Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment the Government has made of the benefit to businesses of a healthy workforce.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
There is a good evidence base for the benefits to business of a healthy workforce, for example, workers who are in good health can be up to three times as productive as those in poor health. Conversely there are high costs to business from ill health: ‘Health at Work – an independent review of sickness absence’ found that the costs to employers of sick pay were £9bn per year.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to extend occupational pensions to include widows from same sex married couples in the same way as widows from other married couples are currently included.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government is considering the findings of the statutory review into survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes that was required by section 16 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. The Review provided important information on the benefits, costs and other effects of eliminating or reducing differences in survivor benefit provision.
The Government will respond to the Review in due course.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will provide a definition of the term vulnerable group for the purposes of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill; and with whom his Department will consult on that definition.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Our reforms aim to ensure that work always pays more than a life on benefits; that the system is fair to those who pay for it, as well as those who benefit from it; and that support is focused on the most vulnerable which is why we are protecting pensioner benefits and payments for the additional costs of care and disability.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to improve employment support for homeless people.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
We are exploring how we can best deliver future tailored employment support as part of the Spending Review. We will continue to do all we can to help all individuals, including homeless people, find, and stay in, work.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to people with hearing difficulties in finding work.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
People with hearing difficulties can benefit from the same support to find work as other disabled people through provision such as the Work Programme and Work Choice.
In addition we are launching a new programme, Specialist Employability Support (SES), in September. It focuses on helping those for whom other provision such as Work Choice or Work Programme is not suitable and one of the programme providers will support people with hearing difficulties in preparing for work.
SES replaces the Residential Training contracts and is expected to double the number of people supported at the same cost.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements exist to support those who have fallen behind with national insurance contributions in fully accessing contributory benefits.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
National Insurance credits are generally available to people who are unable to work and pay contributions for example if they are unemployed, incapable of work or caring for others.
National Insurance credits are awarded automatically with qualifying social security benefits; otherwise applications are required to determine eligibility.
The Government is introducing a new credit for those who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. It will be available to the spouses and civil partners of members of HM Forces for past periods spent accompanying their Service partner on postings outside the UK.
Those not eligible for National Insurance credits may be able to fill gaps in their record to protect certain benefits by paying voluntary contributions. These are subject to time limits; and higher rate provisions when paid late.
For those who would like further information on their National Insurance record they should go to the GOV.UK website https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that reforms to the pensions system do not unfairly affect widows who have relied on their husband's earnings and have not themselves made a sufficient contribution.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The new State Pension will be based on an individual’s own National Insurance contributions. This reflects the fact that, in contrast to earlier generations of women, most people of working age today are able to gain sufficient qualifying years to qualify for a state pension in their own right.
We have put arrangements in place to ensure that certain women who elected to pay National Insurance contributions at the married women and widows’ reduced rate are not affected by withdrawing access to derived basic State Pension. Widows who qualify under these arrangements will be able to get a pension of about the same as the basic pension they could have got in the current scheme plus any additional State Pension they built up themselves by April 2016, if that is more than they would get under the new rules on their own contributions.
We are also protecting the additional State Pension (also known as SERPS or S2P) a surviving spouse or civil partner would have been able to inherit under the current rules, if their deceased partner had either died or reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. Where both members of the couple are in the new State Pension system, the surviving member may inherit half of any “protected payment” (the amount, if any, by which a person’s state pension valued under current rules exceeds the full rate of the new State Pension at 2016). These arrangements will apply where the marriage or civil partnership had begun before the new scheme starts.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure people with adult learning difficulties (a) receive appropriate support when looking for a job and (b) are supported enough to retain that job once in work.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Through the Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) network across Jobcentre Plus, DWP provides a pan-disability, person centred approach, when supporting disabled people into employment. Advisers receive specific training on Autism and Learning Disabilities; enabling them to offer an appropriate and accessible service when supporting individuals with these conditions into work. The Work-Choice programme provides employment support for all pan-disability groups including individuals with learning disabilities, ensuring reasonable adjustment solutions are identified and put in place, at the earliest stage, ensuring participants are able to meet their full potential on the programme. To support the retention of people with learning disabilities, DWP provides help through the Access to Work scheme, which pays for the additional adjustments that disabled people may require to retain them in the workplace.