Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to ensure that at least one official from her Department is present during all (a) meetings and (b) phone calls relating to Government business between Ministers and third parties.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers holding meetings or phone calls on government business are routinely accompanied by a Private Secretary or other official, in line with the expectations of paragraph 8.14 of the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department’s process is for (a) recording and (b) keeping minutes of all meetings relating to Government business.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Formal, structured meetings are usually minuted, however, not all meetings need to be minuted. It is expected that the general guidance that departments give to their staff will help officials make judgements as to what meetings need to be minuted, noting their Civil Service Code obligation to ‘keep accurate official records’.
Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving ministers. These are publicly available and can be found in the Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints have been received by her Department on the communication of changes to women's State Pension retirement age as at 18 October 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of 18 October 2021, DWP received 9822 complaints in the period from August 2016 to September 2021.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on (a) extending Automatic Enrolment to workers under 22 and (b) removing the automatic enrolment lower earnings threshold by the mid-2020s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to implementing the 2017 Automatic Enrolment Review ambitions in the mid-2020s, lowering the age for being automatically enrolled from 22 to 18 and abolishing the automatic enrolment lower earnings limit, so that contributions are payable from the first pound of earnings.
In this way we will expand coverage of the successful workplace pension reforms and increase the amounts being put into retirement savings by millions of workers, particularly younger people and lower earners.
The 2017 Review report was clear that implementation will be subject to learning from previous workplace pension contribution increases, discussions with employers and others on the right approach, and finding ways to make these changes affordable. We will do this in light of the impact of the pandemic and our overall support for economic recovery, while continuing to support long-term saving, balancing the needs of savers, employers and tax-payers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of the 3.2 per cent rise in inflation on the financial wellbeing of recipients of universal credit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to Universal Credit uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Separately to the Universal Credit Uplift, the Secretary of State completes an annual review of most benefit rates for people below State Pension age to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices. Where prices have increased relative to the value of those benefits, the Secretary of State will increase certain disability and carers’ benefits – such as Personal Independence Payments and Carer’s Allowance – at least in line with that increase. She may also decide to increase other benefits, such as the Universal Credit Standard Allowance. That decision is discretionary, but it is conventional that these rates are also increased in line with the increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The up-rating review is conducted in the Autumn of each year, with the outcome announced in November and the new rates implemented the following April.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of people who are automatically enrolled that are likely to reach a moderate lifestyle in retirement as defined by the PLSA’s Retirement Living Standards.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is focussed on its goal of expanding the benefits of automatic enrolment in the mid-2020s, increasing the overall amounts being saved by working people, and extending the benefits of workplace pensions to younger workers. I welcome the PLSA standards as a contribution to the debate.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the planned removal of the uplift to universal credit in response to the increase in inflation to 3.2 per cent.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to Universal Credit uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Separately to the Universal Credit Uplift, the Secretary of State completes an annual review of most benefit rates for people below State Pension age to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices. Where prices have increased relative to the value of those benefits, the Secretary of State will increase certain disability and carers’ benefits – such as Personal Independence Payments and Carer’s Allowance – at least in line with that increase. She may also decide to increase other benefits, such as the Universal Credit Standard Allowance. That decision is discretionary, but it is conventional that these rates are also increased in line with the increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The up-rating review is conducted in the Autumn of each year, with the outcome announced in November and the new rates implemented the following April.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government plans to take in response to Trussell Trust’s findings on the use of food banks by people who (a) met the Trussell Trust's definition of being destitute and (b) are disabled in its report entitled State of Hunger, published in May 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
This Government is wholly committed to tackling poverty. Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to support the most vulnerable including through spending an additional £7.4 billion to strengthen the welfare system, taking our total expenditure on welfare support for people of working age to an estimated £111 billion in 2020/21.
We are spending over £57 billion during 2021/22 on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including but not limited to new style Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment. Benefits to meet the additional costs of disability were excluded from the benefit freeze which was in place from 2016 to 2020 and during that period were uprated in line with prices.
There is clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The Government recognises the important economic contribution of disabled people in the labour market and in 2017 we set a goal to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027. DWP delivers a range of programmes to support disabled people, to stay in or move into work. These include the Work and Health Programme, Intensive Personalised Employment Support, Access to Work, Disability Confident and initiatives in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services and Individual Placement and Support.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) Scotland and (v) Wales in each month from August 2020 to December 2020.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on COVID-19 and other national campaigns on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will raise the level of statutory sick pay to protect people affected by covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This government has a strong safety net that helps people who are facing hardship and are unable to support themselves financially and we have taken steps to strengthen that safety net as part of the government’s response to the pandemic.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a minimum level of income for employees when they are sick or incapable of work. For those who are sick, self-isolating or shielding due to coronavirus, SSP is now payable from the first day of work missed, rather than the fourth. Some employers may also decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider government offer to support people in times of need. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, for example where they are not eligible for SSP, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.
Working people on low incomes who are required to remain at home by NHS Test and Trace to help stop the spread of the virus and cannot work from home could be eligible for a £500 payment to financially support them while self-isolating.
Background
o Sick, displaying symptoms or have tested positive for coronavirus
o self-isolating because they, or someone in their household (including an extended or linked household), is displaying symptoms or has tested positive for coronavirus
o self-isolating because they have been notified by the NHS or public health authority that they have come into contact with someone who has coronavirus.
o Self-isolating because they have been advised to do so by their doctor or health clinician before being admitted to hospital for planned or elective surgery
o shielding because they live or work in an area where shielding is reintroduced and they have been advised to do so by their doctor or health authority
Other SSP eligibility criteria will apply.