Oeddech chi'n golygu child benefit an?
Stella Creasy: The Minister will have heard the concern across the House about the Conservatives’ two-child cap on benefits. Because it exists, in the past year alone 3,000 women have had to fill in a form to admit to the Department for Work and Pensions that they have been raped and had a child that was non-consensual. That is more than the number of rape convictions under the last Government. Can she...
Lord Livermore: ...to say that many of the crises which we faced during this time were global in origin, but other countries faced those same shocks. The reason we in the UK were hit harder than comparative countries can be explained only by the choices made here at home: austerity which choked off investment, a rushed and ill-conceived Brexit deal and the disastrous mini-Budget, which crashed the economy....
Daisy Cooper: I congratulate the hon. Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) on an excellent maiden speech that highlighted the values of equality and fairness—principles that many of us can agree on—and on demonstrating his stamina by being the last Member to be called. With that level of stamina, I am sure that he will give the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) a run for his money. It is an...
Baroness Tyler of Enfield: ...be a gradual path. The Government have pledged to establish a fair pay agreement in the adult social care sector and improve working conditions. I welcome that, given that there are over 130,000 vacancies in adult social care. It is certainly to be hoped that measures in the planned employment rights Bill to increase pay and scrap exploitative zero-hours contracts will help to attract and...
Sharon Hodgson: ...for Brent West (Barry Gardiner) led the way on tackling with his excellent private Member’s Bill, which sadly did not make it. We will protect workers’ wellbeing by ending short-notice shift cancellations, and we will introduce the right to switch off, so that workers can enjoy a healthier, structured work-life balance—I think we could do with a bit of that sometimes as well....
Richard Burgon: ...misrule. We gather in this House after a period of nearly 15 years that ended with more food banks in this country than branches of McDonald’s, record numbers on NHS waiting lists, 4 million children living in poverty in the sixth richest economy on earth, rivers literally full of sewage and real wages lower than they were back in 2008. All that is before we get on to the shameful...
Graham Leadbitter: ...and for putting their trust in me for the years to come. On my arrival here, an amazing job has been done by the House staff, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and others, and I cannot thank them enough for the welcome that they have provided us as new MPs. I have a number of predecessors that I need to thank, not least because mine is nearly two constituencies rolled into...
Mark Durkan: ..., as MLAs, to reflect and represent the needs of our constituents. The publication of the June monitoring round yesterday, just three days before an election, does nothing to alleviate my significant concerns about the transparency and accountability promised by, and pontificated about by, leadership parties. Ironically, however, the less transparency, the more people will see through what...
Conor Murphy: In February, I outlined four key objectives for the economy, one of which is to increase the proportion of the working-age population in good jobs. Ensuring that workers and their families can rely on a decent and secure income is important in its own right. Good jobs also help to attract and retain people in the workforce, thereby reducing our high level of economic inactivity, and there is...
Gillian Martin: ...in a shared agenda to deliver net zero. As part of that, we will help businesses and investors through the development and delivery of our green industrial strategy, so that the people of Scotland can share in the enormous economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero. One of the key areas in which we are seizing those opportunities is in our vision for Scotland to...
Paul McLennan: ...climate means that it has never been more important to encourage and support people to access all the assistance that they are entitled to. In total, our investment in social security benefits and payments in 2023-24 amounted to an estimated £5.3 billion, despite the on-going pressures on public finances, the spending cuts, the cost of living crisis and the inflationary...
Mike Nesbitt: Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank all those who contributed to the debate. As many Members made clear, everybody knows somebody who has been affected — a friend, sibling, loved one, child, parent. I have spoken previously of my paternal grandmother and her slow, painful and, frankly, undignified death from bowel cancer. It impacts, as Mr McGrath hinted, on mental health,...
Ben Macpherson: .... I could say a lot about that, but let us think only about the journey of a young person living in Scotland, rather than in the rest of the UK. A young person who is born in Scotland can benefit from everything in a baby box. If they are eligible, they get best start grants. Their family will get more support with childcare. If their family requires it, the Scottish child...
Kate Forbes: ...criteria. It is important to note three things. First, the European Commission’s requirements are very stringent. Only a limited number of projects fit them, and the funding cannot be used for core services. Secondly, because match funding is required, it has not always been easy—especially for the third sector—to complete projects. Lastly, because partners have to commit...
Natalie Don: ...the many excellent contributions that we have had from members and which have been informed by research and evidence from Upstart Scotland. I whole-heartedly agree that it is important to give our children the best possible start in life, and I strongly support this opportunity to foster an open dialogue on the best way of achieving that over the longer term. I note the points...
Maggie Chapman: Poverty is a slow violence that strikes children and those who care for them in the heart and in their bodies, their minds, their hopes, their dreams and their futures. However, it is possible to change that for hundreds of thousands of children in Scotland, and if it is possible, we must do it. Rowan Williams, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in his afterword to “A Good...
Colin McGrath: The best involvement that children can have with social services is no involvement because it is not required. When we asked Professor Jones that question last week, he cited things such as the two-child benefit cap and the lack of a poverty strategy as contributors to the conditions that mean that children will require involvement with social services. What work is the Minister doing with...
Ciara Ferguson: The Committee for Communities supports the approval of the Child Support Fees (Revocation) Regulations (NI) 2024. The Committee considered the statutory rule at its meeting on 29 February 2024. At that meeting, Committee members were briefed by departmental officials. Following review and discussions, the Committee recommended that the regulations be approved by the Assembly. The Committee...
