Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children subject to No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are in receipt of 15 hours a week of free early education available to disadvantaged three and four year-olds, but would be eligible for the 30 hour entitlement if not subject to NRPF.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All parents are eligible to claim up to 570 hours of free early education per year, which is usually taken as 15 hours per week over 38 weeks of the year. This is available to all three and four-year olds, regardless of family circumstances, including those whose families have no recourse to public funds (NRPF).
Working parents of three and four-year-olds may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare, also known as 30 hours free childcare, subject to both minimum and maximum earnings thresholds. Parents must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum/living wage, currently just over £7,900 per year, and their adjusted net income must be under £100,000.
In a two-parent family both parents must meet these thresholds, unless one partner receives certain benefits (Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance). In a single-parent household the single parent must meet the threshold. Parents with NRPF are not eligible for this entitlement.
The department does not hold data on the number of children whose parents have NRPF who are currently taking up the universal 15 hour early education entitlement. This means it is not possible to ascertain how many would be eligible for the extended 30 hour entitlement were they not subject to NRPF.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of (a) male and (b) female prisoners who have children.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
An MoJ study estimated that there were approximately 200,000 children in England & Wales who had a parent in prison at some point during the year 2009. Looking at the number of children with a parent in prison at a single point in time, approximately 90,000 children had a parent in prison at the end of June 2009. No recent annual estimate has been made of the number of children affected by the imprisonment of a parent or main caregiver.
The Prisons Strategy White Paper includes a commitment to improve the quality of the data collected and to improve the support provided. We are investigating opportunities for data sharing between Government organisations, to facilitate targeted support for offenders and their families.
Changes have been made to the Basic Custody Screening Tool to enable us to collect data on entry to prison about how many primary carers are in custody and how many children under the age of 18 are affected by their imprisonment. As this data is self-reported, we will monitor the quality of the data over the next year and make a decision as to what format the data will be published.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to support low-income single parent families to find housing in cases where a rent guarantor cannot be found.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government wants everyone to have access to secure, safe and affordable housing. The Government continues to strongly encourage private rented sector landlords and agents to assess the suitability of potential and existing tenants on an individual basis.
Landlords and letting agents are free to carry out any referencing checks within the law before accepting a new tenant, this may include income checks or setting a requirement for a guarantor, depending upon the decision of the individual landlord.
Significant support remains in place through the welfare system, including LHA rates maintained at their increased cash level for 2021/22 and 2022/23. For those who need it most, support is available through Discretionary Housing Payments and the £500 million Household Support Fund, of which £421 million will go to help vulnerable people in England.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average income is of families with at least one parent in work who are (a) eligible and (b) ineligible for the 30-hour early education entitlement for three and four year olds.
Answered by Will Quince
All three and four-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours free early education, regardless of parental income or working status. An additional 15 hours is available to parents who are working at least 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, but earn under £100,000 per year. This applies to single-parent households as well as both parents in a two-parent household, unless one partner is in receipt of certain benefits (Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance).
The department holds some data on parental income levels from the 2019 Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents, but not the relevant data to be able to assess against eligibility for the 30 hours entitlements. We are currently collecting our next set of data through the 2021 Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents, scheduled for release in July 2022.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of families who are in work but unable to access the 30-hour early education entitlement for three and four year-olds.
Answered by Will Quince
All three and four-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours of free early education, regardless of parental income or working status.
Families are entitled to 30 hours free childcare if the sole parent in a single parent family, or both parents in a two-parent household, are working at least 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, but earns under £100,000 per year. Approximately 72% of eligible families were registered to take up a 30 hours free childcare place in January 2021.
The number of children eligible for 30 hours changes each year due to changing cohort size and parental employment changes. An estimated 460,000 children may have been eligible in January 2021, although this estimate does not account for the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on parental employment.
In 2019, the childcare and early years survey of parents found that of those not taking up the 30 hour entitlement offer, 52% gave reasons relating to eligibility, such as being unable to meet the income thresholds by either working too little or earning above £100,000 per year. The remaining 48% gave reasons unrelated to eligibility, mostly relating to not requiring the free childcare. However, 7% of parents surveyed said their provider did not offer the 30 hours of free childcare. Further statistics from the survey can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2019.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the introduction of the High-Income Child Benefit Tax charge on single-parent families.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support for families is targeted at those who need it most. The tax charge applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000 who claims Child Benefit, or whose partner claims it. HICBC is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other income tax policy.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not routinely collect information on the circumstances of individuals in a household, so HMRC cannot assess the impact the introduction of the High Income Child Benefit charge has had on single parent families.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support single parent families in the context of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on those families.
Answered by Will Quince
Since the start of the pandemic, the Government’s priority has been to protect lives and people’s livelihoods, through its economic response.
It has supported those on low incomes, including single parent families, in a number of ways, such as by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.
For single parents on Universal Credit, there is help with childcare costs and a dedicated Work Coach. The Government considers that, where possible, it is in the best interests of children to be in working households, and we are committed to helping lone parents into a job which fits in around their caring responsibilities. Claimants with children will benefit from a work allowance and Universal Credit pays up to 85 per cent of childcare costs, compared to 70 per cent in legacy benefits which can be claimed up to a month before starting a job.
To further support those with children we introduced the Covid Winter Grant Scheme, now the Covid Local Support Grant, with over £420m provided to Local Authorities in England between 1 December 2020 and 30 September 2021 to help the most vulnerable children and families with the cost of food, utilities and other essentials.
As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible, based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on trends in the level of poverty among single parent families in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Will Quince
It is not possible to estimate the impacts of COVID-19 on relative and absolute poverty as this requires estimates of income for all people in the UK and this data is not yet available.
A range of measures are designed to support claimants, including one parent families such as easements from work-related requirements, same day advances and signposting to expert third-party services. There is also help available for childcare costs for children of any age. Claimants can recover up to 85% of their eligible childcare costs through UC (or 70% of those costs through working tax credits). Further assistance may be available through the Flexible Support Fund.
Since Covid-19, we have also strengthened the welfare system, spending £7.4 billion on measures such as the Universal Credit uplift, on top of additional support such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
We have built on this extra support through the introduction of our Covid Winter Grant Scheme, now running until 20th June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.
he Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, backed by £220 million, has already provided support during the Easter holidays this year, and will continue to do so during the summer and Christmas holidays.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on trends in the level of poverty among single-parent families.
Answered by Will Quince
We have strengthened the welfare system, spending £7.4 billion on measures such as the Universal Credit uplift, on top of additional support such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
We have built on this extra support through the introduction of our Covid Winter Grant Scheme, now running to the 20th June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, backed by £220 million, has already provided support during the Easter holidays this year, and will continue to do so during the summer and Christmas holidays.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge to remove the disparity between a household with two individual incomes of £49,000 that receives full child benefit entitlement and a single parent household income of £50,000 that is required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support for families is targeted at those who need it most. The tax charge applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000 who claims Child Benefit, or whose partner claims it.
HICBC is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other income tax policy. Basing HICBC on household incomes would mean finding out the incomes of everyone in each of the 7.8 million households currently registered for Child Benefit. This would effectively introduce a new means test, which would be costly to administer and create burdens on the majority of families who receive Child Benefit.
The Government has no current plans to review HICBC but as with all elements of tax policy, keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.