Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of August 2019:
In the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency, since 2012, approximately 6,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,250 employers have met their duties.
Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink:
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with representatives of Paypoint UK to ensure that universal credit claimants without access to a bank account receive their entitlement without delay.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department’s standard method of payment for pensions and benefits is to pay into a bank account, building society account, credit union account, internet based account or a basic bank account of the customer’s choice. For claimants who cannot open or manage one of these accounts, or provide the details for their own account to access their payment, the Department can offer two payment exception methods: The Post Office Card Account (POca) and HM Government Payment Exception Service (HMG PES). These payment exception methods ensure that claimants can receive their entitlement on time via the Post Office network (POca) or PayPoint outlet.
The HMG PES provider is I-movo Limited. I-movo subcontracts the delivery of its counter services to Paypoint UK which operates a contact centre and a complaints process. These provisions enable complaints to be logged and monitored should anyone have cause to complain about the service received at a PayPoint location. All complaints are recorded and monitored through to successful resolution.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to protect people on benefits or low incomes who would be most vulnerable to rising food prices or food supply disruption in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government's priority remains securing a deal to leave the EU. We have more people in work than ever before, with wages continuing to grow. However, as a responsible government we have plans in place for a range of scenarios. The welfare system provides a strong safety net. A system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans will be available for eligible claimants who need them.
For new claimants applying for Universal Credit (UC), new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due. We have increased work allowance rates by £1,000 in April 2019 and they will be uprated in line with inflation in the future. This measure provides additional support in a package announced in Autumn Budget 2018, worth £1.7 billion by 2023/24, to some of the most vulnerable low paid working households.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the maximum target holding time is for calls to the Tell Us Once phone line.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There is no maximum target holding time for calls to the Tell Us Once phone line.
The average speed to answer from 2nd April 2018 to date is forty-five seconds.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who have ten year personal independence awards have had a planned intervention in advance of the original end date of their claim in each of the last two years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Reviews of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards, which can be paid at one of eight rates, are a key part of the benefit and ensure that claimants continue to receive the correct level of support. Planned interventions take place up to one year before an award is due to expire. PIP was introduced in April 2013, therefore no claimants in receipt of 10 year awards have yet received a planned intervention.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons personal independence payment claimants who undergo reviews 12 months in advance of their award ending have their payments stopped immediately should they fail those reviews.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Reviews of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which can be paid at one of eight rates, are a key part of the benefit and ensure that claimants continue to receive the correct level of support based on their needs. Planned reviews take place a year before the award is due to expire to ensure that the review is completed before the award goes out of payment. Following a planned review the existing award may be adjusted by the amount received and/or the award duration to reflect the current needs of the claimant. Awards may stay the same, go up, down, or cease altogether depending on the claimant’s assessed level of needs.