Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 adequacy of the current practice of including industrial injuries disablement benefit when considering a claimant's total income to calculate awards for additional means-tested benefits.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Means-tested benefit calculations consider most forms of income, including other benefits provided by the Department for Work and Pensions. Exemptions are only implemented where exceptional circumstances apply.
There are no plans to disregard income from Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) when making assessments for other means-tested benefits. However, any increase in IIDB payments for Constant Attendance Allowance or Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance is fully exempt from assessment for means-tested benefits.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason eligible pensioners who have experienced delays in receiving their State Pension invitation do not have the option to apply for their pension via an online form or via a form that can be downloaded and printed from the Government website.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
If a customer’s State Pension age is pre 6th April 2016 they can download a BR1 claim form from Gov.uk.
For customers whose State Pension Age is after 6th April 2016 they can use the online ‘Get Your State Pension’ (GySP) digital service to complete their claim. Customers who do not receive an invitation to claim their State Pension can use the online service to request a claim invitation to be sent to them. A claim invitation code can be used for up to 15 months from being issued.
If a customer does not wish to use the online service and requires a clerical claim form to complete, this can be obtained by contacting the new claims telephony line. Additionally, claims can be made by telephone where the claim may be gathered and processed while the customer is on the phone. If the customer requires an accessible version of the form that can also be provided on request.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to provide support for pensioners who experience fuel poverty in autumn 2022 in the context of rising energy costs.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges. The government is providing over £15 billion in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22 billion announced previously, with Government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37 billion this year.
This includes a £650 cost of living payment (paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324) which has been designed to target support at more than 8 million low-income households on means-tested benefits including Pension Credit. In addition, pensioner households will receive a one-off payment of £300 through and as an addition to the Winter Fuel Payment from November and 6 million eligible disabled people will receive a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 from 20 September
Most customers with a domestic electricity meter will benefit from the £400 support being provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which will help around 29 million households across Great Britain. This support is in addition to the £150 Council Tax rebate for households in England in Council Tax bands A-D, which was announced in February, and which millions of households have already received.
Cold Weather Payments are also available to help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits in England and Wales to meet additional heating costs, during periods of unseasonably cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. This includes older people in receipt of Pension Credit. Those eligible will continue to automatically receive £25 when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days.
In winter 2022/23, the Warm Home Discount Scheme has been extended to provide a £150 rebate on energy bills to around 3 million households. Around one million households on Pension Credit guarantee credit will receive a rebate each winter, and the majority will receive their rebate automatically, without the need to claim.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that entitlements derived from National Insurance contributions are consistent for the spouses of members of the armed forces who serve overseas.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The new State Pension is usually based on an individual’s own National insurance record. A spouse or civil partner who accompanies a member of the Armed Forces on a posting overseas is able to apply for National Insurance credits for that period, which can protect their State Pension entitlement. More information on the credits available and how to apply is available on gov.uk (National Insurance credits: Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps is she taking to ensure divorced parents are equally considered when a child is entitled to disability allowance.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The current legislation allows for payments of Disability Living Allowance for children to be split, but only where there are exceptional circumstances and where it is in the child’s interests. Situations where the child shares residency between parents do not normally constitute exceptional circumstances.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2021 to Question 139101, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) number of applications in the backlog awaiting issuance of National Insurance numbers to people that cannot use the visa route and (b) time it will take her Department to clear that backlog.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Due to Covid 19 restrictions, the Department are not conducting face-to-face National Insurance Number (NINo) interviews at present. Applicants who have verified their ID via a Visa application are able to apply for a NINo using a postal route. As of 17 January 2021, there are 16,245 NINo applications awaiting a decision. Of the total outstanding applications, 1,588 have applied via the Visa Postal route, and 14,657 have applied via an alternative Postal route.
In a business as usual position our benchmark is 15 days. However, people who do not have a visa, are part of the digital trial so this may take longer.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many national insurance numbers have been issued to EU citizens in each of the last five years.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department publishes quarterly statistics on National Insurance Number (NINo) allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK. All of this information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-insurance-number-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk
The available information on the number of NINos issued in the last 5 years to EU Nationals can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the extent of the backlog of National Insurance the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Due to Covid 19 restrictions, the Department are not conducting Face to Face National Insurance Number (NINo) interviews at present. Applicants who have verified their identity via a Visa application are able to apply for a NINo using a postal route.