Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of fuel poverty since 2018.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Fuel Poverty is a devolved matter and the Department has responsibility for England.
The share of households in fuel poverty in England has reduced from 22% in 2010 to 13% in 2023, with energy efficiency being the key driver.
Other support includes the Warm Home Discount scheme which provides low-income and vulnerable households with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill, which it is estimated took 248,000 English households out of fuel poverty in 2023.
The department is currently reviewing the 2021 fuel poverty strategy and is engaging with key stakeholders as part of this process.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing home insulation to low-income households who have have poorly insulated homes.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government considers energy efficiency as the best way to tackle fuel poverty, contributing to the long-term reduction of energy bills as well as reducing carbon emissions in line with Net Zero. There are multiple targeted schemes in place to deliver energy efficiency measures to low income and fuel poor households. Schemes include the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), the Great British Insulation Scheme and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the Household Support Fund beyond 31 March.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
The Government has provided over £2 billion in funding for the Household Support Fund since October 2021.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income households. Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that employment, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In 2021/22, working age adults living in workless households were seven times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in households where all adults work.
The Government is putting significant additional support in place for those on the lowest incomes from April. Subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by 6.7% while the Basic and New State Pensions will be uprated by 8.5% in line with earnings, as part of the ‘triple lock”.
To further support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the Government will raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefitting 1.6 million low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25. Additionally, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they differentiate their approach in the delivery of aid between (1) low income, and (2) lower-middle income, countries
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The White Paper on International Development sets out how the UK will target aid where it is most needed and most effective. We will prioritise grant resources to the lowest income countries and communities and aim to spend 50 per cent of our bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). LDCs includes many low-income and lower-middle income countries. They are the least able to finance their development through taxes, borrowing or investment, and most of the world's poorest people live in LDCs which are either fragile, conflict-affected or vulnerable to climate change. This focus on LDCs will inform all our ODA spending.
We expect to spend less ODA in contexts where other sources of finance are available and will draw on ODA only as necessary in our partnerships with middle-income countries (MICs). We recognise MICs are a broad and variable group and their status masks pockets of extreme poverty and inequality, as well as acute humanitarian needs. ODA can be used in a targeted way to support their objectives and our shared priorities.
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of ending the Household Support Fund on 31 March on (1) the number of people experiencing destitution, and (2) wider public services including the NHS, social care, and homelessness services.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the Government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families.
Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In the financial year 21/22, children living in households where all adults work were around five times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
The Government is putting significant additional support in place for those on the lowest incomes from April. Subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by 6.7% while the Basic and New State Pensions will be uprated by 8.5% in line with earnings, as part of the ‘triple lock”.
To further support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the Government will raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefitting 1.6 million low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25. Additionally, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of ending the Household Support Fund on 31 March on (1) the number of people experiencing destitution, and (2) wider public services including the NHS, social care and homelessness services.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the Government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In the financial year 21/22, children living in households where all adults work were around five times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
The Government is putting significant additional support in place for those on the lowest incomes from April. Subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by 6.7% while the Basic and New State Pensions will be uprated by 8.5% in line with earnings, as part of the ‘triple lock”.
To further support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the Government will raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefitting 1.6 million low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25. Additionally, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure support schemes keep pace with inflation.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. Most of these will increase by 6.7% from April 2024, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2023. The basic State Pension, full rate of the new State Pension and Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by 8.5%, in line with the growth in average weekly earning in the year to May-July 2023. The increase to all these State Pensions and benefits in April 2023 was 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022 and the Government’s manifesto commitment to the triple lock for the new and basic State Pensions.
The Government will also be investing £1.2 billion restoring Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This significant investment will ensure 1.6 million low-income private renters will gain on average, nearly £800 per year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25.
From April 2024, the National Living Wage is set to increase by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour. This represents an increase of over £1,800 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage and is expected to benefit over 2.7 million low-paid workers. The equivalent increase in April 2023 was 9.7%.
The Government understand the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. This commitment is demonstrated by the package of additional support for the most vulnerable provided by one of the largest support packages in Europe. This includes the current Household Support Fund, which is worth £842 million and runs until 31 March 2024 in England. The Devolved Administrations receive Barnett Formula funding as a result of this, bringing the total investment to £1 billion.
Taken together, including the measures outlined above, support to households to help with the high cost of living in total amounts to £104 billion over the period 2022/23 to 2024/25.
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 steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people living in destitution in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. We expect to spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.
From this April, working age benefits will increase by 6.7% and, we are also raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.
With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting people 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 risk of poverty. In 2021/22 working age adults living in workless families were 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in families where all adults work.
Our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options to help people into work, including face-to-face time with Work Coaches and targeted employment support. Through our in-work progression offer, which is now live across all Jobcentres in Great Britain, we estimate that around 1.2m low-paid claimants are eligible for Work Coach support to help them increase their earnings. We will also increase the National Living Wage by 9.8% to £11.44 for workers aged 21 years and over from this April - an annual increase in gross earnings of over £1800 for someone working full-time on the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with civil society groups about the disproportionate impact of air pollution on (1) people living in poverty, and (2) ethnic minority communities.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises there is more to do to protect all people in our society and the environment from the effects of air pollution. This is why we are taking the significant and wide-ranging action to drive improvements to air quality as set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.
As part of the Air Quality Information System (AQIS) review, officials engaged in a series of semi-structured interviews with civil society groups with the aim of learning directly from groups who either: (1) have first-hand experience communicating messages about air quality directly to communities; or (2) represent communities that may be disproportionately impacted by air pollution. The insights from these interviews will be incorporated into the AQIS recommendations which will be published in summer 2024.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to ensure that disabled people with higher energy usage are not in fuel poverty.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is providing £104 billion, including the Disability Cost of Living Payment, to support households with the cost of living. The government also expanded the Warm Home Discount, which we estimated would support 160,000 more households where a person has a disability or long-term illness. This has helped prevent a significant rise in fuel poverty, including for households living with disabilities.
We see energy efficiency improvements as the best way to tackle fuel poverty in the long term. Disabled people living in low-income households may be eligible for support through schemes such as the Energy Company Obligation.
The review of the Fuel Poverty Strategy will assess the vulnerability principle and whether any amendments are needed, including for households where an occupant has a disability.