Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to hold a consultation on extending the automatic pension scheme enrolment of people who are self-employed.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Department’s 2017 Review confirmed that the Automatic Enrolment (AE) framework cannot be straightforwardly extended to people who are self-employed, as by definition there is no employer to enrol them into a scheme; select a scheme or make contributions.
We remain committed to enabling self-employed people to achieve greater financial security in later life. Finding effective and enduring solutions is a long-term challenge given the highly diverse nature of this group, with varying incomes, assets, and employment experiences.
The learnings from the recent trialling and research programme delivered through Nest Insight have provided a useful platform to move forward, helping us to build the evidence base. We are working with software providers to explore the feasibility of building and testing retirement savings solutions in digital platforms, such as accountancy software and payment platforms, used by self-employed people to manage their money.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he expects the evaluation process of the Kickstart Scheme to be concluded by the end of 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Kickstart evaluation will continue to assess the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. The commissioned process evaluation will conclude in Spring 2023.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her letter to all hon. Members on 6 October 2022 entitled Changes to Universal Credit Administrative Earnings Threshold Level, whether those changes apply to all parts of the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The changes to the Universal Credit Administrative Earnings Threshold as referred to in the letter of 6 October 2022 apply to the whole of the UK.
The Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 and the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 both came into force on 26th September 2022 to ensure that the changes applied to Northern Ireland as well as Great Britain.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2022 to Question 69539, what the approximate annual cost of providing each Motability Scheme lease agreement vehicle was in 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Whilst the department works closely with Motability and is responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability scheme, Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the scheme, along with oversight of Motability operations. Any questions relating to the terms and conditions of a lease should be directed to Motability.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were in receipt of a vehicle under the Motability Scheme in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in 2021.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The information requested is not readily available for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Department does not hold the data requested for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants.
The latest available Motability annual report can be found here. The report shows that over 640,000 people use the scheme.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to change the estimated date by which the State Pension Age will begin at 68 years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under existing legislation, the state pension age is due to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and 68 between 2044 and 2046. The Pensions Act 2014 requires Government to undertake a periodic review of whether the rules about pension age are appropriate. The first review of State Pension age was undertaken in 2017. It set out the Government’s intention to bring forward the increase to 68 in 2037-39 but that the Government would carry out a further review before tabling any changes to legislation.
Work has now begun on the second review of State Pension age, which will consider evidence from across the UK, including findings from two independent reports. It has not yet concluded and will be published by May 2023.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 21 July 2021 to Question 34458 on Kickstart Scheme, when he expects the evaluation process of Kickstart participants to conclude.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The fieldwork for the commissioned evaluation will continue until at least 2023. This evaluation will continue to assess the longer term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. We plan to publish the findings once complete.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have made additional National Insurance contributions to qualify for a full State Pension in the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not collated as a matter of normal business and is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department.
Information about how awards of the new State Pension are calculated is available on the GOV.UK website, searching for “new State Pension explained”. In addition, the personalised digital “Check your State Pension” forecast service allows people to find out when they could receive their payments, how much they can get and what they can do to increase their amount, to enable people to find out what the changes mean for them. Since its launch in February 2016, over 26 million digital forecasts have been viewed.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the change has been in attendance allowance award success rates from 2012 to 2020.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Attendance Allowance Award Success Rate for the 2012/13 (full financial year) was 75.2% and the rate for 2020/21 (full financial year) was 88.9%.
Source: Output from Attendance Allowance Computer System (AACS)
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what methodology she uses to evaluate the effectiveness of the Kickstart scheme across the regions and nations of the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions will be monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart Scheme throughout and after its implementation, and will continue to evaluate the longer term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month job placements.
The evaluation will include large scale surveys to capture the views and experiences of Kickstart participants and of employers and gateway organisations. The evaluation will consider how experiences and outcomes from the scheme vary and examine how participants’ and employers’ characteristics, local context and local approaches to delivery affect experiences. Qualitative case-studies will provide a detailed understanding of how different aspects of the scheme interact and we will draw on available data and insights.
We will publish the findings of the evaluation once complete.