Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Hammond and Mel Stride

Monday 6th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

10. What steps he is taking to reduce levels of economic inactivity among working-age people.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)]

The Prime Minister has asked me to review the matter of economic inactivity, and the results of that review will be shared with the House shortly.

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[Mel Stride]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important matter, which of course is well known to the Chancellor and Treasury colleagues. We have a variety of discussions with the Treasury on those kinds of matters and others. Of course, tax policy is a matter for the Treasury.

[Stephen Hammond]

I commend my right hon. Friend for the work that the Department is doing to try to reduce economic inactivity. He will know that many of the over-50s moving out of employment and into economic inactivity are concentrated in the self-employed and part-time workforces. Can he confirm that his review will look at measures to bring those people back into the workforce?

[Mel Stride]

I can reassure my hon. Friend that we are most certainly looking carefully at that particular cohort of people who have prematurely retired—if I may use that term—and are over the age of 50. It is one of the biggest cohorts that we are trying to encourage back into the workforce, and I will have more to say on that matter in due course.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mel Stride]

The hon. Gentleman is prejudging an awful lot of potential outcomes. He should wait until the Chancellor and I have taken those particular decisions. I am focused on a variety of metrics. Life expectancy is one of them, as is regional impact. The fiscal impact certainly cannot be ignored, and I would be surprised if he suggested otherwise. Fairness between generations and the period of life in which one is expected to be healthy in later years are also important considerations.

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

T2. I warmly welcome the Government’s decision to increase the state pension by more than 10% in April, but does my right hon. Friend agreed that we should encourage private provision alongside state provision? Will he say what conversations his Department has had with the Treasury about extending the lifetime allowance or annual allowance for pensions, and anything more on auto-enrolment?