Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons payments from the (a) Armed Forces Pension Scheme and (b) War Pension Scheme that are paid out early due to injury in service are treated as income when being assessed for universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
Payments made under the War Pension Scheme or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are not taken into account as income in Universal Credit.
Income-related benefits already partially disregard War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments for injuries and bereavement. With the introduction of Universal Credit, we have gone a step further, and have ensured that War Pensions and all Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments are fully disregarded in the assessment of income for Universal Credit.
All other regular, occupational and personal pension payments, that are designed to provide support to help people meet their living costs, are taken fully into account in the assessment of entitlement to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the stigma faced by people with sight loss and other hidden disabilities who may find it difficult to follow social distancing rules.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We recognise that some people with disabilities face particular difficulty in social distancing, or are impacted by the reaction of others to their inability to socially distance. We are considering how we ensure that disabled people are able to socially distance in order to protect themselves from Coronavirus and from adverse attention from people who perceive that they are not adhering to guidelines on social distancing. All equality and discrimination laws and obligations continue to apply during the Corona Virus pandemic.