Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure
that (1) social, and (2) economic, inequalities are addressed in
their plans for economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic.
(Con)
My Lords, the Government have taken unprecedented action to keep
people in work and to support businesses since the pandemic
began. We are committed to carefully considering the social and
economic impact of new policies and to tackling inequalities.
Initiatives such as the Kickstart Scheme, the Job Support Scheme
and enhanced welfare provision continue to support people,
particularly those in groups at risk of higher unemployment due
to the pandemic.
[V]
I thank the noble Baroness for her reply. Given the multiple
layers of inequality that the pandemic is revealing, can the
Minister tell the House whether Her Majesty’s Government will
implement the recommendations made in the recent 10-year Marmot
review and set up a taskforce that will focus on understanding
the social and economic determinants of health from a holistic,
society-wide perspective?
(Con)
My Lords, the update to the Marmot review was an incredibly
important piece of work and the Government are committed to
tackling health inequalities. Indeed, a piece of work that we
have started since the pandemic is looking at the impact of
Covid, particularly on people of different ethnicities. That work
is ongoing and has revealed that while there are still some
unexplained factors, it is the socioeconomic ones that play a
major part in providing for different outcomes for people during
this pandemic.
(Ind
Lab)
The Government say they want to level up, yet the gap between the
haves and have-nots continues to widen. There are few areas where
this is more apparent than education. Unnecessarily lengthy
school closures have magnified the differences, as many predicted
at the time. Can the Minister tell the House precisely what the
Government’s new educational programme to support school-age
children from poor families is? How much is being spent on it,
over what timescale, and how is it being evaluated?
(Con)
My Lords, one of the best things we can do for school-age
children is ensure that they are back at school and able to stay
there, and that is our focus. To help those children who missed
out because of school closures during the pandemic, we have a £1
billion catch-up plan, which includes £350 million for a national
tutoring programme targeted at disadvantaged children. We also
put £100 million into remote learning to ensure that children
from disadvantaged backgrounds have free laptops and tablets, and
access to the internet, to help them learn from home.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, one matter that can be tackled immediately is that of
free school meals for kids in the holiday season. If Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland can manage it, why cannot England? We
also had long-term inequalities even before the pandemic. How can
one person be worth £7,000 a day, when another just manages to
get £7,000 a year? We need somebody like William Beveridge, who
led the great revival and change in 1942, which brought in the
welfare state and National Health Service. Will the Government
consider setting up a new commission that will bring about more
equality?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government will always consider new ideas to tackle
inequality in this country. The support we have provided to
people during this pandemic is unprecedented. Nearly £200 billion
of support has gone into people, the economy and livelihoods
since the pandemic began, and our support will continue while we
need measures in place to stop the spread of the disease.
(Con) [V]
My Lords, my noble friend answered part of my question in
response to the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone. But what
assessment have the Government made of the impact of the pandemic
on the learning and attainment of children from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds? How do they propose to reverse any
negative impact to ensure that these young people do not suffer
from a permanent socioeconomic pandemic penalty?
(Con)
My Lords, as I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, the
Government have invested a huge amount to ensure that children
are able to catch up on the schooling that they lost. We are
conscious that those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have
been affected most; that is why our focus is also on ensuring
that schools stay open while we deal with the rest of the
pandemic, and ensure that children’s learning is not interrupted
again.
(CB)
My Lords, UK inequality has increased greatly over the past
decade, in part because of the Cameron Government’s swingeing
benefit cuts as universal credit rolled out, as evidenced by the
huge increase in the use of food banks. As the Government review
this year’s benefit uplift, will the Minister attempt to persuade
her colleagues to take account of 10 years of real-terms cuts?
(Con)
My Lords, I cannot anticipate the outcome of future fiscal events
in this House, but I assure the noble Baroness that I will take
her contribution and views back to the Treasury to ensure they
are heard.
(Lab)
[V]
My Lords, in January 2019, the Environmental Audit Committee,
accusing the Government of turning a blind eye to malnourishment,
called for the appointment of a Minister of Hunger. In July this
year, the Defra committee urged the Government to appoint a
Minister for Food and, last week, before the FSM vote, the chair
of the Education Committee called on his party and Government to
come up with a long-term strategy to combat child hunger. If
building back better does not include one of the above, just what
is the plan to address the increasing inequity being forced on
the rising number of children facing hunger in this country?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government are conscious that families are facing
an incredibly difficult time at the moment, which is why we have
increased the generosity of universal credit by £20 a week. I
also remind the noble Lord that the Government have expanded
eligibility for free school meals: all children in reception,
year 1 and year 2 have access to free school meals, as well as
eligible students from low-income families in FE colleges and,
during the pandemic, children from low-income families who have
no recourse to public funds.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, rebuilding the economy post-Covid will largely depend
on schemes that are tailored to local circumstances and use local
knowledge. Does the Minister agree with the recent ResPublica
report, which argues that devolution must become the default
position of government and not be conditional on a centrally
determined local government structure?
(Con)
My Lords, I have not seen that particular report, but I will look
at it. The Government are absolutely committed to devolution,
both of power and funding, so that local areas can look at what
they need and allocate resources most effectively to support
local jobs and businesses.
(GP) [V]
My Lords, despite the Government’s best efforts, some people have
fallen through the gaps. Have the Government considered a trial
of universal basic income? This has been and is being trialled in
other countries. It really seems to work.
(Con)
The Government have previously had representations in favour of
introducing a universal basic income. It is not a policy to which
the Government are attracted.
(Con) [V]
My Lords, we seem to forget that this huge amount of money we are
spending will have to be paid back by the same future generations
about whom we are talking. Do the Government have any plans to
cut back on expenditure and to examine, for example, the triple
lock? It seems to exempt people in my age group from making any
contribution at all towards building back.
(Con)
The Government are conscious of this. We distinguish between
short-term help during the pandemic—where the extra support we
are putting into families and livelihoods will prevent the worst
outcomes that could occur during this recession—and the medium
term, when we will need to get the public finances back on to a
sustainable footing.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare my interests as in the register. Does the
Treasury know about the Ride Out Recession Alliance? This is
bringing businesses, communities and individuals together to try
to stop the mass arrival of homelessness in this country by
creating jobs and training. Is it also aware that the cost of
preventing people falling into homelessness is about half that of
allowing them to do so?
(Con)
I will certainly ensure that the Treasury finds out about the
Ride Out Recession Alliance, if it is not aware of its work
already. I agree with the noble Lord about the benefits of
preventing homelessness and many other issues. During the
pandemic we have increased the value of the local housing
allowance to help people stay in their own homes, even if they
have suffered adverse economic effects from the pandemic.
