theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) tackle hate crime against LGBTQ+ people and (b) make LGBTQ+ related hate crime an aggravated offence. \p Dame Diana Johnson: All hate crimes, including those targeting LGBT+ people, are completely unacceptable and we back the police in taking strong action against the perpetrators of these appalling offences.

We have committed to ensuring parity of protection for LGBT+ and disabled people under legislation and are currently considering the best way to move forward with this implementation of this commitment.

The Government funds an online hate crime reporting portal, True Vision, designed so victims of all types of hate crime - including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We are also continuing to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime, providing expert advice to police to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of (a) child sexual exploitation and (b) child-trafficking related to (i) Guinea-Bissau and (ii) Portugal have been recorded since 2010. \p Jess Phillips: The Home Office does not hold information centrally on instances of child sexual exploitation or child-trafficking offences related to Guinea-Bissau or Portugal.
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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the incident rate per thousand people of (a) rape and (b) other sexual offences in (i) Herefordshire and (ii) each of the other 14 comparators areas in the Most Similar Force group. \p Jess Phillips: The Office for National Statistics publishes information on rates per population for offences recorded by the police in England areas and Wales, by offence group and Community Safety Partnership level (CSP). Data for the CSP of Herefordshire, and the 14 respective comparator , for the year ending September 2024 can be found in Table C4 here: Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables - Office for National Statistics.

The Home Office publishes additional information on rape on an annual basis by Police Force Area only. These data include incidents, crimes and cancelled / transferred records and can be found on the Police recorded crime and outcomes open data webpage here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK.
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Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policy of pausing indefinite Leave to Remain applications for Syrian families in the UK recent reports of sectarian and revenge violence in Syria. \p Seema Malhotra: Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Home Office withdrew the Country Policy Information Notes and guidance relating to Syria and has temporarily paused all asylum interviews and decisions. However, we continue to register new claims from Syrians in the UK who wish to claim asylum.

The Country Policy and Information Team (CPIT) are continuing to monitor and review the situation in Syria. CPIT are gathering evidence from a wide range of reliable sources, including reputable media outlets; local, national and international organisations, including human rights organisations; and information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The pause is being kept under constant review and when there is a clear basis upon which to make decisions, we will resume the processing of them.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were identified as not being in possession of a valid Electronic Travel Authorisation in Northern Ireland in the first two months since its introduction. \p Seema Malhotra: Electronic travel authorisations were introduced in October 2023 to enhance our ability to screen travellers upstream, and stop those who pose a threat from travelling to the United Kingdom. They were more recently expanded to eligible non-European nationals (in November 2024) and Europeans (on 5 March this year). The Home Office will provide regular updates in the months and years ahead on how the ETA requirement is being implemented and enforced.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle anti-Palestinian racism in (a) schools and (b) universities. \p Catherine McKinnell: There is no place for racism in our education system or anywhere else in society. Students, regardless of their background, should be able to study in a safe and supportive environment that allows them to thrive.

The Equality Act 2010 enshrines in law that all public sector bodies, including schools and higher education institutions, must not discriminate against a student because of their protected characteristics. All educational institutions have a responsibility to take a zero-tolerance approach to any racism towards students and staff. They have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and address reports of racism swiftly. The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties. This guidance is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools.

Schools should actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs. Actively promoting these values means challenging opinions or behaviours in school that are contrary to fundamental British values. Schools should further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures. Promotion of these values plays an important role in preparing our children and young people for life in a modern and diverse Britain. Ofsted inspects how schools and colleges develop their pupils' understanding of these values. The Educate Against Hate website features more than 150 free resources to help pupils, teachers and parents tackle sensitive topics with students, including in relation to discrimination and hatred.

In universities, the Office for Students (OfS) is introducing a new condition of registration for preventing, addressing and investigating incidents of harassment with effect from 1 August 2025. The government is working with the OfS and sector bodies to help providers prepare to implement the new measures. The condition will enable the OfS to do more to ensure that universities are taking appropriate and timely action to prevent and tackle harassment of all kinds, including anti-Palestinian racism.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 29762 on Cross sector partnerships, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of cooperation between state and private schools on state schools. \p Stephen Morgan: Around 70% of private schools affiliated with the Independent Schools Council hold charitable status. As charities, they are required to demonstrate public benefit and one way in which they do that is through partnerships with state schools. This activity should continue.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the guidance entitled Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 in preventing children from being returned to abusive parents. \p Janet Daby: Local authorities have a duty to protect all children, including those returning home from care.

