Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the real-terms change as a result of inflation in the value of pension payments that were not index linked for Allied Steel and Wire pensioners under the FAS since 2007.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information required to carry out such an assessment is not readily available and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs. The Department has therefore made no such assessment and does not intend to do so, at this time.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of index linking pension payments of failed pension schemes under the (a) Financial Assistance Scheme and (b) Pension Protection Fund.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
While all pensions legislation is kept under review as a matter of course, there are currently no plans to amend (a) the Financial Assistance Scheme rules on indexation or (b) the Pension Protection Fund rules on indexation. These are complex matters and require careful consideration before any changes are made.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Command Paper entitled Safeguarding the Union, published on 31 January 2024, CP 1021, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the decision to replace the Green Lane with a UK Internal Market system on the ability of goods to travel from Wales to Northern Ireland through the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Cabinet has engaged with these new measures which have been collectively agreed in the usual way. On 31 January 2024, I wrote to the First Ministers of Wales and Scotland regarding the Government’s work to secure a restored Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly and on the Safeguarding the Union command paper (CP 1021).
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of replacing real bear fur bearskin hats with faux fur bearskin hats for use in the military.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 January 2024 to Question 10427 to the hon. Member for Bristol East (Ms McCarthy).
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using alternative methods of determining eligibility for cold weather payments.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department continually monitors Cold Weather Payment policies and procedures to identify opportunities to improve the scheme's effectiveness. This includes working with the Met Office, who review the scheme each year to assess whether the linkages between postcode areas and weather stations remain the best available.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering secured e-mail as a communications option for his Department's customers upon request.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP utilises technology which allows encryption with most providers of personal email services, such as Gmail or Outlook, helping this stay secure. As such, email communication with customers is currently permitted in certain circumstances, for example, where the customer has a reasonable adjustment in place.
The Department is keen to utilise the benefits provided by email communication and is currently exploring the possibilities of expanding its use of email to communicate with customers.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of raising the earning threshold for family visas on people who intend to marry a foreign partner (a) before and (b) after Spring 2024 whose salary does not meet this threshold.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process, and an Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of raising the earnings threshold for family visas to on the human rights of (a) UK citizens and (b) foreign partners of UK citizens.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The family Immigration Rules contain a provision for exceptional circumstances, including a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, where there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child, or another family member, if their application were to be refused.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an estimate of trends in the number of applications for spouse and family visas in the period before the implementation of the proposed higher earnings threshold.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process, and an Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Back to Work plan, published on 16 November 2023, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on whether measures to restrict the eligibility to free prescriptions of benefit claimants who are subject to sanctions will apply to claimants in Wales.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are not restricting eligibility to free prescriptions of benefit claimants who are subject to sanctions. Claimants may still be entitled to access those passported benefits through other means.
At Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced that we will be closing claims for people who refuse to engage in employment support following a sanction decision and in receipt of a nil award for a period of 6 months or longer. As always, if entitlement to passported benefits is reliant solely on a Universal Credit claim to establish eligibility, that will cease if the claim is closed.
DWP has a well-established relationship with the Welsh Government, ensuring that we work together on devolved and reserved areas effectively. Universal Credit is reserved, and as such once the proposal is in legislation it will apply in England, Scotland and Wales.