Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
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 effect of the £20 uplift in universal credit on levels of child poverty in (a) Wales and (b) Ceredigion.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.
We introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It will now until June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.
As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
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 integrate the Access to Work fast track scheme into the Kickstart scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Job placements created through the DWP’s Kickstart Scheme are normal jobs, and so young people finding work through the Kickstart Scheme can get advice from their Work Coach about making the transition into employment. This may include support with the Access to Work process.
Young people who are successful in securing a job offer through Kickstart, and submit their application to Access to Work within 4 weeks of their start date, will have their application automatically prioritised by Access to Work.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the Access to Work fast track scheme is available to all disabled workers who need reasonable adjustments to be able to work during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Access to Work already prioritises applications from disabled people who have a job to start within 4 weeks of their application. Recognising the impact Covid has had on disabled people, Access to Work has expanded the prioritisation to include those in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group and keyworkers. Applications will be fast tracked to ensure that the employer and the disabled person are supported in the workplace from the outset.
Background
Access to Work (ATW) is a demand-led, discretionary grant to de-risk the recruitment and retention of disabled people for employers. The grant contributes to the disability related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition that are beyond reasonable adjustment, but it does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. The grant provides personalised support and can provide workplace assessments, travel to/in work, support workers, specialist aids and equipment for individuals to enable disabled people and those with a health condition to move into or retain employment. And can fund up to £60,700 worth of flexible, personalised support per person per year.
Recognising the challenges Covid-19 has for employers and disabled people, Access to Work has introduced a new more flexible offer to support disabled people to move into and retain employment. The new offer complements support provided by employers and contains a flexible mix of support that can be adapted to meet the needs of new Covid-19 working arrangements. The offer includes:
If Access to Work were to extend the categories of prioritisation further, the ability to prioritise applications would be lost as the majority of Access to Work applications would be in the prioritised category, resulting in all applications being treated the same.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
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 integrate the Access to Work fast track scheme into the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Participants finding work through Work and Health Programme Job Entry: Targeted Support can get support from their employment adviser to make transition into employment including support with Access to Work process.
Participants who are successful in securing a job offer, and submit their application to Access to Work within 4 weeks of their start date will have their application automatically prioritised by Access to Work.
Background
Access to Work already prioritises applications from key workers, people who are in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group and disabled people who have a job to start within the next 4 weeks. If Access to Work was to extend the prioritisation further then the ability to prioritise applications would be lost as the majority of Access to Work applications would be in the prioritised category, which would result in all applications being treated the same and the prioritisation would be lost.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the removal of the spare room subsidy on levels of household income.
Answered by Will Quince
There has been no such assessment.
The policy allows for the provision of an additional bedroom in certain circumstances, such as to support the needs of disabled people as well as exempting households in receipt of pension age Housing Benefit.
If a claimant’s ability to mitigate any shortfall between their housing support and rent has changed Discretionary Housing Payments can be considered by their local authority. We announced last year an additional £40 million for Discretionary Housing Payments for 2020/21 in England and Wales
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
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 effect of the 2016 changes to the state pension system on the household income of people who have been recently bereaved.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published an impact assessment ‘New State pension: impact on an individual's pension entitlement longer term effects’ in January 2016. This included impacts on derived entitlement to the State Pension. The estimates show around 2 per cent of men and 6 per cent of women reaching State Pension age between 2016-2020 were expected to receive less State Pension due to the withdrawal of derived entitlement. The proportion affected falls over the first two decades of the new State Pension. Further information on the impact of new State Pension reform on derived entitlement is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf.
Information on the overall costs of the new State Pension (formerly the Single Tier) is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311316/pensions-act-ia-annex-a-single-tier-state-pension.pdf
The cost estimates of the new State Pension do not provide a specific breakdown of savings from the inheritance of spouses’ State Pension.
The new State Pension was introduced for people reaching State Pension age from 6 April 2016 onwards to provide a clearer, simpler and sustainable system for the future and is based on an individual’s own National Insurance record. This both reflects changes in society where individuals are able to build a State Pension in their own right and a wider crediting regime that rewards periods of caring when people are away from the labour market. There is transitional protection of the old derived basic State Pension for women whose own contribution history was affected by taking the option to pay reduced-rate National Insurance contributions. Transitional arrangements also enable widowed people in certain circumstances to inherit all, or part, of the additional State Pension or Graduated Retirement Benefit they could have inherited under the old State Pension system.
A step-by-step guide to the changes to the rules on deriving and inheriting State Pension is available on the Government website at www.gov.uk using the search term 'state pension through partner'.
The transitional arrangements for the new State Pension have been designed to be to fair to the greatest number of people possible and to ensure that the vast majority of people have at least the full amount of new State Pension as quickly possible.
The new State Pension will benefit many women, carers and self-employed people, who historically often did less well under previous systems. For example, over three million women stand to receive an average of £550 more per year by 2030 as a result of the recent reforms.
