Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing Statutory Maternity Pay to the level of the National Living Wage on women’s labour market (a) participation and (b) retention following childbirth.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has committed to review the parental leave and pay system. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements are in scope of the Parental Leave and Pay Review.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the offer of two seat convertible Mazda MX-5 cars as part of the Motability Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme.
As Motability is independent of government, the management of the scheme including the choice of vehicles rests with them and their respective Boards of Governors. We are however committed to ensuring that the Motability scheme is fair for both users of the scheme and the taxpayer.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has considered the potential merits of extending the access to work scheme to fund train tickets.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work contributes to the disability-related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. It does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.
The grant provides personalised support and workplace assessments, travel to work, support workers, and specialist aids and equipment.
Access to work funding is used to support people’s ability to travel to work, it can fund a support worker, such as a travel buddy, to help on train journeys. Access to Work pays for the practical support that enables a person with eligible disabilities or health conditions to travel.
Access to Work wouldn’t normally consider making payments to a customer if they can use suitable public transport but consideration will be made on disability, illness or health condition that may improve or get worse over time.
The support that a customer will receive from Access to Work is dependent upon their needs and circumstances at the time they make an application. Case managers will use the current guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58269 on Winter Fuel Payment: Rutland and Stamford, how many people will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment following the proposed changes in Rutland and Stamford constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is not possible to provide an estimate of such figures at a constituency level.
I refer the member back to the answer of 16 June to Question 58269 for further detail on the national impact of the changes to the eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a Commissioner for Old People in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department for Work and Pensions has no current plans to appoint a Commissioner for Old People in England. Employment support, through the creation of our new Jobs and Careers Service, will enable everyone, including older people, to access good, meaningful work and support progression into work. More details are set out in our Get Britain Working White Paper published last year and additional employment support for eligible older jobseekers is already currently available through our UK network of Jobcentres.
To better hear the voices of older people and further develop the reforms set out in in our Pathways to Work Green Paper, we are committing to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’. This will bring together groups of people, including older people, with civil servants to collaborate on discussions, challenges, and recommendations on specific areas of work.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2024 to Question 4548 on Winter Fuel Payment: Rutland and Stamford, how many people will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payment in Rutland and Stamford constituency after proposed changes to the eligibility criteria.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
From this winter, individuals with an income of £35,000 or below, will benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment. Winter Fuel Payments are £200 for a household with someone of State Pension age and £300 for a household with someone aged 80 or over. They will be paid automatically to anyone who has not opted out. Individuals with a taxable income above £35,000 a year will see any Winter Fuel Payment recouped via HMRC.
This means that the majority of pensioners in England and Wales – around 9 million individuals – will now benefit from Winter Fuel Payments.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory Code of Ethical Practice for pre-1997 members of pension schemes, that promotes (a) transparency, (b) fairness and (c) accountability in managing discretionary pension increases.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is important that trustees make transparent and fast decisions about discretionary indexation. Defined Benefit Schemes are regulated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) which has set out that trustees should consider the situation of those members who would benefit from a discretionary increase and whether the scheme has a history of making such awards.
Most schemes do pay some pre-1997 indexation, because of scheme rules or as a discretionary benefit. Analysis published last year by the Pensions Regulator shows that as of March 2023, only 17 per cent of members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests#f3a5fe60511a445f91112bd7dd8a64ae
The Government’s upcoming pension reforms on the use of surpluses in defined benefit schemes will make it easier for individual schemes to make decisions that improve outcomes for both sponsoring employers and members, which could include discretionary benefit increases.
These changes will be taken forward through the Pension Schemes Bill. TPR will be producing further guidance on surplus sharing once the legislation is in place.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending disability living allowance for children up to the age of 25.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through our Green Paper, Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, we are consulting on raising the age at which young people move from Disability Living Allowance for children (DLAc) to the adult disability benefit Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The aim of this proposed change is to better align the age at which young people first claim adult disability benefits with other key milestones in the transition to adulthood. It also aims to reduce pressure on still relatively young people going through adult PIP assessments.
The consultation question asks if the age for young people to move from claiming DLAc to PIP should be 18, and if not, at what age this should happen. We encourage the public to respond to the consultation. More details can be found at Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether existing Personal Independence Payment claimants of pension age who request a change of circumstances review from November 2026 will be required to score at least four points in one daily living activity in order to (a) maintain and (b) increase the daily living element of the benefit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper we announced that we will introduce a new eligibility requirement to ensure that only those who score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. This requirement will need to be met in addition to the existing PIP eligibility criteria.
Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.
In keeping with existing policy, people of state pension age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by these changes.
All claimants are required to notify the Department of any change to their circumstance, be that an improvement or deterioration in their needs. Upon notification of a change, a Case Manager will consider what further action might be required to ensure the claimant is receiving the correct level of support.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether existing Personal Independence Payment claimants of pension age with a planned award review from November 2026 will be required to score at least four points in one daily living activity in order to maintain their award.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper we announced that we will introduce a new eligibility requirement to ensure that only those who score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. This requirement will need to be met in addition to the existing PIP eligibility criteria.
Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.
In keeping with existing policy, people of state pension age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by these changes.
All claimants are required to notify the Department of any change to their circumstance, be that an improvement or deterioration in their needs. Upon notification of a change, a Case Manager will consider what further action might be required to ensure the claimant is receiving the correct level of support.