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Speech in Public Bill Committees - Wed 26 Oct 2022
Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill

"I will ask some questions later of the Conservative Minister, if that is okay...."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Wed 26 Oct 2022
Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill

"I congratulate the hon. Member for Cheadle on introducing this important Bill, and I join the Minister in recognising the fantastic success of auto-enrolment, which has changed saving across our country. But I hope the Minister can help me on two points.

First, the hon. Member for Hexham has—for sure—done …..."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill
Written Question
Cold Weather Payments
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the Cold Weather Payments scheme has been triggered in the last two years; how much money has been distributed as part of this scheme; and whether the scheme uses ringfenced funds.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

A breakdown of triggers by country along with number of payments can be found in the official statistics for cold weather payment (CWP) estimates here: Cold Weather Payment estimates: 2021 to 2022- GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Expenditure on Cold Weather Payments can be found in the Annual Social Fund Reports here Social Fund annual report 2020 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The 21/22 report is due to be published in the near future and thus 21/22 expenditure is an estimate based on the Cold Weather Payment Official Statistics.

Cold Weather Payments are not ring-fenced. Funding for the Cold Weather Payment scheme is demand driven and expenditure varies each year depending on how cold the winter is.

Written Question
Cold Weather Payments
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Cold Weather Payments have been distributed since that scheme's inception; and how much her Department has spent on those payments per annum.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)

The current system of cold weather payments was introduced in 1988. The payment is a fixed amount for each week of cold weather. From 1995 this was set at £8.50 a week. The Cold Weather Payment was temporarily increased from £8.50 to £25 for the winters of 2008/9 and 2009/10. This increase was made permanent in November 2010.

The table below shows the number of Cold Weather payments made and total expenditure in each year since 1988-89. 21/22 is due to be published in the next Annual Social Fund Report so has not been included below.

No. of cold weather payments (000)

Expenditure (£m)

1988-89

0.5

0.003

1989-90

N/A

0.4

1990-91

N/A

9.3

1991-92

3,827

23.0

1992-93

2,503

15.0

1993-94

2,064

12.4

1994-95

11

0.1

1995-96

7,252

61.6

1996-97

4,964

42.2

1997-98

55

0.5

1998-99

26

0.2

1999-00

114

1.0

2000-01

3,535

30.0

2001-02

1,804

15.3

2002-03

1,675

14.2

2003-04

418

3.5

2004-05

213

1.8

2005-06

988

8.4

2006-07

402

3.4

2007-08

472

4.0

2008-09

8,416

210.4

2009-10

11,590

289.7

2010-11

17,232

430.8

2011-12

5,167

129.2

2012-13

5,845

146.1

2013-14

1

0.03

2014-15

422

10.6

2015-16

155

3.9

2016-17

131

3.1

2017-18

4,572

114.3

2018-19

1079

27.0

2019-20

10

0.3

2020-21

3,951

98.8

Notes

  1. N/A= not available
  2. Figures are for payments triggered in the relevant financial year.
  3. There was a single level of payment each year, except in 1990-91 when the level of payment was increased during the year. A breakdown of the number
    of payments for that year by level is not available. 3. Some people were made more than one payment in some years.
  4. Numbers of payments made are rounded to the nearest 1,000, except for
    1988-89 where the number of payments is rounded to the nearest 100.
    Amounts spent are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million, except for 1988-89
    where the amount spent is rounded to the nearest £1,000.
  5. Data are not available on the numbers of payments received (as opposed
    to made) or on the numbers of people who received payments. However, the
    vast majority of payments are now made direct into bank accounts.
  6. Source: Annual reports by the Secretary of State for Social Security/Work and
    Pensions on the Social Fund

Written Question
Kickstart Scheme: Blaenau Gwent
Monday 1st March 2021

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many young people living in Blaenau Gwent constituency were registered with the Kickstart scheme as of 23 February 2021.

Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)

Data regarding the number of young people registered for the Kickstart scheme by constituency is not currently available.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 07 Oct 2020
Pension Schemes Bill [Lords]

"Pensions are often the biggest pot of money that anyone will have. They hold the promise of future financial security and are hugely important to millions, but they are also complex and more needs to be done to support people in understanding this crucial topic. Increasing choice through pension freedoms …..."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Pension Schemes Bill [Lords]
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 07 Oct 2020
Pension Schemes Bill [Lords]

"It is great to hear the Minister speak up for the good people of Tredegar, my home town. I accept that dashboards and transparency should help in understanding schemes’ performance, fees and important matters that affect pensioners across the country, but, as the Secretary of State said in her introduction, …..."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Pension Schemes Bill [Lords]
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 03 Sep 2020
Kickstart Scheme

"Cyber College Cymru in Blaenau Gwent gives opportunities for young people in the digital security sector, where there is strong employer demand. That industry will be vital to our future economy. Boosting jobs for young people is the right thing to do, but this needs to deliver long-term job security. …..."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Kickstart Scheme
Speech in Ministerial Corrections - Wed 08 Jul 2020
Work and Pensions

"Informed commentators say that more than 100,000 women will be impacted by this error. Many will be old women and more likely to be living in poverty. To put this right, will the Minister agree to an investigation into this issue? Will he look again at the rules on backdating …..."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Work and Pensions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 29 Jun 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

" What recent estimate she has made of the number of women who have been underpaid their state pension uplift as a result of an administrative error. ..."
Nick Smith - View Speech

View all Nick Smith (Lab - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions