Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total number of children who, between 6 April 2017 and 30 August 2018, experienced the death of a parent but whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) remains ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
No assessment has been made of the total number of children who experience the death of a parent between 6th April 2017 and 30th August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.
As part of the BSP claimant process, the number of dependent children are not captured, and therefore we do not hold the data required.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total number of children who experienced the death of a parent between 9 February 2016 and 30 August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
No assessment has been made of the total number of children who experience the death of a parent between 9th February 2016 and 30th August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.
As part of the BSP claimant process, the number of dependent children are not captured, and therefore we do not hold the data required.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total number of children who experienced the death of a parent between 9 April 2001 and 30 August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
No assessment has been made of the total number of children who experience the death of a parent between 9th April 2001 and 30th August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.
As part of the BSP claimant process, the number of dependent children are not captured, and therefore we do not hold the data required.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Supreme Court judgment [2018] UKSC 48, what assessment have they made of the impact on family finances of not providing retrospective Bereavement Support Payment to families where the date of death of a family member was prior to 30 August 2018.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Supreme Court and the High Court have declared the legislation governing Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) and Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) respectively to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in that surviving cohabitees with children cannot access these benefits.
The draft proposal for a Bereavement Benefits (2021) Remedial Order was laid before Parliament on 15th July 2021 and proposes to extend eligibility for Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) and Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) to surviving cohabitees with dependent children.
The changes proposed by the draft Order have effect from 30th August 2018, as this was the date of the Supreme Court judgment in the McLaughlin case. Where a death occurred before 30th August 2018, there can be eligibility for both WPA and BSP, but awards can only be made in respect of entitlement arising from that date.
The proposals in the draft Order are subject to a 60-day laying period during which comments are invited from parliamentarians and stakeholders about the proposals. These comments will then be reviewed and next steps considered.
An assessment of the impact on family finances of not providing BSP to families where the death of a family member occurred prior to 30th August 2018 has not been made.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Supreme Court judgment [2018] UKSC 48, what consideration they have given to providing retrospective Bereavement Support Payment to families where the date of death of a family member was prior to 30 August 2018.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial Order) 2021 was laid before Parliament on 15 July 2021 and proposes to extend eligibility to Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) and Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) to cohabitees with dependent children.
The changes proposed by the draft Order have effect from 30 August 2018, as this was the date of the Supreme Court judgment in the McLaughlin case and from when we became aware of an incompatibility. Where a death occurred before 30 August 2018, there can be eligibility for either WPA or BSP, but awards can only be made in respect of entitlement arising from that date.
The proposals in the draft Order are subject to a 60-day laying period during which comments are invited from parliamentarians and stakeholders about the proposals. These comments will then be reviewed and next steps considered.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British citizens in receipt of a UK state pension are overseas resident.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions without regard to nationality. In May 2020, there were 1,157,372 UK State Pension recipients living overseas.
These figures broken down by nationality are not available.
Source: Stat Xplore May 2020.