Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Baroness Altmann, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to set a ceiling on the main and additional primary percentages, the secondary percentage and the upper earnings limit in relation to Class 1 national insurance contributions.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 17th December 2015 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to amend the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2013 to remove Listed Investment Companies from Alternative Investment Fund designation; to make related changes to other relevant legislation; and for connected purposes.
Baroness Altmann has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Following a compliant procurement process through Crown Commercial Services Tech Services 3 framework RM6100, the WP2083 Emergency Alerts contract was awarded on 10 October 2022 to Fujitsu.
2 suppliers provided bids for the contract to run the new emergency alerts system.
The Cabinet Office operates a triple gateway process of approvals to ensure compliance and transparency in procurements. All contracts are reviewed and approved by delegated Cabinet Office Commercial Heads and then published. All procurements over £10,000 are subject to Commercial approvals. All contracts are then managed by accredited Contract Managers in accordance with Cabinet Office Commercial guidance.
Contract agreements are published within 30 days in accordance with our obligations.
Separately, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (as was) issued contracts totalling £18.6 million to mobile network operators, as well as further spending on security testing and legal work.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Noble Peer’s Parliamentary Question of 27 March is attached in the answer.
The Baroness Altmann CBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
3 April 2023
Dear Lady Altmann,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what is the latest estimate of the numbers of (1)
men, and (2) women, employees who earn less than £12,570 per annum in (a) full-time, and (b) part-time roles (HL6837).
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) [1], carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. ASHE is based on a 1% sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs' Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. Table 1 (below) shows the numbers of (1) men, and (2) women, employees who earn less than £12,570 per annum in (a) full-time, and (b) part-time roles for April 20221 (the latest period for which ASHE estimates are available). As with any survey, estimates from ASHE are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Estimates of the number of employee jobs with annual earnings below £12,570, UK, 2022 [1,2,3]
Group | Number of employee jobs with annual earnings of less than £12,570 (thousands) [2,3] | Total number of |
All employees | 3,346 | 22,363 |
Male | 907 | 11,294 |
Female | 2,439 | 11,069 |
Full-time | 309 | 16,547 |
Part-time | 3,037 | 5,817 |
Full-time male | 134 | 9,856 |
Full-time female | 175 | 6,691 |
Part-time male | 773 | 1,439 |
Part-time female | 2,264 | 4,378 |
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
[1] Estimates for 2022 are provisional
[2] Employees on adult rates who have been in the same job for more than a year
[3] Figures for Number of Jobs are for indicative purposes only and should not be considered an
accurate estimate of employee job counts
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Baroness Altmann,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many people died from (1) influenza, and (2) pneumonia, in each of the last ten years; and of those, how many were aged (a) 60–69, (b) 70–79, (c) 80–89, and (d) 90–99 (HL5629); and how many people died from a stroke in each of the last ten years; and of those, how many were aged (a) 60–69, (b) 70–79, (c) 80–89, and (d) 90–99 (HL5630).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent annual figures published are for deaths registered in 2018[1]. However, we do publish provisional weekly deaths registrations, which are currently published for deaths registered up to 5 June 2020[2]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths caused by influenza, pneumonia and stroke are identified by the ICD-10 codes J09-J11, J12-J18 and I60-I69 respectively.
