Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
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 providing additional information on (a) his Department's website and (b) the State Pension Claims Form on taking up to 12 months of a State Pension deferral as a single arrears payment.
Answered by Paul Maynard
There is no lump-sum payment for deferral in the new State Pension scheme. This change came in from 2016. Under the new State Pension scheme, the single arrears payment (of up to a maximum of 12 months) is a backdated payment for money which would have been received during that period and does not accrue interest. The arrears payment is separate from the deferral process.
The customer is provided with guidance on backdating and deferral alongside their State Pension claim form.
The Department reviews the information available on its website and the State Pension claim form on an ongoing basis as part of continuous improvements to customer communications and products. Additional information on the State Pension arrears payment is currently being reviewed for inclusion on the Department's website by the end of July 2024. Additional updates to the information on backdating are also being considered for the State Pension claim form (digital and paper).
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of people currently classed as (a) economically inactive, (b) unemployed for any length of time and (c) unemployed for over nine months who have (i) a driving licence and (ii) access to a car, motorbike or other form of private motorised transport.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested is not held by the department.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help long-term unemployed people back into work; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of such support; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for getting people into work and making work pay.
We do this through our core Jobcentre offer which provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Cost of Living Payments have been processed since 14 July 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
Since the 14th July, the government has processed around 8.4m cost of living payments, worth around £2.7 billion, to eligible claimants who are due to receive the £326 support from DWP or HMRC. There will be some cases – such as those who gained entitlement to the DWP or HMRC cost of living payment at a later date – that will be paid later.
Over 7.2m payments have been processed by DWP and over 1.1m payments have been processed by HMRC. Numbers may not add up due to rounding.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have got jobs as a result of the Way to Work campaign as of 25 July 2022.
Answered by Julie Marson
As of 25 July, 539,200 unemployed Universal Credit (UC) claimants and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and 30 June 2022.
This total figure is composed of our into work measure to the end of June for Universal Credit claimants (498,500) and the equivalent information for JSA claimants (40,800). Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency and timeliness.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the tender process for Help to Claim retains adequate face-to-face provision.
Answered by David Rutley
The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including the most vulnerable in society, in both making and maintaining their claim.
From the 1st April 2022, we plan to replace ‘Help to Claim’ with the ‘Future Support Offer’. The competition to deliver this support has recently closed and we will announce more details in due course.
Until 31st March 2022, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland will continue to deliver the Help to Claim support, mainly through their telephony and web chat channels. However, both organisations have started re-introducing face to face support within a number of sites, in line with Government guidance, and we will continue to support them with this.