In addition, we are committed to the triple lock for the duration of this Parliament. In April 2019, full amounts of the basic and new State Pensions increased by 2.6%, in line with average earnings growth. The full yearly rate of the basic State Pension is worth over £1,600 more in cash terms 2019/20 than it was in 2010.
Furthermore, Pension Credit provides a top up means-tested benefit for pensioners to protect those who are most in need.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the savings accrued to the public purse by the 2016 changes to the state pension system, specifically in relation to the inheritance of spouses’ state pension.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published an impact assessment ‘New State pension: impact on an individual's pension entitlement longer term effects’ in January 2016. This included impacts on derived entitlement to the State Pension. The estimates show around 2 per cent of men and 6 per cent of women reaching State Pension age between 2016-2020 were expected to receive less State Pension due to the withdrawal of derived entitlement. The proportion affected falls over the first two decades of the new State Pension. Further information on the impact of new State Pension reform on derived entitlement is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf.
Information on the overall costs of the new State Pension (formerly the Single Tier) is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311316/pensions-act-ia-annex-a-single-tier-state-pension.pdf
The cost estimates of the new State Pension do not provide a specific breakdown of savings from the inheritance of spouses’ State Pension.
The new State Pension was introduced for people reaching State Pension age from 6 April 2016 onwards to provide a clearer, simpler and sustainable system for the future and is based on an individual’s own National Insurance record. This both reflects changes in society where individuals are able to build a State Pension in their own right and a wider crediting regime that rewards periods of caring when people are away from the labour market. There is transitional protection of the old derived basic State Pension for women whose own contribution history was affected by taking the option to pay reduced-rate National Insurance contributions. Transitional arrangements also enable widowed people in certain circumstances to inherit all, or part, of the additional State Pension or Graduated Retirement Benefit they could have inherited under the old State Pension system.
A step-by-step guide to the changes to the rules on deriving and inheriting State Pension is available on the Government website at www.gov.uk using the search term 'state pension through partner'.
The transitional arrangements for the new State Pension have been designed to be to fair to the greatest number of people possible and to ensure that the vast majority of people have at least the full amount of new State Pension as quickly possible.
The new State Pension will benefit many women, carers and self-employed people, who historically often did less well under previous systems. For example, over three million women stand to receive an average of £550 more per year by 2030 as a result of the recent reforms.
In addition, we are committed to the triple lock for the duration of this Parliament. In April 2019, full amounts of the basic and new State Pensions increased by 2.6%, in line with average earnings growth. The full yearly rate of the basic State Pension is worth over £1,600 more in cash terms 2019/20 than it was in 2010.
Furthermore, Pension Credit provides a top up means-tested benefit for pensioners to protect those who are most in need.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Ceredigion constituency and (b) Wales in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.
The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.
This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.
On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.
The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.
| Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) |
| 2017-18 |
Ceredigion constituency | £0.91 |
Wales | £34.11 |
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints of maladministration from women born in the 1950s relating to the change in their state pension age submitted to her Department’s Independent Case Examiner have been (a) resolved, (b) rejected, (c) closed for other reasons.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service. Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent.
The table below provides information on the method by which complaints submitted to the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office, concerning changes to women’s State Pension age, were closed.
Reason for complaint closure | Number |
(a) Resolved (we have interpreted this as meaning closed following issue of an ICE investigation report) | 192 |
(b) Rejected (the complaint failed to meet the ICE acceptance criteria) | 1,598 |
(c) Paused for other reasons (includes withdrawn complaints and those closed following a High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review of the Departments handling of the change to women’s State Pension age – it is not within the ICE remit to consider issues which are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings.) | 2,506 |
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office received the first complaints from women relating to changes in their state pension age in October 2016. The table below provides details of the numbers received in each of the past three reporting years.
Year (April to March) | Number received |
2016/2017 | 243 |
2017/2018 | 2981 |
2018/2019 (to 13 December 2018) | 1072 |
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints of maladministration from women born in the 1950s relating to the change in their state pension age have been submitted to her Department’s Independent Case Examiner in each of the last five years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service. Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent.
The table below provides information on the method by which complaints submitted to the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office, concerning changes to women’s State Pension age, were closed.
Reason for complaint closure | Number |
(a) Resolved (we have interpreted this as meaning closed following issue of an ICE investigation report) | 192 |
(b) Rejected (the complaint failed to meet the ICE acceptance criteria) | 1,598 |
(c) Paused for other reasons (includes withdrawn complaints and those closed following a High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review of the Departments handling of the change to women’s State Pension age – it is not within the ICE remit to consider issues which are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings.) | 2,506 |
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office received the first complaints from women relating to changes in their state pension age in October 2016. The table below provides details of the numbers received in each of the past three reporting years.
Year (April to March) | Number received |
2016/2017 | 243 |
2017/2018 | 2981 |
2018/2019 (to 13 December 2018) | 1072 |