The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.
Thérèse Coffey
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
| Date | Type | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 25 | Oral Questions | Oral Answers to Questions |
| Jun. 25 | Urgent Questions | Universal Credit: Court of Appeal Judgment |
| Jan. 21 | Written Statements | Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme Levy 2020-21 |
| Dec. 08 | Westminster Hall | Future of Pensions Policy |
| Feb. 24 | Adjournment Debate | Social Security Benefits: Claimant Deaths |
A Bill To make provision relating to the up-rating of certain social security benefits.
This Bill received Royal Assent on Monday 23rd November 2020 and was enacted into law.
| Dates | Department | Title | |
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Published 14 Jan 2021, 12:11 p.m. |
Department for Work and Pensions | The Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 | |
| Under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 (c. 41) (“the Act”) lump sum payments may be made to certain persons disabled by a disease to which the Act applies, or to dependants of persons who were so disabled before they died. The diseases to which the Act applies are pneumoconiosis, byssinosis, diffuse mesothelioma, primary carcinoma of the lung (where accompanied by asbestosis or diffuse pleural thickening) and diffuse pleural thickening. | |||
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Published 6 Sep 2019, 3:01 a.m. |
Department for Work and Pensions | The Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013 (Remedial) Order 2019 | |
| This Order amends the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013 (“the 2013 Act”) to remedy the incompatibility of the 2013 Act with a Convention right. The 2013 Act removed what would otherwise have been a conclusive ground of appeal from Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants (“JSA claimants”) who had pending appeals against a penalty imposed for failing to comply with the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme) Regulations 2011 (“the 2011 Regulations”) at the time that the 2013 Act came into force. This Order extends to England and Wales and Scotland. | |||
| Dates | Department | Title | Type |
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Laid 21 Jan 2021 In Force 15 Feb 2021 |
Department for Work and Pensions |
Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment (Amendment) Regulations 2021 Parliamentary Status - Text of Legislation |
Made negative procedure |
| These Regulations are made in exercise of the powers conferred by section 8(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) in order to address failures of retained EU law to operate effectively and other deficiencies, in particular deficiencies under paragraphs (c) to (ea) of section 8(2) and paragraph (a) of section 8(3) of that Act, arising from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. | |||
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Laid 20 Jan 2021 In Force 6 Apr 2021 |
Department for Work and Pensions |
Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order 2021 Parliamentary Status - Text of Legislation |
Draft affirmative procedure |
| This Order makes provision under sections 14 and 15A of the Pensions Act 2008 (c. 30) (“the Act”), following the annual review of the earnings trigger and qualifying earnings band which apply for the purposes of automatic enrolment into a workplace pension scheme. | |||
| Current Signatures | Final Signatures | Title | Petition Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
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117,716 Petition Closed |
Make fair transitional state pension arrangements for 1950’s women Gov Responded - 27 Sep 2017 Debated on - 14 Dec 2017 |
13 Mar 2018 closed 2 years, 10 months ago |
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That this Government without delay recognises the need for a non-means tested bridging pension for women born on or after 6/4/1950 who are affected by the 1995 and 2011 Pension Acts and compensate those at risk of losing up to around £45,000, to also give proper notification for any future changes. |
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Department for Work and Pensions Select Committee Home Page
Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries, and the Select Committee will occasionally publish formal reports of their findings.
| Date | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 27 | Pension schemes and climate-related risks | News and Communications |
| Jan. 27 | Aligning your pension scheme with the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures recommendations | Guidance and Regulation |
| Jan. 27 | Taking action on climate risk: improving governance and reporting by occupational pension schemes – response and consultation on regulations | Open consultation |
Written Questions are submitted by Members of Parliament and the House of Lords to receive information or updates from a Department.
Departments are required to respond in a timely fashion and provide a response or requested information. Written Questions can compel detailed and specific information to be produced, and are frequently used as the source of news stories about the work of a Department.
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| 27 Jan 2021, 5:40 p.m. | Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham) | Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the letter of 15 January 2021 from the Permanent Secretary to the Work and Pensions Committee, in each month from August 2020 to December 2020 how many call attempts to her Department’s debt management service (a) were made, (b) were blocked and (c) were not blocked but were not answered. Answered by Will Quince - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions) The table below illustrates the extent of the telephony traffic in Debt Management since August 2020.
*Figures are rounded to the nearest 100
In November 2020, there was a temporary spike in the number of calls received due to the recommencement of debt recovery, following a pause due to the outbreak of Covid-19. It should be noted that the number of blocked calls does not represent individual customers and that the volume will be substantially distorted by repeat attempts.
We have since updated our telephone messaging and guidance for call handlers as well as redeploying trained staff from clearing work to answering calls.
In addition, DWP expects to deploy approximately 450 new staff to the network in the next three months. |
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