Table 1 contains the number of deaths involving influenza, pneumonia and stroke occurring in England and Wales in the years 2009-2018. This data is not yet available for 2019 and 2020. The finalised annual death registrations for 2019 will be presented in the forthcoming Death Registrations[3] publication, which we will send to you on 1 July 2020 when it is published.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number of deaths occuring where the underlying cause influenza, pneumonia or stroke by age group, 2009 and 2018, England and Wales[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Year | Cause of death | Age | |||||
59 and under | 60-69 | 70-79 | 80-89 | 90-99 | 100 + | ||
2009 | Stroke | 1,799 | 2,307 | 6,426 | 14,351 | 6,434 | 263 |
Influenza | 175 | 20 | 13 | 25 | 11 | 0 | |
Pneumonia | 1,131 | 1,270 | 3,727 | 11,238 | 8,372 | 701 | |
2010 | Stroke | 1,833 | 2,327 | 6,209 | 13,526 | 6,632 | 297 |
Influenza | 170 | 25 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 1 | |
Pneumonia | 1,034 | 1,310 | 3,509 | 10,592 | 8,416 | 742 | |
2011 | Stroke | 1,719 | 2,213 | 5,794 | 12,198 | 6,528 | 263 |
Influenza | 236 | 51 | 29 | 28 | 3 | 0 | |
Pneumonia | 918 | 1,173 | 3,360 | 10,453 | 8,919 | 698 | |
2012 | Stroke | 1,676 | 2,218 | 5,565 | 12,162 | 6,794 | 306 |
Influenza | 25 | 9 | 9 | 21 | 23 | 0 | |
Pneumonia | 839 | 1,171 | 3,352 | 10,588 | 9,559 | 769 | |
2013 | Stroke | 1,725 | 2,083 | 5,478 | 11,562 | 6,692 | 252 |
Influenza | 53 | 25 | 17 | 36 | 23 | 2 | |
Pneumonia | 828 | 1,158 | 3,371 | 10,552 | 9,728 | 832 | |
2014 | Stroke | 1,752 | 2,158 | 5,493 | 11,515 | 6,624 | 281 |
Influenza | 50 | 16 | 24 | 28 | 14 | 1 | |
Pneumonia | 1,015 | 1,340 | 3,495 | 10,144 | 9,016 | 761 | |
2015 | Stroke | 1,694 | 2,281 | 5,679 | 11,695 | 6,989 | 321 |
Influenza | 41 | 41 | 38 | 78 | 64 | 7 | |
Pneumonia | 1,275 | 1,513 | 3,815 | 11,286 | 10,425 | 860 | |
2016 | Stroke | 1,697 | 2,217 | 5,569 | 11,037 | 6,347 | 280 |
Influenza | 165 | 93 | 74 | 70 | 46 | 1 | |
Pneumonia | 1,288 | 1,643 | 3,859 | 10,455 | 9,509 | 697 | |
2017 | Stroke | 1,584 | 2,082 | 5,178 | 10,448 | 6,192 | 263 |
Influenza | 38 | 36 | 77 | 141 | 131 | 9 | |
Pneumonia | 1,043 | 1,381 | 3,603 | 9,912 | 9,455 | 667 | |
2018 | Stroke | 1,674 | 2,147 | 5,399 | 10,619 | 6,165 | 223 |
Influenza | 176 | 147 | 321 | 551 | 360 | 17 | |
Pneumonia | 1,283 | 1,574 | 3,984 | 10,513 | 9,567 | 610 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/deathsregisteredinenglandandwales2019
[4]Figures based on occurrence (death-date)
[5]Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.
[6]Influenza or pneumonia is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J09 to J11.
[7]Pneumonia is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J12 to J18.
[8]Stroke is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes I60 to I64.
[9]For information on how deaths are registered and mortality statistics are produced please see the Quality and methodology section
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Baroness Altmann,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people died from a stroke in each of the last ten years; and of those, how many were aged (a) 60–69, (b) 70–79, (c) 80–89, and (d) 90–99 (HL5630).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent annual figures published are for deaths registered in 2019[1]. However, we do publish provisional weekly deaths registrations, which are currently published for deaths registered up to 17 July 2020[2]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths caused by stroke are identified by the ICD-10 codes I60-I69 .
Table 1 contains the number of deaths involving stroke occurring in England and Wales in the years 2009-2019. This data is not yet available for 2020. The finalised annual death registrations for 2020 will be published in summer 2021.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number of deaths occuring where the underlying cause was stroke by age group, 2009 to 2019, England and Wales[3][4][5][6]
Year | Age | |||||
Under 59 | 60-69 | 70-79 | 80-89 | 90-99 | 100 + | |
2009 | 1,799 | 2,307 | 6,426 | 14,351 | 6,434 | 263 |
2010 | 1,833 | 2,327 | 6,209 | 13,526 | 6,632 | 297 |
2011 | 1,719 | 2,213 | 5,794 | 12,198 | 6,528 | 263 |
2012 | 1,676 | 2,218 | 5,565 | 12,162 | 6,794 | 306 |
2013 | 1,725 | 2,083 | 5,478 | 11,562 | 6,692 | 252 |
2014 | 1,752 | 2,158 | 5,493 | 11,515 | 6,624 | 281 |
2015 | 1,694 | 2,281 | 5,679 | 11,695 | 6,989 | 321 |
2016 | 1,697 | 2,217 | 5,569 | 11,037 | 6,347 | 280 |
2017 | 1,584 | 2,082 | 5,178 | 10,448 | 6,192 | 263 |
2018 | 1,674 | 2,147 | 5,399 | 10,619 | 6,165 | 223 |
2019 | 1,569 | 2,011 | 5,247 | 9,874 | 5,793 | 231 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
[3]Figures based on occurrence (death-date)
[4]Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.
[5]Stroke is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes I60 to I64.
