Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a home responsibility protection qualifying year is deemed to have the same status as an earned income national insurance contribution qualifying year for assessing the required qualifying years for state pension contributions.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was available between 1978 and 2010. For people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2010, HRP reduced the number of Qualifying Years needed for a basic State Pension. Each year of HRP reduced the required number of years for a full basic State Pension by one year.
Since 2010, Home Responsibilities Protection has been replaced by National Insurance Credits for Parents and Carers. For people reaching State Pension age after 6th April 2010, all recorded previous years of HRP have been converted into years of National Insurance credits. For the basic and new State Pension, Qualifying Years of National Insurance credits have equal value to those of National Insurance contributions.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 frozen pensions policy, impacting around 48 commonwealth countries, in relation to the Government’s Global Britain vision.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The policy on the up-rating of UK State Pensions overseas is longstanding and has been supported by successive Governments for over 70 years.
There are no plans to change the policy. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide, and we continue to up-rate it abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so; for example, where recipients are living in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that provides for up-rating.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners living outside of the UK had their pensions stopped in the last six months due to postal issues and life certificate forms broken down by country.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
DWP does not maintain data regarding the temporary suspension of International State Pensions owing to postal issues, as this is not something the Department is able to determine.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 (a) impact of cost of living and (b) inflation increases on British pensioners living overseas in countries without a reciprocal uprating agreement with the UK.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
DWP does not make such assessments. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. Entitlement is based on an individual’s national insurance record. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years. We continue to up-rate UK State Pensions abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating. There are no plans to change this policy.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to support UK pensioners living overseas in countries which do not have a reciprocal uprating agreement with the UK.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. Entitlement is based on an individual’s national insurance record. State Pensions are up-rated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
This Government continues to take the view that priority should be given to those living in the UK when drawing up expenditure plans for pensioner benefits. There is information available in leaflets and on GOV.UK on how to claim State Pension from overseas and on what the effect of going abroad will be on a person’s UK State Pension.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 impact of the frozen overseas pensions policy on members of the Windrush generation.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is longstanding and has been supported by successive UK Governments for over 70 years. Up-rating is paid to UK State Pension recipients where there is a legal requirement to do so.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the request made by the Government of Canada for a reciprocal social security agreement including pensions in 2020 and 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 45728 on 17 September 2022.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his has made of the potential merits of Canada’s request to form a new reciprocal uprating agreement with the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 45728 on 17 September 2022.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for a reciprocal (b) social security agreement or (b) pensions have been received in the last ten years broken down by country.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 129841 on 7 March 2022.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason people in receipt of Employment Support Allowance contributions do not qualify for the £650 cost of living payment; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is rightly targeting the £650 Cost of Living Payment support at low-income households in receipt of qualifying means tested benefits.
Contributory Employment and Support Allowance is not a means tested income replacement benefit. Non-means tested benefits are not eligible benefits, but low-income recipients can claim an eligible means tested benefit alongside them. Many of those in receipt of contributory Employment Support Allowance are also in receipt of a means tested benefit. For example, as of November 2021 there were around 400,000 claimants getting both income and contributory Employment and Support Allowance, and around 100,000 claimants getting Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit.
In addition, individuals may be able eligible for the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment if they are in receipt of a qualifying disability benefits.
The guidance with the full list of support can be found at:
Overall government support for the cost of living: factsheet - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
People in receipt of Contributory Employment Support Allowance can also benefit from the support being provided for by the Government. This includes £400 of support for energy bills through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme and an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, £421m will be used to further extend the Household Support Fund (October 2022 – March 2023). Guidance and individual local authority indicative allocations for this further extension to the Household Support Fund will be announced in due course.
Further measures to help people with the cost of living challenges including frozen fuel duty, raising the NICs threshold, the £150 council tax rebates and the further rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour from April 2022.