Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the extension of the Household Support Fund, when his Department will provide advice to local authorities on enabling public access to that service.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are providing an additional £500 million from April to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion. In England, £421 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund from 1 April to 30 September inclusive, following directly on from the £421 million previously provided from 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 bringing the total funding for England to £842 million. This funding will continue to help people who are struggling to afford energy and water bills, food, and other essentials.
Local Authorities have been issued with the fund guidance and the accompanying grant determination for the extended funding. Local Authorities have discretion on exactly how this funding is used within the scope set out. It is for Local Authorities, using their local ties and knowledge, to design local schemes that best meet the needs of local people. We expect local schemes to be available shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Northampton South constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of August 2019:
In the Northampton South constituency, since 2012, approximately 39,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 2,300 employers have met their duties.
Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf.
The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that that all Government Departments are committed to the Disability Confident initiative; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
All main government departments have signed up to Disability Confident and have progressed through the levels, achieving Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) status. This has included having their evidence externally validated by an independent organisation.
DWP is now working closely with these departments to ensure that all agencies and arms-length bodies are also signed up to the scheme and working to Disability Confident principles.