[6]For information on how deaths are registered and mortality statistics are produced please see the Quality and methodology section
Our £13.6bn business rates package announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement will help retailers and small businesses. This comes after the Government reversed the Health and Social Care Levy, enabling smaller firms to reduce their National Insurance bills even further by increasing the Employment Allowance.
Furthermore, on 9 January, the Government announced the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Under the new scheme, eligible non-domestic customers receive a per-unit discount to their energy bills during the 12-month period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, subject to a threshold level of £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh of electricity.
The Government will bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
Energy suppliers are obligated by the conditions of their licence to ensure vulnerable consumers know how to use, and benefit from, their smart metering system. Any information provided must be available in a variety of formats, tailored for groups with specific needs. The energy regulator Ofgem is responsible for ensuring energy suppliers comply with their regulatory obligations.
An In-Home Display can be located in a position of the customer’s choosing within the home, in range of the meter’s communications hub, from which it receives information on energy consumption and costs.
The Government is moving forward with discussions on the UK’s involvement in Horizon Europe and hope these will be successful. That is the UK’s preference. While the Government hopes negotiations will be successful, participation must work for UK researchers, businesses and taxpayers.
Talks are ongoing and therefore a deal has not yet been agreed. A deadline for these talks has not been set but to provide the industry with certainty, the UK must come to a resolution as quickly as possible. The Government has set out Pioneer, the UK’s bold alternative, which it is ready to implement if association cannot be secured.
Data on smartphone use, Wi-Fi and internet access is collected by the Office of Communications and the Office for National Statistics.
According to Ofcom data, in 2020, the vast majority (85%) of all adults used a smartphone. This rose to more than nine in ten for those aged 16-54. Use was lower for those aged 65+ (55%), who were more likely than average (29%) to use a mobile device that wasn’t a smartphone. The smartphone was the device most likely to be used by people to go online; 85% of internet users used it for this purpose. Older internet users, aged 65+, were less likely to go online via most devices asked about, and in particular, they were less likely to have adopted smart technology, such as a smartphone.
ONS data indicates that 92% of adults in the UK were recent internet users in 2020, up from 91% in 2019. Almost all adults aged 16 to 44 years in the UK were recent internet users (99%), compared with 54% of adults aged 75 years and over. While there has been little change in internet use for adults aged 16 to 44 years in recent years, the proportion of those aged 75 years and over who are recent internet users nearly doubled since 2013, from 29%, to 54% in 2020. 6.3% of adults in the UK had never used the internet in 2020, down from 7.5% in 2019.
Data on smartphone use, Wi-Fi and internet access is collected by the Office of Communications and the Office for National Statistics.
According to Ofcom data, in 2020, the vast majority (85%) of all adults used a smartphone. This rose to more than nine in ten for those aged 16-54. Use was lower for those aged 65+ (55%), who were more likely than average (29%) to use a mobile device that wasn’t a smartphone. The smartphone was the device most likely to be used by people to go online; 85% of internet users used it for this purpose. Older internet users, aged 65+, were less likely to go online via most devices asked about, and in particular, they were less likely to have adopted smart technology, such as a smartphone.
ONS data indicates that 92% of adults in the UK were recent internet users in 2020, up from 91% in 2019. Almost all adults aged 16 to 44 years in the UK were recent internet users (99%), compared with 54% of adults aged 75 years and over. While there has been little change in internet use for adults aged 16 to 44 years in recent years, the proportion of those aged 75 years and over who are recent internet users nearly doubled since 2013, from 29%, to 54% in 2020. 6.3% of adults in the UK had never used the internet in 2020, down from 7.5% in 2019.
There are no plans to do this.
As the expert independent regulator, Ofgem is responsible for operating the price cap. Ofgem remains the sole decision-maker over how it is calculated and has consulted extensively on its methodology for determining the cap level. The Government has confidence in Ofgem to set the cap at a level that reflects the underlying efficient costs of supplying energy.
The price cap was never intended to be a permanent feature of the market. As announced in the Autumn Statement, we are developing a new approach to protecting consumers’ energy prices from April 2024.
The costs of failed energy firms have contributed to an increase in standing charges. The energy regulator, Ofgem, reviewed whether the existing fixed charge was appropriate or whether a usage-based (volumetric) alternative would be more suitable.
Ofgem concluded that while some low consuming users, some of whom may be vulnerable, might benefit from change, there are a number of higher consuming users including vulnerable users that would pay more.
Ofgem’s current methodology protects users with greater energy needs, such as disabled users and users with electric heating in areas off the gas grid.
