Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the level of the frequent use of food banks.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Family Resources Survey that measures whether a household has used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months can be accessed here Family Resources Survey - GOV.UK
Individual level statistics on food banks can be found in the annual Households Below Average Income statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics – GOV.UK
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the root causes of dependency on food banks.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. The Get Britain Working White Paper has set out how the Government will seek to grow the economy through using work as a route out of poverty and to improve living standards in turn.
Our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired by Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has begun work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage.
Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do.
To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce the long-term use of food banks.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. The Get Britain Working White Paper has set out how the Government will seek to grow the economy through using work as a route out of poverty and to improve living standards in turn.
Our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired by Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has begun work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage.
Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do.
To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of food bank dependency on people who (a) are disabled and (b) live in social housing.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Family Resources Survey that measures whether a household has used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months can be accessed here Family Resources Survey - GOV.UK
Individual level statistics on food banks can be found in the annual Households Below Average Income statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics – GOV.UK
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people with disabilities at risk of food insecurity.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People with a health condition or disability may be eligible for a range of support such as Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, premiums and additional amounts paid within the income-related benefits.
In addition, the extra costs disability benefits are a contribution to meeting the extra costs that arise from a disability or long-term health condition and can be paid regardless of any income or savings. They are also tax-free and worth up to £184.30 a week, or over £9,580 a year.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that workers contribute sufficiently into their pensions to achieve an adequate standard of living in retirement.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ensuring current and future pensioners have an adequate retirement income is a key priority for this Government and a focus of our landmark pensions review.
Automatic enrolment has already succeeded in transforming retirement saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. Over 22m employees in Great Britain are benefiting from participating in a workplace pension, with over £131bn saved for eligible individuals in 2023.
The first phase of our pensions review – focused on investment and growth – published its interim report in November 2024. Two consultations on unlocking the UK pensions market for growth and reforming the Local Government Pension Scheme closed in January and we expect to provide our response in Spring 2025.
The second phase of our review will follow in due course – focussing on pension outcomes and retirement adequacy.
Alongside this, the Pension Schemes Bill, announced in the King’s Speech includes measures which could boost pension pots by over £11, 000 for average earners saving over their lifetime in a defined contribution scheme.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to help raise awareness of the risks of under-saving in pensions for retirement.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ensuring current and future pensioners have an adequate retirement income is a key priority for this Government and a focus of our landmark pensions review.
Automatic enrolment has already succeeded in transforming retirement saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. Over 22m employees in Great Britain are benefiting from participating in a workplace pension, with over £131bn saved for eligible individuals in 2023.
The first phase of our pensions review – focused on investment and growth – published its interim report in November 2024. Two consultations on unlocking the UK pensions market for growth and reforming the Local Government Pension Scheme closed in January and we expect to provide our response in Spring 2025.
The second phase of our review will follow in due course – focussing on pension outcomes and retirement adequacy.
Alongside this, the Pension Schemes Bill, announced in the King’s Speech includes measures which could boost pension pots by over £11, 000 for average earners saving over their lifetime in a defined contribution scheme.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of people receiving an adequate pension since 2019.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are many ways of measuring of adequacy, such as Target Replacement Rates (TRR) or using minimum income standards such as the PLSA Retirement Living Standards.
DWP's latest estimates of undersaving for retirement showed around 4-in-10 working-age individuals were undersaving for retirement according to TRR levels and 1-in-10 working-age individuals were undersaving for retirement as measured by PLSA Minimum Retirement Living Standards. This is published here: Analysis of future pension incomes - GOV.UK.
Current pensioners have seen gross incomes increase over the last 10 years in real terms (a 4% increase from 2012/13 to 2022/23). This is available in Pensioners' Incomes: financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK. These statistics are published annually.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's steps to enforce pension provision by private companies.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Enabling people to achieve security in retirement is a key priority for this Government.
Automatic Enrolment has seen 88% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension, with participation remaining high throughout the Cost of Living challenges of recent years.
The Pensions Regulator is responsible for maximising compliance with the Automatic Enrolment duties, with over 2.5 million employers doing so to date.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing for victims of pension fraud schemes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Where fraud does occur, the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) compensates occupational pension schemes where there has been a loss in the value of the scheme assets due to fraud or dishonesty. Following payment of compensation to schemes, independently appointed trustees can then provide compensation to individual victims.
In addition, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) has robust powers to target mishandling of pension schemes and protect pension savers from losing out to fraud. MoneyHelper has guidance on its website to help identify, avoid, and report pension scams.