Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the rate of statutory sick pay, (b) abolishing the lower earnings limit and (c) extending the 28 weeks cap for people living with (i) cystic fibrosis and (ii) other long term conditions.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a measure of earnings replacement to employees when they are sick or incapable of work. Employers are required to pay it at the legal minimum rate for up to 28 weeks per period of absence. Many employers decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.
If an individual who is suffering from a long-term health condition requires further financial support while off work sick, for example, where their income is reduced while on Statutory Sick Pay, they may be able to claim Universal Credit depending on their personal circumstances. Where they are not eligible, for example, because they earn below the Lower Earnings Limit, they may also be able to claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a sick pay scheme for the self-employed.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is paid for by employers and there is no mechanism to include the self-employed in SSP.
The Government does have a wider safety net to ensure self-employed people are supported through the welfare system. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people in receipt of statutory sick pay living with (a) cystic fibrosis and (b) other long term conditions to have phased returns to work.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Health is Everyone’s Business (2019) consulted on a broad package of measures related to the work and health agenda. This included some proposals related to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) such as making it more flexible to support phased returns to work.
In the response to the consultation (2021), the Government stated this was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system, but that we are continuing to keep the SSP system under review.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether carers approaching state pension age who will lose their entitlement to Carer's Allowance are automatically directed to claim Pension Credit..
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Carer’s Allowance aims to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment, in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person.
For those over the age of retirement, the State Pension is intended to replace income when work ceases. It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system under successive governments that, where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to prevent duplicate financial provision for the same need. We have no plans to change these arrangements.
Where underlying entitlement of Carer’s Allowance occurs (all entitlement conditions are met, but the overlapping benefit rule prevents payment), additional financial support may already be available through Pension Credit, notably including the additional amount payable to carers in Pension Credit. This additional amount is currently £42.75 a week and 108,000 people are receiving it. It is paid to recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring and means that lower income pensioners with caring responsibilities can receive more than other lower income recipients of Pension Credit. If a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.
Since April 2022, the Government has undertaken a substantial and sustained communications campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and promote its take-up, including extensive advertising in regional and national newspapers, on social media, on the radio and on TV. The department also includes information in the leaflet that accompanies the annual uprating letters to pensioners drawing attention to the availability of Pension Credit and encouraging them to check their eligibility and make a claim.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
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 cost to the public purse of providing additional financial support to carers in receipt of the State Pension.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Carer’s Allowance aims to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment, in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person.
For those over the age of retirement, the State Pension is intended to replace income when work ceases. It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system under successive governments that, where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to prevent duplicate financial provision for the same need. We have no plans to change these arrangements.
Where underlying entitlement of Carer’s Allowance occurs (all entitlement conditions are met, but the overlapping benefit rule prevents payment), additional financial support may already be available through Pension Credit, notably including the additional amount payable to carers in Pension Credit. This additional amount is currently £42.75 a week and 108,000 people are receiving it. It is paid to recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring and means that lower income pensioners with caring responsibilities can receive more than other lower income recipients of Pension Credit. If a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.
Since April 2022, the Government has undertaken a substantial and sustained communications campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and promote its take-up, including extensive advertising in regional and national newspapers, on social media, on the radio and on TV. The department also includes information in the leaflet that accompanies the annual uprating letters to pensioners drawing attention to the availability of Pension Credit and encouraging them to check their eligibility and make a claim.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is a saving to the public purse when State Pension replaces Carer's Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Carer’s Allowance aims to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment, in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person.
For those over the age of retirement, the State Pension is intended to replace income when work ceases. It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system under successive governments that, where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to prevent duplicate financial provision for the same need. We have no plans to change these arrangements.
Where underlying entitlement of Carer’s Allowance occurs (all entitlement conditions are met, but the overlapping benefit rule prevents payment), additional financial support may already be available through Pension Credit, notably including the additional amount payable to carers in Pension Credit. This additional amount is currently £42.75 a week and 108,000 people are receiving it. It is paid to recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring and means that lower income pensioners with caring responsibilities can receive more than other lower income recipients of Pension Credit. If a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.
Since April 2022, the Government has undertaken a substantial and sustained communications campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and promote its take-up, including extensive advertising in regional and national newspapers, on social media, on the radio and on TV. The department also includes information in the leaflet that accompanies the annual uprating letters to pensioners drawing attention to the availability of Pension Credit and encouraging them to check their eligibility and make a claim.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of requiring employees who have opted out of a workplace pension scheme to be automatically re-enrolled every three years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government continues to advocate for the importance of pension saving which offers greater financial resilience in later life. Automatic Enrolment (AE) has transformed pension participation rates, with 86% of eligible private sector employees saving into a workplace pension in 2021, up from 42% in 2012.
AE was deliberately designed with an opt-out to give people choice, enabling them to decide if saving for a pension is right for them given their circumstances and affordability.
This is why when an individual makes the decision to pause or cease contributions, the AE framework requires their employer to re-assess and re-enol their eligible employees every three years, which prevents individuals from falling out of pension saving in the medium to long term.
The re-enrolment regime has been successful, seeing 1 million eligible job holders automatically re-enrolled since the introduction of AE in 2012.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
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 potential merits of requiring employers to provide information on workplace pension (a) automatic enrolment and (b) opt-out notices in a non-digital format to assist employees without access to digital communications.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
There are no plans to place an additional statutory requirement on businesses to provide non-digital opt-out notices and information on automatic enrolment (AE). Detailed guidance from The Pensions Regulator (TPR) specifically asks employers to consider the appropriateness of the format of the information they are providing to their workers (such as digital access). This is ultimately a choice for individual employers and pension schemes to make based on their own circumstances and considering employee/member needs.
Further guidance from TPR is available to aid employers in fulfilling their AE obligations, including on providing information on AE and the right to opt-out (at section 5). This guidance is available here: Information to workers - automatic enrolment detailed guidance for employers | The Pensions Regulator
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2023 to Question 184836 on Universal Credit: Young People, if he will pay under 25 year olds who live independently the same rate of Universal Credit that is paid to those aged 25 years and over.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has no plans to change the rates of Universal Credit.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 May 2023 to Question 183251 on Universal Credit: Young People, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of aligning Universal Credit for people under 25 with the eligibility of 23 years for the National Living Wage.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No such assessment has been made.