Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the Welsh Government concerning Allied Steel and Wire pensioners; and what response they have made.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A significant number of Welsh Government ministers have written to the Minister for Pensions regarding Allied Steel and Wire pensioners or raised the issue orally.
Partly in response to Welsh Government representations, Budget 2025 announced that the UK Government will introduce increases on compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme that relate to pensions built up before 6 April 1997. These will be CPI-linked (capped at 2.5%) and apply prospectively (i.e. to payments going forward) for members, including Allied Steel and Wire pensioners, whose former schemes provided for these increases.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of autistic adults who are in full-time work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Annual Population Survey (2023/24) estimates that there were 788,000 people - 1.9% of the UK working-age (16 to 64) population - who self-reported autism as a main or secondary long-term health condition. Of which, 281,000 (36%) were in employment, including 163,000 (21%) in full time employment.
Source: Annual Population Survey - unpublished
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to review the pension provisions of the former workforce of Allied Steel and Wire; and what assessment they have made of the impact of inflation on those pensions.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Minister for Pensions has heard how members have been affected by aspects of the Financial Assistance Scheme, including issue of the indexation of pre-1997 pension accruals and we are committed to consider what we have heard on these matters.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to restore to their full value the pension entitlements of Allied Steel and Wire workers.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department recognises that the Allied Steel and Wire pension scheme was among the earliest of schemes to benefit from the Financial Assistance Scheme. The Minister for Pensions met with some Allied Steel and Wire workers and heard first-hand how members have been affected by aspects of the Financial Assistance Scheme, including the issue of the indexation of pre-1997 pension accruals.
The erosion of income due to the high inflation of recent years has led to this matter being considered by the Work and Pensions Select Committee (WPSC) in its recent inquiry into Defined Benefit pension schemes. On 30 April, the Government response to the recommendations in the WPSC’s report was published.
The government will consider and reflect on what we have heard on the issue of Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme rules on the indexation of pre-1997 pension accruals. Any change in this area has significant implications on public finances for both the taxpayer funded Financial Assistance Scheme and for the levy funded Pension Protection Fund. These are complex matters requiring a balanced approach for those receiving compensation, levy payers and taxpayers. This is an important issue and one where we will continue to work with the Pension Protection Fund.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure made under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 in the most recent year for which statistics are available.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Expenditure on the Pneumoconiosis Etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 is available in the benefit expenditure and caseloads tables: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The latest year for which an outturn is available is 2022/23, and this shows expenditure of £36 million for Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Written Statement by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 18 September (HLWS1021), following the Court of Appeal judgment of 11 July, has any implication for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The National Disability Strategy contains commitments from departments across the UK Government; where these commitments involve Reserved or Partially Reserved matters, there may be implications for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as is usual in policy changes on reserved or partially-reserved matters. Departments leading on such issues are responsible for engaging with devolved administrations as necessary on specific issues where the policy is not fully devolved.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with former Allied Steel & Wire employees regarding the non-payment of those employees' industrial pensions for the past 21 years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Allied Steel and Wire pension scheme was among the earliest of the major schemes to benefit from the Financial Assistance Scheme. The former Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman, met with members of the Allied Steel and Wire pension scheme on 16 June 2021 to discuss the financial assistance payments they have been receiving, in lieu of their pensions.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take in response to representations made to them by the Pensioners Action Group on behalf of persons now of pensionable age whose sponsoring companies closed in the 1990s through insolvency and who consequently suffered substantial pension losses.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The taxpayer funded Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) has been operational since 2005. It was set up to award financial assistance to members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes which started to wind up underfunded between 1 January 1997 and 5 April 2005. Since it was established, the FAS has been extended and improved several times, making the financial help more generous and encompassing more schemes and members. Therefore, the Government does not intend to take any steps in response to the Pensions Action Group.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 8 June (HL Deb, col 1312), what steps they are taking to prioritise, in addition to need assessment, the provision of specialist job coaches for people with learning disabilities.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The Department is committed to supporting claimants with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism move closer to the labour market or into work.
The increased number of work coaches will help the newly unemployed and also enable us to continue supporting those with complex needs, and to work with partners to ensure they get the help they need. People in particular disadvantaged groups will continue to benefit from support via the increased Flexible Support Fund and priority early access to the Work and Health Programme. In addition, claimants with learning disabilities are also able to access Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) if they are further from the labour market.
From April 2021, we have strengthened our Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) role to include delivering direct support to claimants who require additional work related support and advice above our core work coach offer. DEAs continue to support all work coaches to deliver tailored, personalised support to all claimants with a disability or health condition. Since May, we are increasing our DEA resource from 685 nationally with the aspiration to reach 1000.
We have a number of initiatives and schemes to support claimants with health conditions such as: