Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on cross-departmental work to implement effectively the National Disability Strategy.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, including the National Disability Strategy which was published in July.
At the request of the Prime Minister, a set of Ministerial Disability Champions were appointed in summer 2020, to drive the development and delivery of the National Disability Strategy.
Their role, as set out on GOV.UK, includes championing disabled people and driving the delivery of the National Disability Strategy in their respective departments.
As detailed in the strategy itself, the government will publish an annual report in summer 2022, detailing the progress made against commitments. An updated list of Departmental Ministerial Disability Champions will be published on GOV.UK in due course.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support Jobcentre Plus is providing to young people not in education, employment and training in the Hendon constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government’s Plan for Jobs is delivering a comprehensive package of support for young people, which the Department for Work and Pensions is providing in collaboration with the Department for Education, schools and other partners. This means that whatever their needs, young people can find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment.
Jobcentre Plus provides an array of support for young people living in the constituency of Hendon and across the Borough of Barnet, underpinned by a close working relationship with key stakeholders.
Kickstart provides employment and training opportunities across a range of sectors with Kickstart jobs offered by key employers in the area such as Brent Cross-Hemmersons, Barnet Council, The Cherry Tree Foundation and The London Village Network. Every week we welcome dozens of employers into the local Jobcentres to recruit young people face-to-face. Our Work Coaches help to prepare young people for interview, and where a job start is secured, offer financial support to overcome any barriers around travel and essential clothing and equipment. The local Youth Hub is based in Grahame Park, Colindale. Work Coaches, in collaboration with Barnet Council, provide bespoke support to customers to move closer to work or opportunities, from CV writing to training opportunities.
We are working closely with the local leaving care team and a range of expert partners to provide the holistic support needed by this priority group of young people. These organisations include Bridging the Gap, Future Pathways, Live Unlimited, Routes into Constructions, Twinning Enterprise, Trail Blazers, Barnet Council, Advocacy Service and Drive Forward Foundation. These vital partnerships have been at the forefront in our drive to reduce youth unemployment, ensuring every young person is being supported into work.
Sector-based Work Academy Programmes also provide the essential skills young people need to enter employment, for example a recent programme provided the skills required for the fitness industry and prioritised those young people with complex barriers linked to leaving care, gang affiliation and a history of offending.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the £500 million Household Support Fund will provide assistance to vulnerable people in Hendon over the next six months.
Answered by David Rutley
We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.
The Household Support Fund in England is being allocated at the Upper Tier level. In Hendon, this means that funding has been allocated to Barnet Council. All Upper Tier Local Authorities have the flexibility to deliver their own schemes through a variety of routes, which may include offering vouchers to households, directly providing food, or issuing grants to third parties to provide such services on their behalf.
The Household Support Fund will primarily be used to support households in need with food, energy and water costs, with flexibility for support with wider essentials. In exceptional cases of genuine emergency where existing housing support schemes do not meet this exceptional need, the Household Support Fund can be used to support housing costs. At least 50% of the funding is for vulnerable households with children, while up to 50% is available for vulnerable households without children, including individuals.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is planning to take to help people understand their personal pensions in (a) Hendon constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman
We are actively working on supporting people to understand and prepare for retirement, with pension guidance provided by the Money and Pension Service available in all parts of the UK.
Alongside the introduction of the Pension Freedoms in 2015, we introduced Pension Wise guidance, now delivered through the Money and Pensions Service MoneyHelper Pension Wise (moneyhelper.org.uk). Pension Wise provides free, impartial guidance to savers aged 50 or above as they approach retirement and who are considering accessing their pension savings through pensions freedoms. In addition to Pension Wise, MoneyHelper Pensions (formerly known as The Pensions Advisory Service) provides guidance to individuals of all ages, across a wide range of issues.
To ensure pension savers consider receiving Pension Wise guidance before accessing their savings, we recently consulted on introducing a Stronger Nudge to Pensions’ Guidance. The Government’s response will be published in due course.
Simple annual benefit statements have also been introduced to help members better understand the information they receive from their pension scheme, including how much they have saved. Empowering consumers to see all of their pensions savings in one place for the first time and also what level of income they might provide in retirement, is a key part of our strategy to improve consumers’ engagement with pensions. Pensions dashboards will put the individual saver in control, reconnect people with their lost pension pots, and transform how people think and plan for their retirement.
The Pensions Dashboards Programme’s latest progress report was published in October 2021, and highlighted that dashboards remain on track for delivery in phase 4 of their delivery programme.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to promote and fill employment vacancies in the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy. DWP’s Plan for Jobs programmes, including Kickstart, are delivering tailored support for claimants in receipt of Universal Credit to support them into work.
Alongside Plan for Jobs measures, DWP is working across government to support people into sectors with immediate or growing demand for jobs but with barriers to entry. We are also working with industry to provide our work coaches with the knowledge they need to identify suitable candidates and to develop relationships with key employers and stakeholders in their local areas. As a result, local jobcentres continue to connect directly with employers in their area, to discuss their recruitment needs and to offer advice on the support available, including work trials, work experience and Sector-based Work Academies Programmes (SWAPs).
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will implement further initiatives to help reduce the disability employment gap.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The National Disability Strategy, the Health and Disability Support Green Paper and the Health is Everyone’s Business response together reflect this Government’s commitment to supporting disabled people and those with long-term health conditions to live full and independent lives, including through employment. A range of DWP initiatives are currently supporting disabled people to start, stay and succeed in work. These include the Work and Health Programme, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been auto-enrolled in workplace pensions in Hendon constituency since 2012.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Since 2012, in the Hendon constituency, approximately 14,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension and 3,530 employers have declared compliance with their automatic enrolment duties.
This data is produced and updated by The Pensions Regulator each month and published on its website which can be accessed via the following weblink:
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contributions she plans to make at COP26 to help pension funds contribute to delivering net zero.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The UK was the first country in the world both to make climate disclosures in line with the Task Force on Climate- Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations mandatory for occupational pensions schemes, and to consult on measures to require pension schemes to measure and report their alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The Secretary of State therefore intends to play a very active role in encouraging other countries to follow this precedent and to commit to TCFD/Paris aligned reporting for their pension sector at COP26. The Secretary of State will also be introducing a session to focus on mobilising finance to fight climate change in emerging markets and developing countries, which will be crucial in the fight against climate change.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support pension funds to invest in green infrastructure.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The government has been a global champion in terms of promoting safer, better, greener pensions. On 1 October 2021, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures regulations and statutory guidance came into force, requiring trustees to consider, assess and report on the financial risks and opportunities of climate change within their portfolios.
We are also doing more to remove barriers to investment in green infrastructure and other illiquid assets. As announced in the recent Budget, we will consult on possible changes to the regulatory charge cap for defined contribution pension schemes used for automatic enrolment. These changes could help unlock access to investment in important sectors of the UK economy, including green infrastructure, whilst continuing to protect savers.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people will have their universal credit reduced as a result of the planned removal of the £20 uplift to the standard allowance in Hendon constituency.
Answered by David Rutley
The available information on the number of people with Universal Credit in payment, by geography, is published and 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