Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to prevent companies sponsoring pensions from reducing pension indexation rates below promised levels.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Defined Benefit schemes are legally required to increase pensions in payment annually (for pension rights earned from April 1997 onwards) to provide pensioners with a measure of protection against the effects of inflation.
Before April 1997, there was no statutory requirement on defined benefit schemes to increase pensions once in payment, apart from any Guaranteed Minimum Pension element (paid in place of the additional State Pension) earned between April 1988 and April 1997 which must be increased by inflation capped at 3 per cent.
Defined Benefit schemes must meet the legal minimum requirements. However, schemes can and do make more generous arrangements through the scheme rules. If the scheme rules provide for increases above the legal requirements these increases must continue to be paid.
If a member thinks the trustees or sponsoring employer have acted outside the scheme rules, they can take the matter up with the pension scheme through the Internal Dispute Resolution arrangement the scheme is required to have in place.
If the Internal Dispute Resolution arrangement does not provide a satisfactory conclusion, they may wish to consider taking the case to the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how Serco performed against key performance indicators at the most recent performance review of their Restart Scheme contract.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her previous Question UIN 50919.
Cabinet Office Statistics publish some of the Serco Key Performance Indicators on a regular basis. The latest publication is available here.
Ongoing performance reviews have identified a need for performance improvement in the two Contract Package Areas (CPA) CPA1a and CPA6 that Serco delivers in. Therefore, the department has implemented intensified support and heightened monitoring as part of our established performance management intervention regime.
This activity incorporates more frequent and more senior scrutiny and includes requiring Serco to implement comprehensive action plans to address concerns, with the intensity of support and challenge increasing at higher intervention levels.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Serco's performance against key performance indicators in their Functional Assessment Services contract.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Serco secured the Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contract for Lot 3 (south-west England) through a competitive and transparent procurement under the Public Contract Regulations in line with Government policies. Serco strives to provide an excellent service to claimants and are held to account for their performance.
The contract with Serco is robustly managed to obtain optimal performance, with a dedicated performance management team monitoring performance on an ongoing basis. DWP does not use key performance indicators in the FAS contract; instead, we monitor performance through the achievement of Target Performance Levels (TPLs) and Volume Clearance Targets (VCTs). As the contract is still relatively new, we do not yet have sufficient data to share a full assessment of Serco's performance. However, plans are being developed for a routine statistics publication.
We are working hard to ensure all services are delivered to a high standard for customers and we have sufficient controls in place to quickly identify any future deterioration.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Serco's performance against key performance indicators in the Restart Scheme contract.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Serco’s performance against the contracted Key Performance Indicators has been varied. As part of our established performance management intervention regime, the department has therefore implemented intensified support and heightened monitoring for the two Contract Package Areas in which Serco delivers.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Office for National Statistics' data entitled The night-time economy, UK: 2022, published on 24 January 2023, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the health and safety of the 76,300 workers in Lambeth identified as working at night.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 all employers have a duty, so far as it is reasonably practicable, to protect the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees. Specifically, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess health and safety risks to employees and to put in place arrangements to control those risks. This applies to all employers in Great Britain.
Having considered the impact of shift work on health and safety, Health and Safety Executive has published guidance for employers to support them in managing the risk (Managing shift work [HSG 256]). Therefore, if an employer assesses shift work as a risk they should introduce control measures including those outlined in the guidance.
The Government recognises that night working can increase stress levels and can have an impact on both physical and mental health. In Great Britain, working hours, including working at night, are governed by the Working Time Regulations (WTR). These provide protections to night time workers including by establishing the maximum working hours and minimum rest breaks that workers are entitled to.
Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. The frequency of the health assessment should be guided by an assessment of the specific risks to each individual worker.
A record of the health assessments and the dates when assessments were offered must be kept by the employer. If a worker suffers from health problems that are caused or made worse by night work, employers must offer suitable other work where possible.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to (a) understand and (b) mitigate the negative effects of night shift work on maternal health.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Reducing ill health at work is an important area of focus for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as outlined in their strategic objectives. One of the ways this is achieved is supporting employers to protect their workers’ health and keep them in the workforce. Having considered the impact of shift work on health and safety, HSE has published guidance for employers to support them in managing the risk (Managing shift work [HSG 256]).
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 all employers have a duty, so far as it is reasonably practicable, to protect the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees. Specifically, the The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess health and safety risks to employees and to put in place arrangements to control those risks. Therefore, if an employer assesses shift work as a risk they should introduce control measures including those outlined in the guidance.
In addition, employers have a specific responsibility to complete an individual risk assessment for workers who are pregnant, are breastfeeding, or have given birth in the last 6 months. They must review the existing general risk management and controls for pregnant workers and new mothers and discuss any concerns they have about how their work could affect their pregnancy. Employers must also account of any medical recommendations provided by their doctor or midwife. The individual risk assessment should then be regularly reviewed.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) restricting eligibility for PIP, (b) reducing the health component of Universal Credit and (c) removing the health component of Universal Credit for 18-21 year olds on the unemployment rate.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 increase the take up of benefits in households with children in poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the time horizon, will be set out in the strategy publication.
We recognise the critical role Universal Credit has to play in tackling poverty and making work pay. The Department provides extensive information on Universal Credit on Gov.uk that supports claimants to identify what support may be available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the child poverty strategy will include the removal of the (a) two-child limit and (b) benefit cap.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the time horizon, will be set out in the strategy publication.
We recognise the critical role Universal Credit has to play in tackling poverty and making work pay. The Department provides extensive information on Universal Credit on Gov.uk that supports claimants to identify what support may be available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the child poverty strategy will set longer term goals beyond the next 10 years.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the time horizon, will be set out in the strategy publication.
We recognise the critical role Universal Credit has to play in tackling poverty and making work pay. The Department provides extensive information on Universal Credit on Gov.uk that supports claimants to identify what support may be available.