Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason additional resources have not been provided to the Independent Case Examiner to ensure that complaints made by WASPI women and all others are allocated and processed in a timely manner; and if the Government will provide such resources.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Independent Case Examiners (ICE) Office provides a demand led service. The time it takes to allocate and process complaints varies depending on the volume of referrals received, the complexity of the cases on hand and the available investigative resource. The Office is currently experiencing high volumes of referrals as a direct result of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign. Its resources are reviewed on an annual basis and additional resource has been provided for the 2018/19 financial year. The ICE Office aims to provide the higest quality of service and despite current waiting times, 82% of those who responded to the ICE customer survey said they were satisfied with the service they received.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will carry out an assessment of the effect on women in Midlothian constituency of changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has no plans to carry out such an assessment.
The decision to equalise the State Pension age for men and women dates back to 1995 and addresses a longstanding inequality between men and women’s State Pension age. If State Pension ages had not been equalised, women would be spending 40% of their adult life in retirement and this proportion would be continuing to increase.
The 2010-15 Government made the decision to bring in further changes to the State Pension age, following extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament. These changes were introduced in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the state pension over the long term. Life expectancy at age 65 increased by 5 years for men and almost 4 years for women in the 20 years to 2009. The 2011 Act accelerated the equalisation of women’s State Pension age by 18 months and brought forward the increase in men and women’s State Pension age to 66 by five and a half years, relative to the previous timetables. Failing to act in light of compelling demographic evidence would have been irresponsible and would have placed an unfair fiscal burden on the working population.
The number of older women (50-64) in work is at a record high, and the most current average age of exit from the labour market for women is 63.6 – well above the previous women’s State Pension age of 60.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet the hon. Member for Aberavon and a delegation from Aberavon WASPI women to discuss changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament. The Government will not be making changes to its policy on state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet the hon. Member for Glasgow East and a delegation from WASPI Glasgow and Lanarkshire to discuss changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament. The Government will not be making changes to its policy on state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of compensating women who have reached state pension age for losses caused by changes introduced in the Pension Acts 1995 and 2011 to their state pensions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government will not be revisiting the State Pension age arrangements for women affected by the Pensions Act 1995 and Pensions Act 2011. These women will receive their State Pension either at the same age as men or earlier as we remove the current inequality, as set out in the 1995 & 2011 Acts. A concession was made prior to the passing of the 2011 Act which reduced the delay that anyone would experience in claiming their State Pension, relative to the previous timetable, to 18 months. This concession benefited almost a quarter of a million women, who would otherwise have experienced delays of up to two years. A similar number of men also benefited from a reduced increase, and the concession was worth £1.1 billion in total.
It is worth noting that the average woman who reached SPa post 2015 gets a higher state pension income over her lifetime than an average woman reaching SPa at any point before. Also, over a lifetime, the average woman who reached State Pension age in 2015 will still receive more than the average man in spite of the rise in women’s state pension age. Any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would unquestionably be highly dubious as a matter of law.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to achieve equitable transitional state pension arrangements for all women born in the 1950s affected by changes to state pensions introduced buy the Pensions Act 1995 and 2011.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The decision to equalise the State Pension age for men and women dates back to 1995 and addresses a longstanding inequality between men and women’s State Pension age. If State Pension ages had not been equalised, women would be spending 40% of their adult life in retirement and this proportion would be continuing to increase.
The 2010-15 Government made the decision to bring in further changes to the State Pension age, following extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament. These changes were introduced in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the state pension over the long term. Life expectancy at age 65 increased by 5 years for men and almost 4 years for women in the 20 years to 2009. The 2011 Act accelerated the equalisation of women’s State Pension age by 18 months and brought forward the increase in men and women’s State Pension age to 66 by five and a half years, relative to the previous timetables. Failing to act in light of compelling demographic evidence would have been irresponsible and would have placed an unfair fiscal burden on the working population.
A concession was made prior to the passing of the 2011 Act which reduced the delay that anyone would experience in claiming their State Pension, relative to the previous timetable, to 18 months. This concession benefited almost a quarter of a million women, who would otherwise have experienced delays of up to two years. A similar number of men also benefited from a reduced increase, and the concession was worth £1.1 billion in total.
This issue has been debated numerous times and numerous statements have already been made. Introducing further concessions cannot be justified given the imperative to focus public resources on helping those most in need.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 8090, on what date he will next meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
Answered by David Mundell
My Department receives a large number of requests for the ministerial team and officials to meet with stakeholders to discuss a variety of issues on a regular basis and each invitation is considered on a case by case basis.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle and a delegation from WASPI Hull to discuss changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign in the immediate future.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, most recently in a Westminster Hall Debate on 5th July 2017 in which I stated I will be meeting the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) when it is reformed.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet the hon. Member for Coventry North East and a delegation from WASPI Coventry to discuss changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign in the immediate future.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, most recently in a Westminster Hall Debate on 5th July 2017 in which I stated I will be meeting the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) when it is reformed.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he last met representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
Answered by David Mundell
Ministers and officials regularly meet with a wide range of stakeholders on a variety of issues. The Government publishes a list of all ministerial meetings with external bodies on departmental business on a quarterly basis.