Contributions
1,152 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAccess to Work FundI commend the noble Lord for raising these issues. I am really grateful to him for having been in touch with me, and I look forward to discussing this more with him directly. The…05 Mar 2026HANSARDAccess to Work FundMy Lords, the noble Lord makes an important point: the scheme helps people to get into and stay in work. It is incredibly wide-ranging, covering anything from a customer applying…05 Mar 2026HANSARDAccess to Work FundI thank the noble Lord for his question and for his kind words. He raises a really important point. One of the things we have discovered, both through our general work with…05 Mar 2026HANSARDAccess to Work FundThe right reverend Prelate raises a very important point. The Government hope there will be more demand for support. In reviewing Access to Work, we also have to review the whole…05 Mar 2026HANSARDAccess to Work FundI share my noble friend’s view of the importance of supporting people into work; that is what Access to Work is there to do. The NAO report, published last month, is a really…05 Mar 2026HANSARDRent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026Of course, there are still issues about tiers and responsibility. One of the challenges is that local government reform is going on, which is one of the reasons why we need to…03 Mar 2026HANSARDRent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026The 300,000 target is for both social and affordable housing. I would be very happy to share the noble Baroness’s views with my colleagues at MHCLG to make sure that they reflect…03 Mar 2026HANSARDRent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026I will come on in a moment to try to answer the specific question. If the noble Baroness will give me one second, I move to that point, because I want to explain how it will work.…03 Mar 2026HANSARDRent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, for introducing her Motion. If that was the first time she has done so, I commend her on how clearly she set out her…03 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyMy Lords, I am happy to raise that with colleagues in the DfE, but I reassure the right reverend Prelate that a lot of work has been and is going on in relation to free school…02 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyMy Lords, I absolutely agree with the noble Viscount, and I have said many times from this Dispatch Box that, for many families, work is the best route out of poverty. Of course…02 Mar 2026HANSARDMesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2026My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords for their helpful contributions to this debate. I confess that I would miss it if we did not gather once a year to talk about the impact…02 Mar 2026HANSARDPneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2026That the Grand Committee do consider the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.02 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyMy Lords, my noble friend raises an important point. I assure her that the strategy, when it was being developed, looked at all children. We want to recognise the impact of…02 Mar 2026HANSARDMesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2026My Lords, I will also be asking the Grand Committee to consider the draft Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. The schemes…02 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyMy Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right about the importance of family stability; it is extremely important for children to grow up in a stable family wherever possible. He…02 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyI will say two things. Children did not fall into poverty overnight and they will not all come out of it overnight. Poverty has a range of drivers. We are determined not simply to…02 Mar 2026HANSARDMesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2026That the Grand Committee do consider the Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.02 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyMy Lords, the Government are using two metrics. We are using relative low income after housing costs, which is the international standard measure, but we are also using deep…02 Mar 2026HANSARDChild Poverty StrategyMy Lords, the Government are progressing urgent legislation to remove the two-child limit from April, which is expected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the final year…02 Mar 2026