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1,831 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHousehold Support Fund: Children’s Bed PovertyI am very aware of the noble Lord’s interest in this area. I recall the debate that he led on about three weeks ago, which I was involved in. I have very much taken note of his…21 Mar 2024HANSARDHousehold Support Fund: Children’s Bed PovertyWe are very alert to the issue of child poverty. Tackling child poverty is incredibly important, and we have set out a clear and sustainable approach based on evidence of the…21 Mar 2024HANSARDHousehold Support Fund: Children’s Bed PovertyI am well aware of the sensitivities if decisions are made for that particular time. We will have to wait and see. But as inflation falls, as in the good news yesterday with the…21 Mar 2024HANSARDHousehold Support Fund: Children’s Bed PovertyOf course I will take that point back, but the noble Baroness will be aware that much thought and work is going into this area. In terms of targeted support locally, she will know…21 Mar 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsMy Lords, parental employment plays an important role in reducing the risk of child poverty, and there are 680,000 fewer children growing up in workless households compared with…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsAgain, the noble Lord raises an important point about children, who are the subject of this Question. The latest statistics show that, between 2020-21 and 2021-22, the number of…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsI have given the Government’s view on this scorecard—and, by the way, it is a scorecard, not a report, we should be careful to say. But the noble Lord makes a good point. What I…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsThe noble Baroness will have heard me say this before, but we believe that the best route out of poverty is through work. We are committed to a sustainable long-term approach to…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsThe Government like to read all reports and regard this one with a great deal of interest. However, our argument is that it is hard to give these findings much weight, due to the…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationThe subject that the noble Baroness has raised is to do with temporary housing, and we appreciate that these remain difficult times and that local authorities are subject to many…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationAgain, I can say that quite a lot of action is going on this field. The noble Baroness started off by talking about families, and we know that children—who have been a theme of…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationAbsolutely. Although I do not have a particular answer to the noble Lord’s question, I have certainly been reading about some innovative programmes to reinvigorate properties and…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsThe Government certainly recognise and value the vital contribution made by carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to family and friends,…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationMy Lords, the Government recognise the challenges that local authorities face in responding to the increased demand for temporary housing. Our priority is to support claimants and…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsThe noble Lord is of course right, and I was very pleased to wind up his debate last week. Perhaps I can be helpful by saying that, compared with 2010, there are over 1 million…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationYes, I am very aware of the “essentials” argument that often comes up in this Chamber. I do not have any answer for the most reverend Primate except to say that we note the…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationWe have already taken some actions, and the noble Baroness will know that on 24 January this year the Government announced additional measures for local authorities in England…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationIndeed, and my noble friend has much experience in this field from her long experience in local government. I will certainly take that back: I cannot give any guarantees right now…28 Feb 2024HANSARDHousing Benefit: Temporary AccommodationThe noble Baroness is right that building more houses and finding more houses, including social housing but also in the private rented sector and for homeowners, is incredibly…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUNICEF: Child Poverty RankingsWe certainly know that it is prevalent, but I have already laid out the measures we have taken. There has obviously been quite a debate this afternoon about the statistics. The…28 Feb 2024