Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help improve collections of debts from individuals who are not currently in receipt of Universal Credit; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department is committed to improving debt collections from those individuals no longer in receipt of benefits, and we continue to investigate opportunities to ensure parity of treatment between those in receipt of a benefit, or in PAYE employment, and those who are not.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the extent to which his Department’s Stewardship Guidance is being followed by pension scheme trustees.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
We remain committed to reviewing the extent to which the Department’s Stewardship Guidance is being followed by pension scheme trustees to determine how far the guidance has helped trustees understand expectations around the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP) and Implementation Statement (IS), and whether improvements can be made.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the judgment in R (TD & Ors) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWCA Civ 618, when his Department plans to introduce a remedy scheme in the context of that judgment; which claimants are to be included in the proposed scheme; and whether it is his Department's policy for the proposed scheme to offer beneficiaries the difference between the amount they would have received had their legacy benefits not been terminated and the amount received through Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
We are working on the delivery process for implementing the remedy and will set out the details in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Financial Markets and Law Committee’s working group is making on reforming the guidance on fiduciary duty for pension trustees.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Government continues to work with the Financial Markets and Law Committee’s (FMLC) working group to review how best to clarify fiduciary duty, particularly in relation to climate change. The FMLC working group is independent from government. DWP looks forward to the publication of the group’s final report.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the additional number of people who would be found fit for work if the number of points awarded for the (a) coping with social engagement and (b) getting about indicators was reduced.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department has developed estimates across the range of options being considered in the Work Capability Assessment activities and descriptors consultation. The consultation runs until the 30th October and we will continue to refine these estimates as responses are considered following the end of the consultation period.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people whose benefit award would be assessed as lower if the number of points awarded for the (a) coping with social engagement and (b) getting about indicators was reduced.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department has developed estimates across the range of options being considered in the Work Capability Assessment activities and descriptors consultation. The consultation runs until the 30th October and we will continue to refine these estimates as responses are considered following the end of the consultation period.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people whose benefit award would be assessed as lower if the (a) coping with social engagement and (b) getting about indicators were removed from the Work Capability Assessment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department has developed estimates across the range of options being considered in the Work Capability Assessment activities and descriptors consultation. The consultation runs until the 30th October and we will continue to refine these estimates as responses are considered following the end of the consultation period.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the additional number of people who would be found fit for work if the (a) coping with social engagement and (b) getting about indicators were removed from the Work Capability Assessment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department has developed estimates across the range of options being considered in the Work Capability Assessment activities and descriptors consultation. The consultation runs until the 30th October and we will continue to refine these estimates as responses are considered following the end of the consultation period.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date will the Child Support Collection Act 2023 enter into force.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Preventing domestic abuse within CMS remains a key priority for the department and we want to work at pace to tackle it. The Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023 requires secondary legislation before it can come into force. We will engage widely with stakeholders and other government departments to ensure the changes made are right.
The department has already commenced a single caseworker pilot where there are cases of Domestic Abuse within CMS. The evaluation of this pilot will take place early next year. We have also implemented mandatory training for all CMS staff in how to respond to cases of domestic abuse and rolled out a complex needs toolkit which provides caseworkers with clear steps to follow where there are cases involving domestic abuse.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) impact and (b) cost effectiveness of steps being taken by local authorities to increase levels of take up of Pension Credit; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
We are identifying a trial with local authorities of ‘Invitation to Claim’ letters sent to housing benefit recipients who do not claim Pension Credit.
We will analyse the results of this later this year. We do not undertake assessments of general Local Authority activity.