Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of compulsory workplace pensions on the level of private sector job creation since the introduction of those pensions in 2012.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Automatic enrolment is a policy that works. Over 8 million individuals have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by more than 640,000 employers.
Since 2012 private sector employment has grown by 2.6 million to reach 26.5 million. Automatic enrolment has been implemented on a national basis rather than being trialled which means it is not possible to make any assessment of the effect on the level of private sector job creation.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of health capability assessments for claimants of employment and support allowance with (a) mental health issues and (b) learning difficulties.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Strict audit and quality control measures are in place to ensure the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments delivers high-quality assessments.
The Department introduced the independent audit of Work Capability Assessments in March 2015 in line with the start of the new Health and Disability Assessment Service contract. Audit has a central role in confirming that independent health professional advice complies with the required standards and that it is clear and medically reasonable. It also provides assurance that any approach to assessment and opinion given is consistent so that, irrespective of where or by whom the assessment is carried out, claimants with conditions that have the same functional effect will ultimately receive the same benefit outcome.
Health Professionals receive training on how to identify the impact of mental health conditions on claimants. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role.
Providers are required to make every attempt to obtain the best evidence available to assist the Health Professional undertaking the assessment to make a fully formed judgment. This includes evidence from Community Mental Health Teams, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers supporting claimants with mental health conditions.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in Woking constituency (a) receive the basic state pension, (b) receive pension credit and (c) are eligible for pension credit but do not claim it.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Statistics on the number of pensioners receiving the basic state pension in the Parliamentary constituency of Woking is published and can be obtained from:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Statistics on the number of pensioners receiving pension credit in the Parliamentary constituency of Woking is published and can be obtained from:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
Information on the number of pensioners in the Parliamentary constituency of Woking who are eligible for Pension Credit, but do not claim it, is not available.
Statistics, at Great Britain level, on the take-up of income related benefits (including Pension Credit) are published and available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up--2
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the average annual difference between the state pension paid to UK pensioners living in other EU member states and the basic state pension paid to people living in the UK.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the triple lock pension policy on the number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Woking constituency, (b) the South East and (c) the UK.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
While we can’t draw a direct link between the triple lock and pensioner poverty, pensioner poverty is at one of the lowest rates since records began, with 100,000 fewer pensioners in relative poverty (after housing costs) than there were in 2009/10. Pensioners are now less likely to be in relative and absolute low income after housing costs than the population as a whole. The Government continues to support the poorest pensioners, not least through Pension Credit which tops up income to a guaranteed minimum level of £155.60 for a single person and £237.55 for couples.
The Government wants all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. We have committed to maintain the triple lock to 2020, the guarantee that both the basic State Pension and the new State Pension will increase by the highest of the growth in average earnings, price increase or 2.5%. The full basic State Pension is now over £1,100 a year higher than it was at the start of the last Parliament. This is benefitting many of the 17,000 recipients of the State Pension in Woking, the 1.7 million recipients in the South East and the 13 million recipients in the UK.