Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
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 implications for her policies of housing providers inflating rents, and therefore amounts received from local authorities for providing housing, by means of intra-company sales at inflated values.
Answered by Will Quince
DWP is working closely with MHCLG to develop a package of measures to improve the oversight of supported housing, including ensuring quality standards and value for money for taxpayers.
The supported housing sector provides essential accommodation and support for the most vulnerable members of society to live as independently as possible in their community.
Most supported housing is provided by well-run providers/landlords with a strong social mission, whilst providing high quality care and support services themselves or through third parties.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government has taken to prevent cliff edge effects in its policy on the equalisation of the state pension.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government has taken steps to smooth the equalisation of State Pension age between men and women in the Pensions Act 2011. The increase in State Pension age for women from age 63 to age 65 is phased in between April 2016 and December 2018.
The timetable for equalising State Pension age at 65 for women and men and for the increase to 66 was accelerated by the Pensions Act 2011 following sharp increases in life expectancy projections. At that time a concession worth £1.1 billion was introduced by the government to limit the impact of the rising state pension age on those most affected. The concession capped the maximum delay that anyone would face in claiming their State Pension to 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending compensation to children who have been exposed to asbestos as a result of contact with parents who have mesothelioma.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Children exposed to asbestos from their parents can already receive compensation in their own right if they are suffering from Diffuse Mesothelioma under Part 4: Lump Sum Payments: Mesothelioma etc., of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008.