Universal Credit is available for working households on low incomes. In 2026/27, most working-age benefits increased by 3.8 per cent in line with inflation, while the Universal Credit Act provided additional above-inflation rises to the basic rate. Together, this means that, from April 2026, a single person aged 25 or over is receiving around £295 more this year. The Government also introduced the Fair Repayment Rate, enabling around 1.2 million Universal Credit households to keep more of their award.

Universal Credit customers who are employed with earnings below the equivalent of working 18 hours per week at the National Living Wage receive regular support from a work coach to help increase their earnings.

The schools white paper, ‘Every child achieving and thriving’, sets out the government’s commitment to ensuring families are partners in their children’s education.

All parents should have the opportunity to engage fully in their children’s learning and development. Strong partnerships between schools and families benefit every child and can be particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The department is working with stakeholders to co-create minimum expectations for parental engagement. These will establish clear principles for schools, alongside clear and proportionate expectations for parents. We will support schools to put these principles into practice by sharing promising approaches and practical tools, drawing on the work of effective schools and trusts.

Most families want to be more involved in their children’s learning, but not all parents feel equally equipped to support their children’s development at home. We are therefore assessing the feasibility and appropriateness of developing a digital parents’ hub that would offer accessible, age-appropriate support and advice.

The department has published a new Enrichment Framework setting out clear benchmarks, with a simple structure to help schools and colleges evaluate their own provision and make considered improvements to their offer, including school trips, with a particular focus on accessibility and disadvantaged pupils.

The UK will join Erasmus+ in 2027, creating world class opportunities for pupils, teachers and other school staff across the country. Through Erasmus+, schools will be able to access funding for visits to partner schools overseas. These trips have a profound impact on children and the experience can raise pupils’ aspirations and broaden their understanding of different cultures.

The Government knows that many people are concerned with the proportion of their bill that is made up of standing charges – that is why the Government made a commitment in its manifesto to reform them.

Earlier this year, the Government confirmed its intention that the costs of the Warm Home Discount should be moved from standing charges to unit rates, better aligning contributions to policy costs with energy use. Also, on 26 June 2026, Ofgem approved the first zero standing charge tariff trial, with other similar trials being launched.

The Department supports low-income adults in work to develop their skills, increase their earnings and, where appropriate, retrain for new careers.

Through Jobcentre Plus, Work Coaches can help individuals identify skills gaps and access training, and refer claimants to a range of provision, including Skills Bootcamps, apprenticeships, sector-based work academy programmes, Free Courses for Jobs, and English, maths and digital skills training.

The ASF supports eligible adults aged 19 and over to access education and training up to and including level 3 qualifications where they meet the relevant funding criteria. This includes fully funding eligible adults in work but earning less than £26,800, as well as co-funding for those earning above this threshold.

Learner Support and Learning Support funding can help those facing financial hardship and people with disabilities or health conditions to participate effectively in learning. For people with health conditions, specialist support is also available through programmes such as Access to Work.

Through the Warm Homes Plan (WHP), the Government is rolling out cost-effective, clean energy technologies that reduce bills, including solar, batteries, and heat pumps, with an offer for every household.

Low-income households can access fully funded grant support through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund where the grants will cover the full cost of measures installed including heating system upgrades. A total of £4.4 billion has been put aside for low-income schemes up to 2030.

Additionally, universal grants of up to £9,000 are available for heat pump installations through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and the WHP also committed to a brand-new scheme offering low interest, government-backed consumer loans supported with £2 billion of public funding.

We’ve also expanded the Warm Homes Discount to six million households last winter and confirmed that level of support for the rest of the decade.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at the 2025 Autumn Budget, and a decision was taken that rates would be maintained at their 2024 levels for 2026/27. A range of factors, such as rent levels across the country and poverty impacts, were considered against the fiscal context and the level of housing support that Government provides overall. We continue to consider stakeholder analysis, including the recent briefing by Trussell, and monitor and assess the impacts of rent increases on households receiving LHA. This includes consideration of households in work and those who are retired.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviews LHA rates annually and future decisions will be based on government priorities, taking account of the challenging fiscal environment.

People facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply to their local authority for discretionary support, including a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment if in England, or a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) if in Wales or Scotland.

The government is committed to improving access to high-quality early education and family support, particularly for disadvantaged children and low-income families. Eligible disadvantaged two-year-olds, including children in low-income households, can access 15 hours of government-funded early education each week, and the ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ strategy commits to increasing take-up of these entitlements and improving access to family support through the rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, particularly in disadvantaged communities.

​​For Best Start Family Hubs, we have set a clear ambition for 70% of hubs to be targeted at the 30% most deprived areas in England. Guidance is clear that local authorities should develop targeted, evidence-informed outreach approaches to identify and engage families who are least likely to engage or at risk of poor outcomes, helping to ensure they can access the best start offer.

