Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which body will administer the proposed merged housing and pension credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to delivering the Government’s goal of bringing together the administration of pensioner Housing Benefit and Pension Credit for new claimants from 2026, so that pensioners receive the support they are entitled to.
We are working closely with local authorities, to ensure reforms meet the needs of current and future pensioners.
In addition, we have already improved how we use existing data to target new pensioner Housing Benefit customers to ensure they are prompted to claim and receive any Pension Credit to which they are entitled.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on merging pension credit and housing benefit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to delivering the Government’s goal of bringing together the administration of pensioner Housing Benefit and Pension Credit for new claimants from 2026, so that pensioners receive the support they are entitled to.
We are working closely with local authorities, to ensure reforms meet the needs of current and future pensioners.
In addition, we have already improved how we use existing data to target new pensioner Housing Benefit customers to ensure they are prompted to claim and receive any Pension Credit to which they are entitled.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit are not claiming Pension Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Using the latest published benefit combinations statistics from Stat-Xplore, out of the 1.24m benefit claimants of state pension age in Great Britain receiving Housing Benefit in August 2024, 448,500 were not in receipt of Pension Credit.
A DWP benefit claimant is defined as the individual who is claiming benefit on their own behalf, or in the case of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, an individual who is part of a single or couple claim for benefit.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, how many people in Stroud will no longer be eligible for Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Office for Budget Responsibility has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity group on the finances of disabled people unable to work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Equality Analysis” and “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
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 potential implications for her policies of recommendation 22 of the Third Report of the Work and Pensions Select Committee of Session 2023-24 on Defined benefit pension schemes, HC 144, published on 26 March 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry report on Defined Benefit pension schemes, published in March 2024 helpfully outlines areas to be considered, including the lack of pre-April 97 indexation in the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme. I recognise the importance of this issue for affected members. I will need to consider this issue in the coming weeks as I receive further briefing on Defined Benefit pensions.