Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty that are not in receipt of Pension Credit in Liverpool Riverside constituency; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to the eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment on those numbers.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Information on number of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty that are not in receipt of Pension Credit in Liverpool Riverside constituency is not held.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will commission a equality impact assessment on the proposed changes to the eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Regulations will come into force on 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week.
In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, HC 638, whether she plans to seek parliamentary time to enable hon. Members to vote on financial redress proposals.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As a newly formed Government we will need time to review and consider the Ombudsman’s report along with the evidence provided during the investigation.
Now the election has concluded we need to consider the views that have been expressed on all sides.
The issues outlined in the report are significant and complex, as such they require serious deliberation. Once this work has been undertaken, the Government will be in a position to outline its approach.
I met with representatives from the WASPI Campaign on the 5th of September.,
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for Pension Credit have taken longer than 6 weeks to process in the last 12 months.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department does not routinely capture data aligned to a 6-week clearance rate. However, we do capture data against a 50-day clearance rate, and our performance is published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK(www.gov.uk).
Of 248,000 Pension Credit claims cleared in performance year 2023/24, 192,000 were cleared within the planned 50-day timescale, equating to 77.7%. 56,000, 22.3% were cleared outside of the of the 10-week planned timescale.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 potential impact of changing eligibility requirements for the Winter Fuel Payment on the number of people living in fuel poverty.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.
Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.
We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.
In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the government had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to track the number of disabled people that have secured employment via the Universal Support scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Universal Support (US) is being delivered in two phases. The expansions to Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) and the Work and Health Programme (WHP Pioneer) are being rolled out for phase one of the service. US phase two is due to start in Autumn 2024 when IPSPC and WHP are due to come to an end.
The intention is that the programme will track and report job outcomes digitally, which should provide the number of disabled people that have secured employment via the US programme.
WHP Pioneer data will start to be published from May 2024 and we are committed to publishing IPSPC programme data in due course. The interim and final evaluation reports for US phase one covering WHP Pioneer and IPSPC, will also be published
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to close the gender pension gap.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The gender pension gap is a complex issue tied to the labour market, the private pensions system and demographic differences, but one the government takes very seriously.
Addressing the gender pensions gap will only be possible through the collective effort of government, employers and industry.
The new State Pension was designed to correct some of the historic unfairness in the previous system, in particular for women. Our reforms are working, under the pre-2016 system women receive 85% of the amount received by men. This is currently 97% under the new State Pension.
Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2022.
The government is committed to build on this success and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review of AE. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.
Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.
Our labour market policies will also help. Working parents will soon be even better supported through the extension of free childcare announced in the Spring budget in 2023. DWP also announced generous additional financial help to encourage and support lead carers of children who are receiving Universal Credit to move into or progress in work.
By 2027-28, the Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8bn every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
And we are working with stakeholders across government to better understand the challenge of the gender pension gap. In June, DWP published an official measure of this wealth gap, which is currently 35% between men and women shortly before they retire. The wealth gap between men and women who are eligible for automatic enrolment is lower, at 32%.
The publication of an official annual measure will help us track the collective efforts of government, industry and employers to reduce the Gender Pension Gap.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of applying adult rate (a) Universal Credit and (b) other benefits to people aged over 21.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of households with children aged between eight and eighteen years old that are in receipt of Universal Credit and are earning at or above £40k per year.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The latest available data, for December 2022, show there are approximately 8,500 households on UC that have total net earnings of £3,333 per assessment period which equates to annual net earnings at or above £40,000 and have children aged between eight and eighteen years old.