We want every parent who can work to feel the benefits of rewarding, secure jobs that enable them to get on in life and support their families. That is why the department offers a range of employment support to help parents overcome barriers to work and move into sustainable employment.

Parents who are receiving benefits can access tailored and flexible support through Jobcentres, including initiatives such as Inactivity Trailblazers in England and Wales, Skills Bootcamps, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes, the Adult Skills Fund, Connect to Work and Pathways to Work for disabled people or those with health conditions. The Department for Work and Pensions also deploys c.300 Family Community work coaches in England to help parents overcome barriers to work.

The Department for Work and Pensions Careers Service in England provides free, impartial careers support to anyone who is looking for work, who wants to get on in work, or who wants to change their career or retrain, regardless of whether they are claiming benefits. Careers advisers focus on providing in-depth guidance to those facing the greatest barriers to work or learning, including single parents with dependent children.

Financial support through the Flexible Support Fund is also available to help with the cost of interviews, starting work or up-front childcare costs. Parents in receipt of Universal Credit can also be reimbursed up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to the maximum amounts, regardless of the number of hours they work.

We are also supporting parents to balance work and childcare, including through the Employment Rights Act, which will strengthen the right to request flexible working arrangements from 2027, and through rolling out free breakfast clubs in schools across the country.

As part of our development of the new Jobs and Careers Service, we are reforming employment support to make it more inclusive and better tailored to individual needs. This includes improving the support we offer to parents to help them move back into good, meaningful work and progress in work. As part of the new service, we are testing delivery in community locations such as libraries, GP surgeries and Family Hubs. Our new digital tools, known as ‘Work Hub’, are also available to all, this includes access to an online AI work assistant, a CV builder and new job search tool.

It will be for Mayors and local leaders to decide whether to introduce a visitor levy, as they best understand which investments can support local economic development, including the visitor economy. This may include passing on receipts to local authorities.

Our approach balances local flexibility with simplicity and consistency for business.

Local decisions on the levy rate, any local exemptions and spending priorities will be informed by consultations, and will need to balance local priorities, affordability, and certainty for businesses. The precise impacts will depend on these local decisions.

These decisions will be made within a national framework which includes that levies must be set as a percentage rate, meaning low-cost stays stay low cost. Government will also work with Strategic Authorities as they develop their plans to drive further consistency and simplicity for business.

Our approach to caps is set out in the consultation response: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/overnight-visitor-levy-in-england.

There are more than 10,000 Church of England churches in rural areas and, through the National Society for Education, the Church is the single largest provider of rural and village education in the country. Churches and church schools often play a particularly important role at the heart of rural communities.

St James’s Church in Audley, as an example, provides a ‘Tots’ group for the local community. It offers an opportunity for parents and caregivers to meet and for children to engage in play and crafts. These opportunities can be formative for the children and enable adults to share experiences and provide mutual support.

According to the most recent Statistics for Mission, Church of England churches were involved in 31,300 social action projects, including lunch clubs, coffee mornings, parent and toddler groups and food banks. These projects offer vital support to people living in rural communities, where a lack of access to employment opportunities, poor transport links, and hidden homelessness can be particularly acute.

Through the Warm Homes Plan (WHP), the Government is rolling out cost-effective, clean energy technologies that reduce bills including solar, batteries, and heat pumps.

Low-income households can access fully-funded grant support through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund where the grants will cover the full cost of measures installed including heating system upgrades. A total of £4.4 billion has been put aside for low-income schemes up to 2030.

Additionally, universal grants of up to £9,000 are available for heat pump installations through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and the WHP also committed to a brand-new scheme offering low interest, government-backed consumer loans supported with £2 billion of public funding.

We’re also taking direct action to reduce energy bills including removing VAT charges on electricity bills, removing policy costs at the last Budget worth an average of £150 per year, and expanding the Warm Homes Discount to six million households last winter and confirming that level of support for the rest of the decade.

We recognise that long-term ill health is more prevalent in lower-income communities. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we are targeting health improvement activity and resources towards communities with the greatest need to improve health outcomes and support economic growth.

The Government's Warm Homes Plan, published earlier this year, represents the biggest public investment in home upgrades in British history, rolling out cost-effective, clean energy technologies that reduce bills including solar, batteries, and heat pumps.

Low-income households can access fully-funded grant support through the Warm Homes: Local Grant, delivered through local authorities, and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, delivered through social housing providers.

Additionally, universal grants of up to £9,000 are available for heat pump installations through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and the Warm Homes Plan also committed to brand-new scheme offering low interest, government-backed consumer loans supported with £2 billion of public funding, providing further help with upfront costs.

More widely, the Government’s recent Clean Energy public campaign showed a range of low carbon technologies including the likes of electric vehicles increasingly represent the more affordable and practical choice for all consumers, offering significant financial advantages over their fossil fuel counterparts.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 17 July in response to Question 18475.