Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Pensions Regulator has issued guidance to trustees on the (a) financial and (b) reputational risks of holding equities in Hong Kong-listed companies named in overseas sanctions orders for human rights violations.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Pensions Regulator does not give investment advice, including on ethical grounds. It has not published specific guidance on these matters.
HMG offers Overseas Business Risk information for UK businesses on political, economic and security risks when trading overseas.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was paid in State Pension to people not born in the United Kingdom in (a) the most recent year for which data is available and (b) in each of the previous five years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department does not hold information on the country of birth of individuals in receipt of the State Pension. State Pension eligibility is determined by an individual’s National Insurance record.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will consider making provision for mandatory index-linked payments in pre-1997 defined benefit pension schemes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Members of these pension schemes are understandably concerned at seeing inflation erode the value of their retirement income.
Most schemes do pay some pre-1997 indexation, because of scheme rules or as a discretionary benefit. Analysis published last year by the Pensions Regulator shows that as of March 2023, only 17 per cent of members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests#f3a5fe60511a445f91112bd7dd8a64ae
It would be unreasonable to retrospectively legislate to increase the cost to schemes for benefits already earned, as these costs could not have been taken into account in the funding assumptions used to set contribution rates at the time.
The Government’s pension reforms on the use of surpluses in defined benefit schemes will make it easier for individual schemes to make decisions that improve outcomes for both sponsoring employers and members, which could include discretionary benefit increases. These changes are being taken forward through the Pension Schemes Bill which had its second reading on Monday 7th July.
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has expressed that trustees should consider the situation of those members who would benefit from a discretionary increase and whether the scheme has a history of making such awards. TPR will be producing further guidance on surplus sharing once the legislation is in place.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to enter into alternative dispute resolution following confirmation of the Judicial Review into the reasons the Government decided not to pay compensation to women born in the 1950s impacted by her Department's maladministration of State Pension age changes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has apologised for the maladministration and committed to learning the lessons from the investigation. The decision not to set up a compensation scheme is now subject to live litigation and the High Court has granted permission for a full hearing.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment she has made of the level of spending as a proportion of GDP on the state pension (a) other European nations, (b) other developed economies and (c) the UK.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is difficult to make comprehensive direct comparisons between different countries’ spending on State Pensions as a proportion of GDP because there are many fundamental differences in the types of system and the wider social and economic contexts. There are many factors to take into account such as different tax systems, cost of living, access to occupational pensions and their taxation treatment plus the availability of healthcare free at the point of use, other social security benefits and the provision of services and goods free to pensioners or at concessionary rates.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Independent - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of women born in the 1950s who have died since 17 December 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department has no such assessment.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government response to the Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer of payments consultation, published on 23 June 2025, what her planned timetable is for publishing further information on next steps.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Primary legislation is required to make the change to remove Direct Pay and reform the collection fee structure, meaning these changes will be subject to detailed parliamentary scrutiny. Our intention is to implement these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the provisions of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on eligibility for Personal Independence Payment on the ability of people who are (a) experiencing and (b) at risk of homelessness to secure (i) housing and (ii) employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I set out in the House of Commons on 1 July 2025, the Government has listened to the concerns raised by Members from across the House about the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Clause 5 of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would have amended the legal framework underpinning PIP assessments, specifically by implementing a new requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of PIP.
In light of the concerns raised, I confirmed during the debate that we are going to remove clause 5 from the Bill in Committee. (Hansard, 1 July, col 219)
Any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I shall lead, co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the list of professionals who have been given approved third-party status for the purpose of certifying claims under the non-consensual conception exception to the two-child limit; whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding that list to include more third-party professionals; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report by Dr Rebecca Hewer entitled The Rape Clause - How Health and Social Care Professionals Administer the Non-Consensual Conception Exception to the Two-Child Limit, published on 5 May 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to make these assessments. The non-consensual exception looks to protect UC child element entitlement for those children conceived non-consensually. The Department recognises the sensitivities surrounding disclosure that a child was likely born of non-consensual conception and has carefully designed processes to reflect this, including the use of a third-party model. Approved third parties have been chosen owing to their positions that already support individuals in sensitive circumstances. These are healthcare professionals, specialist support workers from an approved organisation listed on GOV.UK, or registered social workers.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is to process a Personal Independence Payment appeal in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The average time to process a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal for all PIP appeals in the South Holland and The Deepings constituency, since PIP was introduced, can be found in table 1 below.
Table 1: The mean and median time to process an appeal from time of registration to the time of appeal clearance in weeks
Mean appeal processing time (weeks) | Median appeal processing time (weeks) |
23 | 19 |
Source: PIP Administrative data
Notes: