Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff are employed by the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel; and how many times the body has met since it was created.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 18 March 2025 (UIN 38339).
In accordance with paragraph 160 of the Safeguarding the Union command paper, a Secretariat is provided by the UK Government to the Panel, and the Panel receives relevant data to support its monitoring functions. The Panel does not directly employ staff.
It is a matter for the Panel to determine the structure and cadence of its meetings and panellists regularly engage with each other as well as having recently met the Secretary of State on 3 March.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what resources they are providing to the working of the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 18 March 2025 (UIN 38339).
In accordance with paragraph 160 of the Safeguarding the Union command paper, a Secretariat is provided by the UK Government to the Panel, and the Panel receives relevant data to support its monitoring functions. The Panel does not directly employ staff.
It is a matter for the Panel to determine the structure and cadence of its meetings and panellists regularly engage with each other as well as having recently met the Secretary of State on 3 March.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how and when they intend to respond to the passing of the Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 Applicability Motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continues to evaluate the implications of Regulation 2023/2411, in the light of the applicability motion vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the conditions set out in Schedule 6B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are considering to address the persecution of Uyghur refugees in China, including coercive birth control measures; and what steps they are taking to engage with international partners to address these concerns.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
This government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.
We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively). We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners and work in multilateral fora to hold China to account for human rights violations. Most recently we raised the persecution of Uyghurs within our Item 4 statement at the Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure eligible people over State Pension age are aware that they may be entitled to Carer's Allowance.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the availability of Carer’s Allowance is widely available, including online via GOV.UK and from places such as Carers Trust and Citizens Advice. DWP continually seeks to improve the information it makes available so as to encourage people to claim Carer’s Allowance where they may be entitled.
Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long-held feature of the GB 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 avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person and is unable to undertake full time employment due to their caring responsibilities, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.
However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90.
Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 125,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.
Social Security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that older people can access all the benefits and allowances to which they are entitled.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government wants all pensioners to get the support to which they are rightly entitled. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign.
We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, which provides a vital safety net by guaranteeing a minimum level of income – and will also passport them to receive other benefits (including Winter Fuel Payments, help with rent, council tax, fuel bills and a free TV licence for those over 75).
Our drive to increase Pension Credit take up has successfully boosted applications, with the Department receiving around 235,000 Pension Credit applications in the 30 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement and making 117,800 new Pension Credit awards over the same period. The campaign has included adverts on Television, radio, social media such as Facebook and Instagram, on YouTube, on advertising screens, including on GP and Post Office screens as well as in the press.
We are now writing to all pensioners who make a new claim for Housing Benefit and who appear to be entitled to Pension Credit – directly targeting this group and encouraging them to make a claim. In the longer term, we will be bringing together the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, so that pensioners receive both Housing Benefit and any Pension Credit that they are entitled to.
For State Pensions, DWP sends out a letter to customers four months prior to their State Pension age, inviting a claim to State Pension. The letter signposts the customer to claim online which is the quickest and easiest way to claim and also includes the telephone number to call to make their claim to State Pension over the telephone. The customer can also request a paper claim form.
Attendance Allowance is currently undergoing a significant modernisation reform through the piloting of an on-line digital claim process as a part of the department’s wider Service Modernisation plans. This aims to provide a more streamlined alternative application method in addition to the current paper form. Online claims are currently being tested with a view to this becoming more widely available in due course.
Information and advice about entitlement to Attendance Allowance and other benefits may be available from a range of outlets including Jobcentre Plus offices, DWP and other helplines, gov.uk and other internet sites, local authorities, Citizens Advice and welfare benefit offices, Social Services, voluntary organisations, such as, Age UK and MacMillan, public libraries, health clinics, doctors' surgeries and health visitors.