Contributions
276 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHousing: Pensions and DepositsI do agree. I am sorry that I am not the Housing Minister answering this Question, but it is important that we are committed to ensuring the housing market works for everyone. Of…05 Jun 2019HANSARDHousing: Pensions and DepositsMy Lords, I am very grateful that the noble Baroness has formed a new friendship over this topical Question. In short, our focus in the Department for Work and Pensions is on…05 Jun 2019HANSARDHousing: Pensions and DepositsMy Lords, as I said, I am not the Housing Minister, but I will say this. Clearly, we must be very careful about how we develop our policies in this area. The reality is that our…05 Jun 2019HANSARDChild PovertyMy Lords, we have taken strong action to support working families. We now have the national living wage and so on, but I agree entirely with the noble Lord that it is incredibly…21 May 2019HANSARDChild PovertyMy Lords, I pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Farmer for the enormous amount of work he has done and continues to do so selflessly in this area. He is absolutely right: this is…21 May 2019HANSARDChild PovertyMy Lords, the right reverend Prelate referenced holidays, which is a really important issue because children are outside school protection. In 2018 the Government announced a…21 May 2019HANSARDChild PovertyMy Lords, the Government are committed to a sustainable solution to poverty so that we can improve children’s long-term outcomes. This means a strong economy and a benefits system…21 May 2019HANSARDChild PovertyMy Lords, of course we take the issue of poverty very seriously, although inequality has fallen. Tackling disadvantage will always be a priority for this Government. We have…21 May 2019HANSARDChild PovertyMy Lords, I cannot agree with the noble Baroness that our policies are doing that; in fact, they are doing precisely the opposite. We have increased in an enormous number of ways…21 May 2019HANSARDSevere Disability Premium: Transfer to Universal CreditMy Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat in the form of a Statement the Answer given by my honourable friend the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work to…07 May 2019HANSARDSevere Disability Premium: Transfer to Universal CreditMy Lords, as I have already said, Ministers are considering the judgment in detail and will make a decision about their response in due course. When designing universal credit, it…07 May 2019HANSARDSevere Disability Premium: Transfer to Universal CreditMy Lords, I make it clear that current severe disability premium claimants will receive transitional protection as part of the managed migration process. We now have transitional…07 May 2019HANSARDSevere Disability Premium: Transfer to Universal CreditAs the noble Baroness knows, the focus of this Urgent Question is the court case and severe disability payments. We put that block—if I can call it that—in place on 16 January to…07 May 2019HANSARDSevere Disability Premium: Transfer to Universal CreditMy Lords, I am sticking to the Urgent Question—which is about the severe disability premium. However, the reality is that we are looking at that judgment and considering with care…07 May 2019HANSARDFinancial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 (Naming and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2019I thank the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York and the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, for giving me a further springboard to have discussions on this with my ministerial…01 May 2019HANSARDFinancial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 (Naming and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2019I thank my noble friend for her point, which is so well made. One reason I am so pleased to have this debate is that it helps, in a sense, to put more pressure on those taking…01 May 2019HANSARDFinancial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 (Naming and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2019My Lords, I very much welcome this debate. It has been very good, albeit short, and has covered a number of important issues. It is really timely to reflect on where we have come…01 May 2019HANSARDFood BanksMy Lords, the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 provided for a four-year freeze, and this was supported by Members in both Houses. This freeze will lapse after 2019-20. The freeze…01 May 2019HANSARDFood BanksI can reassure my noble friend that one of the reasons we have been making so many iterative changes to universal credit is that we have been concerned about the delay in people…01 May 2019HANSARDFood BanksI think it is fair to say that I answered that question to some degree in a previous answer. We are working hard with schools and injecting significant funds to ensure that…01 May 2019