Oeddech chi'n golygu child benefit can?
Richard Thomson: ...waited to see what the Chancellor would drop. The backdrop is certainly about as far removed as anyone could ever have hoped it would have been going into such a crucial period. Not only is GDP per capita still not above 2019 pre-pandemic levels, but the UK is expected to suffer the biggest fall in living standards since records began in the 1950s. Most people are expected to be worse off...
Marion Fellows: ...energy bills. It is a top priority for them. At the outset, I would like to thank the many organisations that sent me briefings for today’s debate: Sense, Scope, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Mencap, Marie Curie, Age UK, and Kidney Care UK, as well as Citizens Advice, National Energy Action, Warm This Winter and Centrica—a record amount of briefings for me. Yesterday’s disappointing...
John Martin McDonnell: ...the day before, and it is not a novel playbook—it is one they have used consistently. It is the same old Tory strategy. First, there are tax cuts as a pre-election bribe, then it goes on to the scapegoating of some vulnerable group, before making ludicrous claims about Labour’s plans to try to petrify people into not voting for change. Even with the media that we have, I do not think...
Rachael Maskell: ...we have 14.5 million people on the edge, in poverty, in debt, struggling with heating, rent and food. And of course there was no promise of additional help today. We must remember that 4.3 million children in York and across the country now live in poverty; 18% of pensioners are counting the pennies to get by and we have a harsh winter ahead of us, with the energy price cap due to go up...
Jonathan Gullis: ...he wants to see us skilling up and levelling up the opportunities for young people here. The fall in the number of apprenticeship starts suggests that apprenticeships in their current form are not benefiting young people and helping them get into the workforce. We require businesses to invest in their existing workforce. Increasing the flexibility of the apprenticeship levy would help...
Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government why, from the next release of the benefit cap statistics, information on the youngest child in capped households will be suspended; and whether they propose to resume publication of those data in later releases.
Shona Robison: ...to recognise that and to change course. Our public finances have continued to face significant challenges from inflation, Brexit, the war in Ukraine, the increased costs of public sector pay and a capital budget that does not come close to what is required. Despite those challenges, I am pleased that, last week, the Auditor General for Scotland gave the Scottish Government’s accounts for...
Jenni Minto: ...I visited the exhibition. There were levels of serenity and acceptance, as well as the colourful clutter of Liz’s flat. All the other speakers have mentioned Max’s dog, Lily, and his great escape to be home with her. The other thing that really struck home for me was Andy’s Post-it notes and the connection that they gave him with his daughter and granddaughter. That was very, very...
Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children, and around £152 billion on pensioners. Of this, around £79 billion will be spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with...
Ross Greer: ...was launched. Every local council in Scotland signed up almost immediately, thereby making it clear that they were ready and willing to take in far more Syrian refugees, particularly unaccompanied children, than the Home Office would allow. However, the immigration debate at Westminster has been defined by a race to the bottom. Since 2010, the Tory party has become increasingly...
Wendy Chamberlain: Figures from the Trussell Trust show that food bank usage is at its highest ever level, and over the summer months a record 41,878 parcels of food were provided to 21,000 children in Scotland alone. Meanwhile, child poverty costs the Government £39 billion per year in poor health and educational outcomes. In order to tackle child poverty properly, will the Government commit to keeping...
the Bishop of Durham: ...-term decisions to build a better future for the country. I confess that I am struggling to see much evidence of that plan. To think truly long-term about our country’s future, it is vital that children and families and the environment are at the heart of every policy, particularly from the Treasury. Without prioritising investing in children, what hope is there of moulding citizens who...
Baroness Twycross: ...the Government are “continuing to roll out our mental health support teams in schools and colleges across the country so that 50 per cent of pupils are covered by 2025”. Place2Be, a leading children’s mental health charity in schools, is clear that by intervening early we can help prevent problems becoming more serious. How, then, is 50% cover by 2025 acceptable? Pupil absences are...
George Adam: ...responsible for such decisions. In fact, nuclear weapons were the subject of a members’ business debate just last week. On 4 October, the Government lodged a debate on the UK Government’s two-child benefit cap. Members of the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Conservative Party took part in that debate without raising any issues about the reserved nature of the topic. Some members...
Humza Yousaf: ...seek to expand that. However, we know that we still have significant challenges around poverty in Scotland. It is due to the Scottish Government’s actions, including the game-changing Scottish child payment, that an estimated 90,000 children will be lifted out of poverty this year. Instead of our having to continually mitigate the harm from Westminster—such as from the two-child limit,...
Jenni Minto: ...co-located specialist services so that they can get the best chance in life. We need to join up our policies and services, building a more strategic approach that is centred around the needs of children and families. That will build on so many examples of great collaboration, from the wonderfully fun bookbug sessions to the valuable and crucial care that we provide through our universal...
The Presiding Officer: The result of the division is: For 63, Against 51, Abstentions 0. Motion agreed to, That the Parliament recognises the need for an Early Child Development Transformational Change programme to build on the excellent and world-leading practice already delivered in Scotland, and to further act on the unique and critical period of child development from pre-pregnancy to...
Amanda Solloway: ...usage. The typical household was therefore paying £2,500 a year for its energy when prices were at their highest, between October 2022 and June 2023. To put that in context, the Ofgem price cap reached £4,279 for quarter 1 of 2023, which is what a typical household would have paid for its energy had the Government not intervened. Alongside the EPG, the energy bills support scheme...
Guy Opperman: The amount that can be deducted is capped and we have lowered the standard cap on deductions from Universal Credit twice over recent years, firstly from 40% to 30% in October 2019 and then to 25% in April 2021. DWP takes every care to recover benefit debt without causing undue financial hardship. Deductions are made under legislation and cover a broad range of contingencies, like the recovery...
Two-child Benefit Cap
