Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Henry Smith

Monday 11th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

14. How many people have been auto-enrolled in workplace pensions in Crawley constituency since 2012.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

Some 35,000 people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension in the Crawley constituency since 2012. We thank the 1,690 employers who have declared compliance with their enrolment duties. Some 10.7 million people across the country are now saving into a workplace pension.

[Henry Smith]

I am grateful to receive those figures from the Minister, and I congratulate the Government on the record numbers of people auto-enrolled into workplace pensions, both in my Crawley constituency and across the country. Will he also pay tribute to some of the pension providers, such as B&CE, the People’s Pension, which is headquartered in Crawley?

[Guy Opperman]

I know the People’s Pension very well, and have met its staff many times. I have had the great privilege of coming to Crawley and meeting the team behind such a great organisation. It is a much-valued employer that is doing great work in making pensions accessible to the working population, both in Crawley and all across the country. That matters, because we used to have 26% of young people and 40% of women saving for a pension, and those figures are now well above 80% across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Henry Smith

Monday 21st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

20. What steps she is taking to help support pensioners with the cost of living.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

This year, we will spend more than £129 billion on the state pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain, including, as I said, £5 billion on pension credit for the vulnerable. Pensioners can also benefit from wider Government support with energy costs on top of the warm home discount, the winter fuel payment and cold weather support.

--- Later in debate ---

[Guy Opperman]

I have. Literally hundreds of pounds a month can become available in the form of support for housing, council tax, the TV licence for the over-75s, NHS dental, warm home discounts and many other things—as I am setting out in my hon. Friend’s local paper. I am delighted to say that in so many different ways we are making the case that pension credit and the support is out there for our local residents.

[Henry Smith]

What success has my hon. Friend had in ensuring there is greater take-up of pension credit in the Crawley constituency, and will he consider joining me at the older persons fair that I am planning to hold later this year?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Henry Smith

Monday 13th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

22. How many people have been auto-enrolled in workplace pensions in Crawley constituency since 2012.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

My hon. Friend is a doughty champion for Crawley. It is fantastic news that 35,000 people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension in the Crawley constituency as a whole. That is also thanks to the 1,600 employers who have supported them in their auto-enrolment duties.

[Henry Smith]

Those are very impressive statistics that prove that this Government’s policy of auto-enrolment has been a great success. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to auto-enrolment pension providers such as B&CE—The People’s Pension—which is based in my Crawley constituency?

[Guy Opperman]

I was delighted to meet The People’s Pension with my hon. Friend a couple of years ago and see the fantastic work that it does. It has more than 5 million members and is one of the largest providers in this important market. I am sure that we will continue to work with it as we expand automatic enrolment, take it to the first £1 earned and lower the entitlement age as we bring forward the 2017 automatic enrolment changes.