Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the State Pension age to 60.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has no plans to make such an assessment.
Changes to State Pension age were made over a series of Acts by successive governments from 1995 onwards, following public consultations and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament.
Further changes were introduced through the Pensions Acts 2011 and 2014 in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the State Pension over the long term. Under the 2011 Pensions Act the State Pension age for women and men rose to 66.
The rise in State Pension age to 67 has been planned since 2014. Since then, the Government has undertaken two statutory State Pension age reviews, one in 2017 and one in 2023. These reviews both considered whether the existing rules about the timetable for State Pension age rising to 67 remained appropriate.
Both reviews, including the Independent Reports that supported them, concluded that the rules concerning the increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 should continue as planned.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to undertake a review into the potential merits of issuing compensation to all women impacted by changes to the State Pension age.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) England have (i) applied for and (ii) received Personal Independence Payments for inflammatory bowel disease in each year since 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances and awards can be found here. The requested data can be found on the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset by going to ‘Geography’, ‘National – Regional – LAs – OAs’ and following the drop downs to the relevant areas. Similarly, you can filter for those with inflammatory bowel disease through ‘Disability’, ‘Gastrointestinal disease’ and selecting ‘Inflammatory bowel disease’. To further filter just for those awarded, you can go to ‘Clearance Type Detail’ and select ‘Awarded’.
A lookup which shows which Local Authorities are in Lancashire is available here.
Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) applied for and (b) received employment and support allowance for inflammatory bowel disease in (i) Preston, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) England in each year since 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to end the two-child limit for benefit payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No, there are no plans to end this policy.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of increases in child poverty levels in Preston constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 June 2023 to question number 188202
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of child poverty in Preston constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest available data shows that the proportion of children in families in absolute low income in the Preston constituency in 2021/22 was 21.9%, a reduction of 3.5 percentage points compared with 2014/15 (the first year for which comparable data is available) and a reduction of 0.7 percentage points compared with 2020/21. Absolute poverty is the government’s preferred measure as the poverty line is fixed in real terms so is not affected by overall median income.
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and their children.
From April, we uprated benefit rates by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels have also increased by the same amount.
With 1.08 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals, including parents, to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an ambitious package of measures designed to support people wherever they live in the UK to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.
We are investing billions in additional childcare support for parents of toddlers, investing in wraparound childcare in schools, and increasing financial support for, and expectations of, parents claiming Universal Credit.
This government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.
For people who require additional support, whether they receive benefits or not, the Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. For the period April 2023 to March 2024, Lancashire County Council has been allocated funding of £19,356,470.44 through the Fund. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) impact and (b) of women taking early retirement due to menopause symptoms.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect data on the impact of the menopause on employees taking early retirement.
Too many women feel forced either to leave work, reduce their hours, or take a step back in their careers, because of the menopause. In July 2021, the Minister for Employment commissioned the roundtable on older workers to look at the menopause and employment, emphasising the importance of support and understanding by employers. An independent menopause and the workplace report was published and the Government’s response was outlined. Alongside this, the Women’s Health Strategy sets out a range of commitments including encouraging employers to implement evidence-based workplace support and introduce workplace menopause policies.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 tackle situations in which benefits may have been wrongly ended as a result of a lack of medical evidence related to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chloe Smith
DWP is not aware that there is a widespread issue where claims have been wrongly ended as a result of a lack of medical evidence. It might be helpful to note that to ensure ESA claimants received their payments on time, there was an easement in place on the requirement for medical evidence from the start of pandemic until summer 2020, when claimants could not easily access GPs. A similar easement was also applied between 17 December 2021 and 26 January 2022, to allow GPs to support the Covid-19 vaccine booster campaign.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support she is providing to employers to help women considering leaving the workforce due to symptoms of menopause.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made on the economic impact of the menopause, but by retiring at 63 instead of 55, a female average earner that took a 10-year career break could have £180,000 extra income and might increase her pension pot by 50%.
Too many women feel forced either to leave work, reduce their hours, or take a step back in their careers, because of the menopause. That is why we asked the 50+ roundtable of employer organisations to look at menopause and employment, emphasising the importance of the provision of support by employers. An independent report is now published which the Government will respond to.
The Women’s Health Strategy will have menopause as a priority, and the UK wide Menopause task force will take a holistic approach to menopause care from healthcare to workplace support and education, enabling national coverage which will provide benefits at a local level.
Our 37 district 50PLUS Champions provide a local response, reinforcing Jobcentre Plus’s commitment to supporting over 50s claimants find and stay in work by sharing the benefits of employing over 50s to employers. Our champions utilise their knowledge and local links to support Work Coaches and employers to understand the characteristics of our customers and the issues that may affect them such as the impact of the menopause, helping them retain women’s skills and expertise.