The statutory 'Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations volume 2: care planning, placement and case review' is clear that where the plan is for a child to return to the care of their family when they cease to be looked-after, there should be a robust planning and decision-making process to ensure that this decision is in the best interests of the child and will safeguard and promote their welfare.

The multi-agency statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children 2023’ reinforces the legal obligations for individuals and organisations to ensure the safety of children, including those returning home.

Local statutory safeguarding partners, such as local authorities, integrated care boards and police chiefs have responsibility for the delivery and monitoring of multi-agency priorities and procedures to protect and safeguard children in the local area, and are required to publish an annual report on the effectiveness of their arrangements.

Internal analysis of multi-agency safeguarding arrangements’ annual reports and on the impact of how the ‘Working together to safeguard children 2023' statutory guidance was strengthened in 2023 is encouraging, especially regarding how safeguarding partners are implementing its requirements.

Ofsted also has a vital role to play in ensuring that the settings and services that support children are safe and effective, and that children leaving care are given the right support to achieve and thrive, with 100 local authorities now rated Good or Outstanding for children’s services.

Protecting children at risk of abuse and stopping vulnerable children falling through cracks in services are at the heart of the government’s landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December 2024.

The department’s investment in reforms includes over £500 million for Family Help and child protection services. We expect Family Help to provide support where children in care may be able to return safely to their families.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider a three year funding settlement for the Music Hub programme. \p Catherine McKinnell: Multi-year programme budgets will be considered as part of the spending review and subsequent business planning process.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of fully-qualified SEND teachers in England on 12 March 2025. \p Catherine McKinnell: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education, which is why sufficient high quality teachers is key to delivering the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity.

All teachers are teachers of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and the Teachers’ Standards sets clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

As of November 2023, which is the latest date for which data is available, there were 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England. Of these, around 6% (28,200) were in special schools and state-funded alternative provision schools, including pupil referral units.

​Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers entering and leaving service in state-funded schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letter of 3 February 2025 on (a) mental health support for school staff and (b) automated external defibrillators governance and compliance from the Hon. Member for Torbay. \p Catherine McKinnell: I can confirm that a response to the correspondence dated 3 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Torbay was sent on 26 February 2025.
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Olly Glover:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations within the article entitled Transforming children and young people’s futures through PE, school sport, and physical activity, published by the University of Manchester on 12 February 2025. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government values physical education (PE) and sport as a way to improve not only the health, but the wellbeing and lives of all children and young people. Existing government-funded programmes look to address this with the primary PE and sport premium and the School Games Organisers.

To address specific barriers, we have recently launched an open procurement for a new grant programme for up to 3 financial years (from April 2025 to March 2028 at up to £300,000 per year) to develop and deliver a programme that improves and increases PE, school sport and physical activity opportunities for pupils with SEND. The inclusive education hub, funded by the department through the inclusion 2024 programme is an online platform of bespoke resources to help schools make PE and sport more inclusive.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered introducing a transitional funding arrangement for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund beyond March 2025 to prevent a gap in therapeutic support for eligible children. \p Janet Daby: The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate our budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. The department will, of course, always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are agreed, therapy which starts before March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. \p Janet Daby: The adoption and special guardianship fund (ASGSF) offers valuable support to adoptive and kinship families, helping families to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life.

Announcements on funding for the ASGSF will be made shortly.
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Clive Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of closing the Adoption and special guardianship support fund on children receiving support from that fund. \p Janet Daby: The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.

The department will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the predicted cost of children looked after is in 2024-25; and what proportion of this is allocated to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. \p Janet Daby: In 2023/24, local authority gross expenditure on children's and young people's services was £14.8 billion. Over half of that expenditure was on services for children looked after, which is a total of £8.1 billion (54.9%).

Expenditure under the last administration on asylum seeker services for children, within local authority children’s services, increased by 29.7% to £341.7 million in 2023/24. This accounted for 4.2% of the total spend on looked after children.

The asylum seeker services for children spending line is unlikely to capture all expenditure on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). This spending line will only capture expenditure related to UASC that has not been recorded in other spending lines. For example, if a UASC is fostered then the associated expenditure will be captured in the ‘fostering services’ spend line by local authorities. These other lines are not disaggregated in the data collection so the department is unable to determine what proportion of fostering spend is spent on UASC.

The relevant data can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure and data guidance and a breakdown of spending categories is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/section-251-2023-to-2024/section-251-financial-data-collection-2023-to-2024-guidance-for-local-authorities-compiling-their-outturn-statement.

In 2024/25, local authorities have planned expenditure on children looked after in gross terms to be £7.8 billion, of which £268.4 million is planned to be spent on asylum seeker services for children. The relevant data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/planned-la-and-school-expenditure.

Local authorities typically underbudget, so budgets are generally a poor indicator of actual spend, but they are currently the only published data available for 2024/25. For example, local authorities spent £1.5 billion, 23%, more than budgeted for in 2023/24 on looked after children. Gross planned spend on looked after children for 2023/24 was £6.6 billion and the actual spend on looked after children in 2023/24 was £8.1 billion. The relevant data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/planned-la-and-school-expenditure/2023-24#dataBlock-b3207b9e-46a0-4a1e-8e8a-7bfa46e2241b-tables and here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure#explore-data-and-files.
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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of linking the Adoption Support Fund annual funding cap to inflation. \p Janet Daby: The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on the allocation of the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF), including issues linked to inflation, are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. We will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

To ensure there are no gaps in therapy, including for children with additional needs, ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are approved, therapy which starts during March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Lifelong Links on (a) children and young people in care and (b) care leavers. \p Janet Daby: Stable support networks and loving relationships are crucial to supporting children in care and helping care leavers to thrive.

The department launched the family finding, befriending and mentoring programme in 2023. It is testing a range of programmes that seek to enable children and young people to connect with the important people in their lives, improve their sense of identity and community, and help them create and sustain consistent, stable and loving relationships. We are currently funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities, and this includes 23 Lifelong Links programmes.

The family finding, befriending and mentoring programme is subject to a formal evaluation, with an initial report due later this year. The evaluation will help us understand the impacts for children in care and care leavers and assess the practicability of extending family finding and befriending and mentoring programmes in the future.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the overall settlement for the department for the 2025/26 financial year, providing additional funding for core schools, early years and children’s social care, amongst other areas. We are actively working to finalise the details of the 2025/26 budgets, including funding for the family finding, befriending and mentoring programme.
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Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Sentencing Council's guidance entitled Imposition of community and custodial sentences - Effective from 1 April 2025, whether her Department has made an (a) estimate of the (i) additional number of pre-sentence reports required and (ii) costs of those reports and (b) assessment of the potential impact of that guidance on the (A) quality of pre-sentence reports, (B) probation service, (C) time taken for sentencing and (D) number of appeals of sentencing decisions. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Where a court is considering whether an offender should receive a sentence of immediate custody, a pre-sentence report must be obtained and considered before forming an opinion unless, in the circumstances of the case, the court considers that it is unnecessary to obtain a pre-sentence report. The Probation Service plays an essential role by providing an expert assessment of the nature and causes of the offender's behaviour and the risk the offender poses. Our priority remains the safety of the public and rehabilitation of offenders, and we will take all necessary steps to support the probation service in achieving these goals.

The Sentencing Council is responsible for carrying out its own impact assessments of its guidelines. The assessment for the recent Imposition of community and custodial sentences guidelines published on 5 March 2025, can be found here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/html-publication/item/imposition-of-community-and-custodial-sentences-overarching-guideline-final-resource-assessment/#Resource%20impacts.