The maximum standing charge is limited by the Ofgem price cap. Ofgem reviewed the components of the standing charge in the Summer of 2022 and concluded that maintaining the existing methodology would protect consumers with the greatest energy needs.
Standing charges vary by region, billing method and energy type and range from approximately £99 to £205. In figures published by Ofgem in November 2022, Supplier of Last Resort costs (for those customers whose provider ceases trading) accounts for £61 in the average customer’s energy bill.
Ofgem rules include an Ability to Pay Principle that requires suppliers to provide appropriate support for those struggling to pay their bills. Support may include setting up appropriate repayment plans based on a customer’s ability to pay, and by directing the customer to further support services.
Ofgem is responsible for ensuring licensed energy suppliers are complying with their licence conditions. Ofgem publishes details of its compliance and enforcement action on its website.
As of 18 November 2020, 42,507 grant applications have been received for the Green Homes Grant scheme, with 5,928 application from landlords and the remaining 36,579 from owner-occupiers.
As part of the scheme application process, landlords are not asked to declare if they let their property to private residential or social tenants. Therefore we are unable to provide information on the number of applications received, at this level of granularity.
It is against the law to discriminate against someone because of their age or because of being pregnant or on maternity leave.
Under Health and Safety legislation, employers have a legal responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety. They should do everything reasonably practicable to minimise the risks. Clinically vulnerable individuals, who are at higher risk of severe illness, have been asked to take extra care in observing social distancing and should be helped to work from home, either in their current role or in an alternative role.
If clinically vulnerable individuals cannot work from home, they should be offered the option of the safest available on site roles, enabling them to stay 2m away from others. The Health and Safety risk assessment should reflect this.
The Health and Safety Executive has guidance for business on how to manage risk and risk assessment at work along with specific advice to help control the risk of coronavirus in workplaces.
At present, 94% of UK households have internet access and Her Majesty’s Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. Today, 69% of premises can access gigabit-capable broadband, up from just 9% in November 2019.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold information broken down by the specific age brackets registered.
According to 2021 Ofcom data, the percentage of those without internet access in their own home is (1) 1% for 18 - 24 year olds; (2) 0% for 25 - 34 year olds; (3) 3% for 35 - 44 year olds; (4) 2% for 45 - 54 year olds; (5) 3% for 55 - 64 year olds; and (6) 20% for those aged 65+.
In addition, the Office for National Statistics releases information relating to internet access across the UK. Its most recent release was in April 2021.
According to Ofcom’s Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes report’, published in April 2021, smartphone usage by the following age categories was: 16-24 (96%), 25-34 (96%), 35-44 (96%), 45-54 (94%), 55-64 (86%), 65+ (55%).
My department has been considering how online advertising is regulated through its Online Advertising Programme, and will be consulting on this issue later this year. The government will set out its plans in the consultation.
Our aim is to foster fair, accountable and ethical online advertising that works for citizens, businesses and society as a whole. In particular, we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers have limited exposure to harmful or misleading advertising.
As part of our departure from the EU HM Treasury removed an exemption to the financial promotions regime available to online platforms for incoming electronic communications from the EU.
As a result of that change, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking at the operations of the major online platforms to determine whether their communication of financial promotion is subject to the financial promotions restriction, and if so, whether they are compliant. Where they are not, the FCA will take action to ensure consumers are protected. HM Treasury is supporting the FCA in these conversations going forward.
The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants estimates that the mortality burden of the air pollution mixture (based on both PM2.5 and NO2) in the UK is equivalent to 28,000 to 36,000 deaths per year. Mortality burden is a statistical way of assessing the impact of diseases and pollution. The equivalent figures at a monthly or quarterly period are not available.
Public Health England has, however, estimated the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution at local authority level in the Public Health Outcomes Framework. This is available to view and search online at: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework.
No UK aid is used for payments to prisoners or their families or the so called Martyrs Fund. Our financial support to the Palestinian Authority health and education sectors goes into a dedicated bank account and is only paid to individual workers carefully vetted through the PEGASE mechanism (Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism). Each payment is independently audited to ensure it has been received by the intended recipient.
As is standard practice for all DFID programmes, we assess value for money for the UK taxpayer annually through our review process. Last year UK aid enabled 26,000 young Palestinians in the West Bank to get an education, delivered 3,300 MMR vaccinations for children and enabled 111,000 medical consultations. This is an important contribution towards supporting a stable Palestinian Authority (PA) that can deliver essential services to Palestinians and act as an effective partner for peace with Israel.
