Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people excluded from auto-enrolment as a result of the introduction of the three-month waiting period in the Pensions Act 2011.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We do not hold this information.
The 2011 Pensions Act implemented workplace pension reform measures from the independent Making Automatic Enrolment Work Review which sought to simplify the automatic enrolment process. One of these measures was the introduction of the option of waiting periods for the automatic enrolment of workers into a workplace pension. This helps to reduce burdens on employers by allowing them the flexibility to postpone automatic enrolment if they have temporary or short-term staff who will stop working within three months, need to align automatic enrolment with their other business processes (e.g., payroll), or for any other business reason, while balancing the risk of individuals being excluded from pension saving for extended periods of time.
It is important to note, however, that workers can still ask to join the employer’s workplace pension scheme during the postponement period. Indeed, an IFS study published in November 2016 found evidence of a particularly large increase in workplace pension membership among those who have been with their employer for less than 3 months, of 20 percentage points. https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/research%20summaries/auto_enrolment_1116.pdf
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will increase the maximum age for teacher deaths in occupational data beyond the age of 74.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Occupational mortality analyses, based on national data from death certificates, do not include deaths beyond age 74, whether among former teachers or any other occupation. This is because it is known that the accuracy of occupation information recorded on death certificates declines for older ages so currently the data on the last occupation of the deceased is only coded for those aged 16 to 74 in England and Wales.
There are currently no plans to increase the maximum age for which information about last occupation of the deceased – whether for teachers or any other occupation – is included in national data for England and Wales.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons 74 is the maximum age at which occupational data include a teacher death.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Occupational mortality analyses, based on national data from death certificates, do not include deaths beyond age 74, whether among former teachers or any other occupation. This is because it is known that the accuracy of occupation information recorded on death certificates declines for older ages so currently the data on the last occupation of the deceased is only coded for those aged 16 to 74 in England and Wales.
There are currently no plans to increase the maximum age for which information about last occupation of the deceased – whether for teachers or any other occupation – is included in national data for England and Wales.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the level of income that a couple with two children where the main earner is working full-time on the national living wage will receive relative to what they would have received in tax credits.
Answered by Damian Hinds
There is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. Universal Credit is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.
If a family were moved from tax credits onto Universal Credit by the Department for Work and Pensions with unchanged circumstances they would not see their benefit income reduce, due to Transitional Protection. The exact level of entitlement will depend on the circumstances of both people in the couple.
One element of reform cannot be viewed in isolation from all others, including the introduction of the National Living Wage and rises in the Personal Tax Allowance. Universal Credit now provides for up to 85% of childcare costs, giving parents the opportunity to work and earn more so they can support their families and improve the life chances of their children. Eligible parents can now access up to 30 hours free childcare per week for 3 and 4 year olds.
Universal Credit is designed to strengthen incentives for parents to move into and progress in work and evidence shows that under Universal Credit claimants move into work significantly faster and stay in work longer than under the old system.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
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 level of taper rate in universal credit that would mean that households were no worse off under universal credit than they were under tax credits.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The structures of Universal Credit and the legacy benefit systems are different meaning there will be households with higher notional entitlements, and households with lower notional entitlements whatever the taper rate. However, no household will see a decline in the benefit payments purely as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit
The single universal credit taper means that as people’s earnings increase, their Universal Credit payments reduce at a steady rate, so they can be sure they will always be better off working and earning more. We have also announced a 2% improvement in the Universal Credit single taper meaning more support for hardworking families.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the effect on the level of income received by households under universal credit relative to what they received under tax credit if the taper rate for universal credit was set at 55 per cent.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The structures of Universal Credit and the legacy benefit systems are different meaning there will be households with higher notional entitlements, and households with lower notional entitlements whatever the taper rate. However, no household will see a decline in the benefit payments purely as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit
The single universal credit taper means that as people’s earnings increase, their Universal Credit payments reduce at a steady rate, so they can be sure they will always be better off working and earning more. We have also announced a 2% improvement in the Universal Credit single taper meaning more support for hardworking families.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2016 to Question 38024, how many visits to the Pensions Wise website were by consumers seeking pensions advice for personal use.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Pension Wise is a free and impartial guidance service which helps people aged 50 and over understand what they can do with their defined contribution pension pot(s). The service does not offer regulated financial advice.
The Pension Wise service is aimed at members of the public. To the end of May 2016, Pension Wise has had over 2.6 million visits to the website since launch. It does not hold information that distinguishes between visitors to its website.