The Lord Chancellor has been clear that these guidelines regarding pre-sentencing reports do not represent the views of this Government. The Lord Chancellor and the Chairman of the Sentencing Council have had a constructive discussion. It was agreed that the Lord Chancellor will set out her position more fully in writing, which the Sentencing Council will then consider before the guideline is due to come into effect. It remains the case that the Lord Chancellor is reviewing the role and responsibilities of the Sentencing Council – and look at whether a greater role for elected officials is needed.
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will publish the contents of the suicide prevention training provided to (a) prison and (b) probation staff. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: It is not appropriate to make the training publicly available as the content includes lived experience examples for which confidentiality must be maintained, and there is a need for HMPPS to retain oversight of dissemination, delivery and appropriate use of the products.
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Mary Kelly Foy:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of suicide prevention training provided to (a) prison and (b) probation staff. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: All new members of prison staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention, and all staff who undertake key roles relating to risk assessment and case management also receive specific training relating to those roles. This training is subject to regular review and feedback is sought from participants as part of this process. An e-learning module has recently been made available for all staff to access on postvention support following a self-inflicted death in custody, and the effectiveness of this will be reviewed in due course.

There are two suicide prevention learning packages for probation staff: a Zero Suicide Alliance package for all staff, and a package aimed at new entrant Professional Qualification in Probation and Probation Service Officers which was developed internally as part of a broader introduction to mental health. Following completion of this latter package the majority of the intended group stated that they felt more prepared to work in this area and more confident about this part of their role. The effectiveness of this learning will continue to be reviewed to ensure that it meets the needs of the business going forward.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to help dyslexic inmates improve their (a) reading and writing skills and (b) employment prospects. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) offers screening to prisoners upon entry to prison for neurodiversity needs including needs associated with dyslexia. This helps us identify any additional needs they may have that might impact their ability to engage with the regime or learning opportunities in the prison. We would not attribute any additional needs that are identified during the screening process to a specific condition but do encourage individuals to self-declare any conditions or needs they consider themselves to have.

The Prisoner Education Service is in the process of procuring a new Additional Needs Indicator screening tool that will identify many of the traits and needs associated with dyslexia. This screening will be offered to all prisoners without a previous record of completing the new tool as part of introduction to education following reception into prison. Where needs are identified, appropriate support and reasonable adjustments can be put in place.

HMPPS takes a needs-led approach to supporting individuals with additional learning needs, such as dyslexia. To improve support for prisoners the Neurodiversity Support Manager (NSM) role has been rolled out across the prison service. NSMs implement a whole prisons approach to neurodivergence. They are responsible for improving processes to identify and support prisoner' needs and ensuring neurodivergent prisoners can access education, skills, and work opportunities within the prison.

Formal literacy teaching follows national accredited qualifications which must follow quality standards laid down by awarding organisations. All prisons have reading strategies, and we have established a national reading panel, including experts from the British Dyslexia Association. Reader pens, which help those with low literacy levels including those with dyslexia, are available across the estate for Governors to purchase, and use is widespread.

The NSM role provides additional support for learners with neurodivergent needs such as dyslexia to access both education and work. After screening, a Personal Learning Plan is created. These provide people who work with a prisoner information about the prisoner’s needs, goals and achievements. We are broadening prisoner employment pathways through an apprenticeship programme that can be used in open prisons. The Department for Education has recently announced that the requirements for English and maths qualifications for learners over 19 to access apprenticeships will be optional. This will support more prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia to access apprenticeships.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure effective prosecution rates for (a) serious and (b) violent crime cases in Beckenham and Penge constituency. \p Lucy Rigby: We are taking strong action as part of our Plan for Change to tackle serious and violent crime.

Our new Crime and Policing Bill will back our police by giving them enhanced and tougher powers to keep our streets safe, to tackle anti-social behaviour, and to crack down on knife crime.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes serious and violent crime robustly, providing early investigative advice on complex and serious offending to build strong cases and deliver justice for victims.

The CPS is working with cross-government partners to support the delivery of the Safer Streets Mission and all CPS guidance and training is kept under constant review to ensure front-line prosecutors are equipped to prosecute these serious offences.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to engage with deaf and disabled people's organisations when preparing reforms to disability benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do. We have developed proposals for reform to the system of health and disability benefits, set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18th March 2025. A full 12 week consultation will run from when all accessible versions are published on GOV.UK. We are keen to hear views from a wide group of people, in particular disabled people and people with health conditions and disability organisations, and encourage responses to the consultation through the online form, email and post.

