Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what she is taking with the Chancellor of the Exchequer through the Plan for Jobs to fill vacancies in the labour market.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy. DWP’s Plan for Jobs programmes, including Kickstart, are delivering tailored support for claimants in receipt of Universal Credit to support them into work.
Alongside Plan for Jobs measures, DWP is working across government to support people into sectors with immediate or growing demand for jobs but with barriers to entry. We are also working with industry to provide our work coaches with the knowledge they need to identify suitable candidates and to develop relationships with key employers and stakeholders in their local areas. As a result, local jobcentres continue to connect directly with employers in their area, to discuss their recruitment needs and to offer advice on the support available, including work trials, work experience and Sector-based Work Academies Programmes (SWAPs).
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what level of funding from the Household Support Fund will initially be received by Crawley Borough Council.
Answered by David Rutley
The Department for Work and Pensions is boosting households with £500m funding this winter, with £421m dedicated to the Household Support Fund in England, which will help vulnerable people in England with essential household costs. The funding is being made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England. West Sussex will receive £4,870,362.11. County Councils are expected to work together with District Councils to provide support and to ensure the funding meets its objectives by identifying those most in need.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had a (a) telephone and (b) digital appointment with the Pension Wise service since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Between 1 March 2020 and 22 September 2020, the following number of Pension Wise appointments were held:
An incomplete appointment is where a customer attended an appointment, but it was not completed fully due to a variety of reasons.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have contacted Action Fraud on potential pension scams since the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government continues to work with Regulators and the Police to prevent scams and this has continued during Covid-19. In the period March – July 2020, 116 reports of pension fraud were received by Action Fraud, compared to 179 for the same period in 2019.
In recognition of the potential impact of Covid-19 on individual’s pensions savings the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group, to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. Regulators, Police and Action Fraud have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged to demonstrate an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry. Although this is encouraging Government recognises it needs to continue to monitor and react to the changing environment.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with HMRC on its investigation of tax rule breaches arising from pension scams.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Tax liabilities relating to unauthorised payments and HMRC’s investigation of tax rules arising from pension scams are the responsibility of HMT. DWP will continue to work closely with HMRC to understand their position and how these may impact the Pensions Schemes Bill and savers.
Government continues to work with regulators and industry to protect consumers and find the best ways of preventing pension scams. HMRC and DWP have held regular discussions relating to the enhanced protection measures in the Pension Scheme Bill 2020.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential increase in pension scams since the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Through Project Bloom, DWP works with other government departments, regulators, enforcement agencies and the pensions industry to monitor the evolution of scam typology and respond with a collective and coordinated response. Project Bloom is examining the range of measures that all agencies including providers and financial professionals could take to help prevent scams.
At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. This is supported by cross government and regulator gathering, monitoring and evaluating of data in order to develop as complete and robust a picture as possible. At this point the Department doesn’t yet have any robust evidence showing an increase in pension scams activity but will continue to monitor across the industry.
In addition to active monitoring, the Government, working with the regulators and the Money and Pension Service has been communicating with pension savers to alert them to the risk of scams in the current climate. DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media out the warning signs of a scam. A joint statement was issued by The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Money Advice and Pension Service on 7 April pointing to the actions members should seek to take to safeguard against becoming victims of scams. Additional guidance was issued to trustees, and providers from both The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator to support them to produce suitable communications during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions
https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf