulnerable group bursary. Students who do not meet the criteria for bursaries for vulnerable groups may be eligible to apply for funding from the discretionary bursary fund and should approach their education institution for further advice.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 February 2024 on UK withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, HCWS279, what her planned timetable is for withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has initiated the process to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and will provide notification to the ECT depository in Portugal as soon as possible.