We also intend to run a number of accessible virtual and face to face events on the consultation, to hear from stakeholders, including deaf and disabled people and their representative organisations, directly. More information on these events and registration will be advertised on the consultation pages on GOV.UK in due course.

In the Green Paper, we have also announced that we will set up collaboration committees to develop our reforms further, directly with disabled people and people with health conditions and experts. This will involve bringing together disabled people, experts and civil servants around specific issues to collaborate, provide ideas, challenge, and input into recommendations. We look forward to developing these initiatives over the coming months.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in mental health waiting lists on the number of people out of work. \p Alison McGovern: The Department has not assessed the impact of trends in mental health waiting lists on the number of people out of work.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) plans to link NHS waiting times data to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England.

This may shed light on the potential impact of trends in waiting lists for various healthcare services, including mental health waiting lists, on the number of people out of work.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of waiting times for mental health treatment on levels of health-related economic inactivity. \p Alison McGovern: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) plans to link NHS waiting times data to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England.

This assessment has potential to shed light on the potential impact of waiting times for various health services, including mental health treatment, on levels of health-related economic inactivity.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_145

Laura Trott:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) assess the take-up levels of the (i) childcare element of Universal Credit and (ii) Flexible Support Fund to pay upfront childcare costs and (b) increase this number. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Universal Credit (UC) childcare element statistics are published quarterly. In the latest month for which data is available (November 2024), 177,000 UC households were paid the UC childcare cost element. In November 2024, 29% of households on Universal Credit with pre-school children and in which all claimants had earnings received the childcare element. For households with any child aged 16 or under, the figure is 13%.  This proportion has remained broadly consistent for around two years. We will continue to monitor this closely.

Take-up of the upfront childcare offer is assessed from monthly data on the number of upfront childcare transactions and their value, compared to an estimated number eligible. This data is shared with operational leaders to support conversations on how to increase take-up.

Recent initiatives to increase take-up of upfront childcare costs awards through the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) include improved internal FSF guidance to work coaches. Imminent changes to Gov.uk and the Childcare Choices websites will highlight support for upfront childcare costs from DWP. We are also finalising the implementation schedule for UC Journal messages to customers with children, highlighting childcare support and the simplification of the application process.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_146
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_146

Patrick Hurley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure equitable treatment of parents with shared custody arrangements by the Child Maintenance Service. \p Andrew Western: The Child Maintenance Service operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.

Reductions can be made for the extra cost of care where it is shared by the paying parent. The paying parent must have overnight care of any qualifying children for at least 52 nights a year, equivalent of 1 night per week. The amount payable is reduced by a maximum of fifty per cent within bands based on the number of nights overnight care is provided over a 12-month period. The bands are used to give greater stability to maintenance payments and as a result there is greater reliability of payments, which contributes towards the welfare of the children in the case.

If evidence shows that both parties are providing equal day-to-day care of a qualifying child, in addition to sharing overnight care, there is no requirement for either parent to pay child maintenance.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_147
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_147

Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) the level of and (b) eligibility criteria for (i) disability and (ii) incapacity benefit payments on child poverty. \p Alison McGovern: Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.

The Strategy will look at all available levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, including considering social security reforms, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across Government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

We will publish a poverty impact assessment once the OBR has assessed GP measures on the day of the Spring Statement.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_148
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_148

Susan Murray:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of fees to use the Child Maintenance Service's Collect and Pay system on people using that system. \p Andrew Western: The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their obligations to children, taking robust enforcement action against those who do not.

Cases in Collect & Pay represent the most difficult cases, as many of these have been unwilling to pay voluntarily or have not been compliant in a Direct Pay arrangement. Cases where the paying parent has missed payments or demonstrated behaviour that suggests they are unlikely to pay, can be put on the Collect & Pay service. Fees only apply to the Collect and Pay Service. A fee of 20% is added to what the paying parent needs to pay, while 4% is deducted from maintenance paid to receiving parents.