The UK’s aviation sector largely operates in a competitive private market. Government’s role is primarily to develop and implement the regulatory and policy frameworks that have helped to shape this world-leading sector. Last year we published Flightpath to the Future to set out how we will work with the sector to help it grow and return to pre-pandemic levels of demand and profitability.
The Government recognises how our extensive airport network can act as a catalyst for national and local benefits. In April, we introduced a 50% cut in domestic Air Passenger Duty (APD) to help bolster domestic connectivity, while further aligning APD with UK environmental objectives by adding a new ultra-long-haul distance band.
Although there are no plans to introduce a scheme for Duty-free on arrival stores, the Government does keep all taxes under review. On 1 January 2021, the Government did extend duty-free sales to EU-bound passengers for the first time in over 20 years. This is a significant boost to all airports and international rail terminals in England, Scotland and Wales, including smaller regional airports and rail hubs, which have not been able to offer duty-free to the EU before.
Responsibility for traffic management on local roads rests with the relevant local authority, as they are best placed to consider how local needs can be effectively met. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide on the nature and scope of parking policies including the operation of any pay to park schemes in their area. The Department does not hold information on local parking schemes of this nature in England and, because parking is a devolved matter, not for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The number of killed and seriously injured casualties in reported road accidents as reported by the police to DfT, by casualty class in Great Britain, between 2009 and 2018 can be found in the below table:
Reported road casualties, by severity and casualty class, Great Britain, 2009-20181,2 | |||||||||||
Casualty Class3 | Severity | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Driver or rider | Killed | 1,321 | 1,148 | 1,151 | 1,041 | 1,041 | 1,065 | 1,068 | 1,055 | 1,049 | 1,062 |
Driver or rider | Seriously injured (unadjusted) | 15,004 | 13,748 | 14,259 | 14,060 | 13,517 | 14,525 | 14,032 | 15,345 | 15,601 | 15,987 |
Passenger | Killed | 401 | 297 | 297 | 293 | 274 | 264 | 254 | 289 | 274 | 266 |
Passenger | Seriously injured (unadjusted) | 4,141 | 3,712 | 3,409 | 3,420 | 3,142 | 3,219 | 3,172 | 3,616 | 3,636 | 3,742 |
Pedestrian | Killed | 500 | 405 | 453 | 420 | 398 | 446 | 408 | 448 | 470 | 456 |
Pedestrian | Seriously injured (unadjusted) | 5,545 | 5,200 | 5,454 | 5,559 | 4,998 | 5,063 | 4,940 | 5,140 | 5,594 | 5,782 |
Source: DfT, STATS19 | |||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. Figures for serious injuries are as reported by the police. Since 2016, changes in severity reporting systems for a large number of police forces mean that serious injury figures, and to a lesser extent, slight injuries are not comparable with earlier years. Adjustments to account for the change have been produced for high level series. More information on the change and the adjustment process is available in the 2018 annual report. | |||||||||||
2. The data includes all motor vehicles, cyclists and horse riders. | |||||||||||
3. Does not include casualties with unidentified class. |
The number of fatalities in reported road accidents in Great Britain by month and quarter for the last five available years can be found in the tables below.
Fatalities in reported road accidents by month, Great Britain, 2014-2018 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Month | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
January | 128 | 141 | 150 | 137 | 137 |
February | 117 | 128 | 133 | 132 | 121 |
March | 131 | 110 | 143 | 121 | 124 |
April | 140 | 134 | 148 | 122 | 125 |
May | 128 | 147 | 154 | 140 | 159 |
June | 160 | 139 | 140 | 142 | 129 |
July | 153 | 164 | 147 | 138 | 154 |
August | 146 | 161 | 158 | 167 | 157 |
September | 158 | 129 | 150 | 163 | 148 |
October | 145 | 155 | 145 | 196 | 186 |
November | 170 | 149 | 153 | 176 | 170 |
December | 199 | 173 | 171 | 159 | 174 |
Total | 1,775 | 1,730 | 1,792 | 1,793 | 1,784 |
Source: DfT, STATS19 |
Fatalities in reported road accidents by quarter, Great Britain, 2014-2018 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quarter | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Q1 (Jan-Mar) | 376 | 379 | 426 | 390 | 382 |
Q2 (Apr-Jun) | 428 | 420 | 442 | 404 | 413 |
Q3 (Jul-Sep) | 457 | 454 | 455 | 468 | 459 |
Q4 (Oct-Dec) | 514 | 477 | 469 | 531 | 530 |
Total | 1,775 | 1,730 | 1,792 | 1,793 | 1,784 |
Source: DfT, STATS19 |
The full weekly amount of basic State Pension would have been worth £139.10 in 2023-24 if it had been uprated by inflation (CPI) since 2010.
