Lord Storey: My Lords, of course no child should go starving. Would the Minister not consider extending the coalition’s policy of giving free school meals to all key stage 1 children to key stage 2, and at secondary school—key stage 3—ensure that every pupil whose parents are on universal credit gets a free school meal?
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what role they have, if any, in the procurement of the new ferry boat for the River Mersey.
Lord Storey: My Lords, I will start with the police and crime commissioner SI. This is a sensible change to the legislation as it brings the legal requirements for so-called notional expenditure in line with the Elections Act 2022. Consistency of regulations across all public elections is important, hence our support for this change. However, notional expenditure is a perennial concern for election agents...
Lord Storey: My Lords, we welcome this SI. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Jones, that it is nice to have a policy background that is concise, well written and easily understandable to those who are not particularly knowledgeable in all social service matters. I also preface my remarks by welcoming and highlighting the incredible work and professionalism of social workers in our country, as he rightly...
Lord Storey: My Lords, noble Lords can go on to the charity Kinship’s website and look at each parliamentary constituency to see how many children are in care and how many are in kinship arrangements. In Liverpool Wavertree, there are 601 children in kinship care and 330 in local authority care. Does the Minister not think we need to ensure that all those children have the possibility of kinship care?...
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of data from (1) the Royal Life Saving Society, and (2) the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, that there were at least 50 water-related deaths between June and 16 August this year; and what steps they will take to enhance prevention measures for water-related deaths in the future.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the outgoing Prime Minister, Liz Truss, will receive the Public Duty Cost Allowance.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the value of the Public Duty Cost Allowance; and whether they stipulate how it is spent.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government who currently receives the Public Duty Cost Allowance; and how much they receive.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the terms of reference of the Strategic Futures Advisory Panel of Liverpool City Council.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the full membership of the Strategic Futures Advisory Panel of Liverpool City Council; how those members were appointed; and whether those members receive a salary.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government how local elected councillors engage with the Strategic Futures Advisory Panel of Liverpool City Council; whether meetings are open for attendance by elected councillors; and whether the minutes of meetings are publicly available.
Lord Storey: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, for bringing forward this regret Motion, which highlights important issues arising from the continued managed migration from legacy benefits to universal credit, and I pay tribute to her detailed knowledge in this area. As she said, the Government removed the need for the DWP to return to Parliament after 10,000 claimants had been...
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of VAT on defibrillators for those groups which do not qualify for an exemption; and whether they will consider removing VAT charges from sales of these devices.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the energy crisis on public swimming facilities.
Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to prevent closures of swimming pools, given that 60 that have closed over the past three years.
Lord Storey: My Lords, I sometimes wish I had the confidence and ability just to push aside my prepared words and respond to some of the comments that have been made. For example, the noble Lord, Lord Willetts, rightly talks about the continuing growth in university places, but he knows that that is driven by financial reasons in the main. There are more and more overseas students and universities—in...
Lord Storey: The Minister will be aware that, over the past decade, an increasing number of children and young people have been put in placements outside their home area—there has been something like a 28% increase. Just imagine the trauma and mental anguish that that causes. We find that very vulnerable children often go missing. It is important that children relate to their area. Rather than more...
Lord Storey: My Lords, the Minister will be aware that the current Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has a stated aim of ensuring that no child grows up in an institution. What help are the Government giving to ensure that that noble aim is achieved?
Lord Storey: My Lords, before speaking to the amendments, I want to quickly say how much I agree with Amendment 101 on British values from the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, and Amendment 105 from the noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst. I do not see it as an issue of culture wars or whatever—parents should see the material that their children are being taught. I am quite surprised that we cannot...