Fees were introduced in 2014, with the objectives of subsidising the cost of the service; encouraging greater collaboration and more family-based arrangements; and encouraging compliance.

When Collect and Pay charges were introduced, an assessment was carried out by the previous government and published in The Child Maintenance Reforms; 30 Month Review of charging. The government response to the assessment was that application fees may influence some parents’ decisions regarding their maintenance arrangement.

On 8 May 2024 the consultation Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer of payments was published by the previous government before being extended on the 31 July by the current government. The consultation included a range of proposals with the key one being to remove the Direct Pay service and consolidate the CMS into a single streamlined service that monitors and transfers all payments. In addition, it also proposed a new fee structure of just 2% for receiving parents, deducted from maintenance received; 2% for compliant paying parents, on top of maintenance owed; and 20% for non-compliant paying parents, on top of maintenance owed.

Following consideration of public responses concerning fees and other proposals in the consultation, and subsequent ministerial decisions, next steps will be detailed in the Government Response, which will be published in due course.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_149
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_149

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of Advice UK's report entitled Voices of Deaf and Disabled people, published on 10 December 2024. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are grateful to Advice UK for sharing their insights and concerns from their ‘Advice Saves’ campaign and findings in their ‘Voices of Deaf and Disabled People’ report.

Ensuring the views and voices of disabled people are at the heart of everything we do is a priority for this government and we are committed to listening and engaging closely with disabled people and their representative organisations as we develop policies that may impact them, including the reforms set out in the recent ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper and the Health and Disability Green Paper.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_150
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_150

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 34683 on Universal Credit: Childcare, if she will have discussions with claimants on the potential merits of establishing definitions for those terms. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Government recognises that childcare needs vary from customer to customer and area to area, and we are committed to working with the Department for Education to increase availability so that we can support customers’ varied needs.

At all times we want work coaches to ensure the requirements they impose on customers are reasonable given the customer’s capability and circumstance, and they do this through engaging with customers.

There are times where the customer’s circumstances are such that both work search and work availability requirements must be switched off completely for a period of time, known as easements. This includes, for example, customers caring for a child in considerable distress.

Work coaches can also use their discretion to switch off requirements when a customer’s child is ill in hospital or when they have other temporary childcare responsibilities.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_151
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_151

Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help end discrimination against disabled people. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This Government is committed to creating a more inclusive society, and championing the rights of disabled people. We will build on the insights shared by disabled people and their representative organisations, working closely with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.

Our new Lead Ministers for Disability network will help to ensure that we represent the interests of disabled people effectively and champion disability inclusion and accessibility across each government department, as they drive forward progress on our manifesto commitments and five missions.

Our Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will introduce disability pay gap reporting for large employers and extend equal pay rights to protect workers suffering discrimination on the basis of race or disability. Mandatory pay gap reporting will help employers to identify and address where issues might lie.

These recent steps work alongside the Equality Act 2010, which is the principal means through which disabled people are protected from discrimination in Great Britain. The Equality Act 2010 provides protection against discrimination, harassment and victimisation in the workplace and in wider society. It also requires employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments for both job applicants and employees who meet the Act's definition of disability. Failure to make a reasonable adjustment is likely to be unlawful disability discrimination under the 2010 Act.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_152
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_152

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial penalties have been imposed on G4S for failing to meet key performance indicators on officer deployment or site availability in the last twelve months. \p Andrew Western: DWP have applied the full contract performance management regime across the last 12 months, including service credits (pre-determined costs associated with a supplier failing to deliver a service or missing a target). Over the last 12 months, strike activity on the contract has increased the amount of Service Credits applied. DWP have worked with G4S collaboratively to mitigate the impact on front line services while G4S sought a resolution to the dispute with their workforce.

The exact value of the service credits is commercially sensitive and I am therefore unable to set out exact amounts.
wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_153
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-20 conversation_153

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 36448 on Pension Credit, how many staff were seconded from the Child Maintenance Services and Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt to process pension credit applications; and for what time period. \p Torsten Bell: 100 colleagues have been redeployed from Child Maintenance Services and 20 colleagues redeployed from Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt to support Pension Credit activity.