No such assessment has been made. The number of Qualifying Years required for a full State Pension strikes a balance between achieving wide coverage, maintaining the contributory principle and ensuring the overall affordability of the State Pension.
We have not made any estimate of the savings to the Exchequer of paying UK State Pensions in 2023–24 if a full state pension for all newly retired individuals required a National Insurance record of 45 years instead of 35 years. There are currently no plans to review the qualifying criteria for the new State Pension.
The full weekly amount of Basic State Pension would have been worth £138.05 in 2023-24 if it had been uprated by earnings, rather than the Triple Lock.
Estimates for Pension Credit take-up in a financial year are available in the “Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up” publication, which can be accessed on the statistics section of gov.uk. Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The latest estimates for Pension Credit take-up relate to the financial year 2019 to 2020. The table below outlines take-up estimates for this year, and the four years preceding:
Financial Year | Estimate of Pension Credit take-up |
2019 to 2020 | 66% |
2018 to 2019 | 63% |
2017 to 2018 | 61% |
2016 to 2017 | 61% |
2015 to 2016 | 61% |
Please note – methodological refinements have been applied to the data from 2016 to 2017. Therefore, comparison to previous years should be treated with caution.
The total number of self-employed Universal Credit claimants in January 2023 was 493,300. This has been rounded to the nearest 100.
The latest statistics published monthly on Stat-Xplore show that, from the 5.8 million people on Universal Credit in February 2023, 2.2 million were in employment and 3.6 million were not in employment.
Universal Credit is designed to reduce as household earnings increase, so the number of high income households receiving UC would likely be very small. The level at which entitlement ends will differ depending on individual circumstances and other unearned income.
As earnings information is only available at household level this has been provided below
In January 2023 there were:
Notes:
This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.
Following the successful launch of our campaign to increase up-take of Pension Credit, we have received an unprecedented number of claims. We have increased the resources available to process the extra volume of claims and have also adapted our claims processing approach, which has enabled us to improve productivity and clear claims more effectively.
We are now clearing more cases per day than we are receiving. We are also prioritising the oldest cases, and those presenting in hardship, to ensure we get payments to those most in need.
With these measures in place and, assuming the current volumes of new claims for Pension Credit, we anticipate that both processing times and outstanding cases will return to the levels we had before the recent three-fold increase in claims.
Successful claims and arrears will be paid accordingly to ensure all those who are entitled do not miss out.
For the benefits listed there are many different rates. The tables in the spreadsheet attached show a selection of illustrative examples for each benefit in both cash and real terms.
Child Tax Credits are administered by HMRC and are not a DWP responsibility. Rates are therefore not provided here.
The information requested is available on the MoneyHelper pension take up data dashboard, where it is published quarterly by financial year. It is provided quarterly by calendar year below:
Calendar Year | QUARTER | Telephone Appts Attended | Face to Face Appts Attended | TOTAL |
2018 | Q2* | 6,087 | 15,717 | 21,804 |
2018 | Q3 | 7,035 | 17,085 | 24,120 |
2018 | Q4 | 7,955 | 17,791 | 25,746 |
2019 | Q1 | 9,432 | 20,641 | 30,073 |
2019 | Q2 | 11,344 | 21,038 | 32,382 |
2019 | Q3 | 13,051 | 21,363 | 34,414 |
2019 | Q4 | 12,385 | 17,437 | 29,822 |
2020 | Q1 | 13,477 | 21,581 | 35,058 |
2020 | Q2 | 23,821 | 0 | 23,821 |
2020 | Q3 | 27,363 | 0 | 27,363 |
2020 | Q4 | 27,058 | 1 | 27,059 |
2021 | Q1 | 34,783 | 1 | 34,784 |
2021 | Q2 | 32,727 | 0 | 32,727 |
2021 | Q3 | 29,061 | 0 | 29,061 |
2021 | Q4 | 21,270 | 0 | 21,270 |
2022 | Q1 | 31,620 | 0 | 31,620 |
*Q1 data from 2018 is not available
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish data on their website, based on what is reported to them, on the number of flexible payments made from pensions, the number of individuals who have received these flexible payments and the total value of all flexible payments. As this includes all flexible pension payments, the data represents a proportion of payments made from trust-based Defined Contribution (DC) schemes as well as contract-based schemes. As of December 2021, 1.9 million individuals have taken 16.0 million flexible payments from their DC pensions since the introduction of Pension Freedoms in 2015.
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) publishes data on their website from trust-based DC schemes on an annual basis. This publication provides a high-level snapshot of the current landscape of occupational DC trust-based pension provision in the UK, including information on the number, memberships, and assets of schemes. The most recent publication is TPR’s 12th edition, DC Trust: scheme return data 2021 to 2022, which includes data captured since 2015.
Included in this, they report the number of members for whom each scheme is directly providing (self-annuitisation) or facilitating (lifetime annuities) annuity payments. At the end of 2021, there were 1,000 memberships receiving lifetime annuities, excluding hybrid schemes (which have a mixture of guarantees and investments), and less than 1000 memberships receiving self-annuitisations, also excluding hybrid schemes. Number of memberships, or number of pension pots, does not equate to number of individuals, as many people are members of more than one pension scheme.
The data in this publication from TPR does not capture all pensioner members, as some members will have retired but transferred out of their scheme.
Members who transfer out of a trust-based DC scheme and access their pension savings via a contract-based provider will be included in the data collected by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and published in their Retirement Income Market Data. However, data is not currently collected on volumes of members that transfer out of trust-based DC schemes with the intention of accessing their savings. The FCA data shows that from October 2015- March 2021, over 3.3 million DC pots have been accessed in the contract-based market. This data is presented in Table 1 and can be found on the FCA webpage: Retirement income market data 2020/21. This data is also provided broken down by year in Annex A.
Table 1: Volumes and proportion of retirement income products, October 2015- March 2021 (FCA Retirement Income Data) | ||
Product | Total volume | Proportion of all pots accessed |
Annuities purchased in period | 390,697 | 12% |
New drawdown policies entered and not fully withdrawn in period | 993,033 | 30% |
Pots where first partial UFPLS payment taken and not fully withdrawn in period | 130,247 | 4% |
Full cash withdrawals from pots being accessed for first time in period | 1,831,982 | 55% |
Total pots accessed for the first time | 3,345,960 | 100% |
*Volumes prior to April 2018 were drawn from a representative sample of firms. The FCA started collecting data from all regulated firms providing retirement income products from 1 April 2018.
The information requested is available on the MoneyHelper pension take up data dashboard, where it is published quarterly by financial year. It is provided quarterly by calendar year below:
2021 | MoneyHelper Pensions Helpline* | MoneyHelper Pensions Virtual appointments** | Pension Wise appointments attended | Pension Wise appointments arranged |
Q1 | 71,522 | 125 | 34,784 | 45,376 |
Q2 | 56,089 | 93 | 32,727 | 45,221 |
Q3 | 39,166 | 113 | 29,061 | 38,344 |
Q4 | 36,465 | 107 | 21,270 | 27,620 |
2021 Total | 203,242 | 438 | 117,842 | 156,561 |
*The Pensions Helpline is a general pensions guidance service that anyone can contact with any pensions query – this service does not require appointments booked and is delivered across multiple channels. As such, this data includes the following:
**MoneyHelper Pensions virtual appointments cover Divorce appointments, Mid-Life Pensions Review appointments for the self-employed, and Pension Loss appointments. Data on Pensions Safeguarding appointments has not yet been published.
2022 | MoneyHelper Pension helpline* | MoneyHelper Pensions Virtual appointments** | Pension Wise appointments attended | Pension Wise appointments arranged |
Q1 | 52,779 | 93 | 31,620 | 41,624 |
*The Pensions Helpline is a general pensions guidance service that anyone can contact with any pensions query – this service does not require appointments booked and is delivered across multiple channels. As such, this data includes the following:
**MoneyHelper Pensions virtual appointments cover Divorce appointments, Mid-Life Pensions Review appointments for the self-employed, and Pension Loss appointments. Data on Pensions Safeguarding appointments has not yet been published.
The below data on customer satisfaction is collected post-appointment.
Year | Customer Satisfaction |
2016/17 | 94% |
2017/18 | 92% |
2018/19 | 93% |
2019/20 | 94% |
Prior to the formation of the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) in 2019, satisfaction data was taken from the Pension Wise annual service evaluation and was not published quarterly. During this time The Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service, and Pension Wise had in place their own Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), along with different approaches to measuring performance. MaPS wanted to have a single programme measuring performance of their three service areas in a more consistent and joined up way. During 2020/21, there was no Pension Wise evaluation because MaPS were setting in place a new evaluation programme to achieve this.
Satisfaction data from 2021/22 is published quarterly by financial year on the MoneyHelper pensions take up dashboard. Pension Wise satisfaction scores for telephone appointments are provided quarterly by calendar year below – Q4 data is not yet available.
Quarter | Customer Satisfaction | |
2021/22 Q1 | 93.2% | |
2021/22 Q2 | 93.9% | |
2021/22 Q3 | 93.5% |
The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2021 introduced a double lock and allowed the Government to increase pensions by the higher of inflation or 2.5 per cent. From April 2022 state pensions will be increased by 3.1 per cent and this represents an additional £4bn spend on pensioner benefits in 2022/23. It should also be remembered that last year when earnings were negative this would have resulted in pensions being frozen, despite CPI being 0.5 per cent pensioners in receipt of state pension saw an increase of 2.5 per cent.
Pension Credit also provides invaluable financial support for vulnerable pensioners. Around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive some £5bn in Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income and is a passport to other financial help such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.
Local Authorities in England have discretion to design their own bespoke local schemes within the overall parameters of the Household Support Fund, with support primarily focused on food, energy & water bills and wider essentials. Up to 50 per cent of the Fund is available for councils to spend on households without children, including those of State Pension age.
Other support for pensioners includes Winter Fuel Payments which continue to be payable to customers of State Pension age. We pay £200 to households with a customer aged between 66 and 79 and £300 to a household with someone aged 80 or over. We pay over 11 million winter fuel payments annually at a cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.
Cold Weather Payments are also available and help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet additional heating costs, during periods of unseasonably cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. This includes older people in receipt of Pension Credit.
The Warm Home Discount Scheme provides those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit a discount of £140 on their energy bill providing their supplier is part of the scheme. There are now 200 thousand fewer pensioners in absolute poverty (both before and after housing costs) than in 2009/10.
There are now 200 thousand fewer pensioners in absolute poverty (both before and after housing costs) than in 2009/10.
We have deployed significant additional resource into the processing of new State Pension claims, the payment of which was particularly affected by the impact of the pandemic.
As a result, all claims received by DWP for UK State Pension should be paid on time, other than for those customers where further information is required, or evidence is awaited. State Pension is paid in arrears and, in most instances, the first payment will be due four weeks after the customer’s 66th Birthday.
I refer you to the information published on gov.uk on 22 October 2021. Please see attached document.
The information requested is not normally held as part of normal business and cannot be provided as this would incur disproportionate cost.
We encourage everyone to apply for the support they are entitled to. Information on how to make a claim can be found on GOV.UK.
The correction activity, which started on 11 January 2021, is identifying people over age 80 who may have been underpaid Category D State Pension in accordance with the law.
The law, which has been in place under successive governments, is that anyone who is not getting any State Pension when they reach age 80, is required to make a claim to get Category D State Pension (Social Security Administration Act 1992 (Section 1)). There is information on how to make a claim on GOV.UK.
The Department strives every day to deliver the highest possible customer service to millions of people we support.
It is not possible to comment on substantive assertions.
Department staff receive comprehensive training to ensure that they provide customers with accurate information. If a customer feels that we may have given inaccurate information, we will investigate this thoroughly.
The Department is delivering enhanced training for all staff dealing with State Pension cases and we have ensured that all staff, including our partner G4S, have updated lines to take when handling calls from customers.
As set out in the written statement of 4th March 2021, laid in both Houses, the Department IT systems produce an electronic prompt to consider if an individual’s State Pension amount should be increased. The prompt requires Department Staff to take further manual action and, in some cases, this did not take place.
The Department is undertaking additional quality assurance checks to ensure that State Pension payments are accurate.
Where underpayments are identified, the Department is contacting individuals to inform them of the changes to their State Pension amount and of any arrears payment they will receive in accordance with the law.
There are now 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty than in 2009/10. The percentage of women aged 75 and over in absolute poverty after housing costs fell from 18 per cent in 2009/10 to 15 per cent in 2019/20.
The Government is committed to continuing to reduce pensioner poverty and Pension Credit has an important role to play, as a source of financial support for all eligible pensioners.
Department of Work and Pension Ministers recently met with stakeholders with an interest in pensioners’ financial wellbeing and the Director General of the BBC to explore opportunities to work together to support the promotion of Pension Credit.
The department continues to make the best use of all our channels to reach those who might be eligible as well as their family and friends. For example, over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain recently received messaging about Pension Credit with their annual State Pension up-rating letter. This highlighted that an award of Pension Credit can mean being eligible for other benefits such as Housing Benefit or a free over-75 TV licence. We also make use of proactive press activity and social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible.
Our online Pension Credit material on gov.uk has also recently being updated, providing helpful information on how Pension Credit can help pensioners and how easy it is to claim particularly with the online service we introduced last year which enables family, friends and organisations to help pensioners, including older women pensioners, make a claim.