Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish a response to Early Day Motion 2390, Pensions for women born in the 1950s.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approach of Labour, Conservative and the Coalition governments for the last 24 years since the 1995 pensions Act is the same. This Government’s position on the changes to State Pension age (SPa) remains clear and consistent.
We have considered the alternative options offered by stakeholders and found there are substantial practical, financial and legal problems to all alternative options offered by stakeholders so far to mitigate the impact on those affected. During the passage of the 2011 Act, the Government listened to the concerns of those affected and subsequently introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion in order to limit the impact on those women who would be most affected by the changes.
In the years after the 1995 legislation, equalisation was frequently reported in the media and debated at length in Parliament. The changes were communicated in a variety of ways, for example with leaflets, extensive advertising campaigns were carried out and later individual letters were posted out. Throughout this period, the Department has also provided individuals with their most up-to-date State Pension age when they have requested a Pension statement. Between April 2000 and the end of April 2019, the Department provided more than 28 million personalised State Pension statements to people who requested them (either online or by telephone or post). We continue to encourage people to request a personalised State Pension Statement as part of our on-going communications.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, and any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would be highly dubious as a matter of law. The Government has no plans to publish a response to EDM 2390.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish a response to EDM 2296 on providing financial restitution to born in the 1950s women.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approach of Labour, Conservative and the Coalition governments for the last 24 years since the 1995 pensions Act is the same. This Government’s position on the changes to State Pension age (SPa) remains clear and consistent.
The legislative changes to women’s SPa address the longstanding inequalities that had previously existed between men and women’s SPa. If State Pension age had not been equalised, women would be spending over 40 per cent of their adult life in retirement and this proportion would be continuing to increase. Even after equalising women's State Pension age with men's, women will spend on average around two years more in receipt of their State Pension because of their longer life expectancy.
The overall trend in the percentage of pensioners living in poverty is a dramatic fall over several decades. We are forecast to spend over £120 billion on benefits for pensioners, including £99 billion on the State Pension (2019/2020). In 2019/20 we are spending £3.1 billion to increase benefit and pension rates for pensioners.
The welfare system continues to provide a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, including that caused by unemployment, disability, and coping with caring responsibilities which affect those unable to work and therefore most in need in the run up to their State Pension age. Women who have had their State Pension age increased have the same eligibility to working age in-work, out-of-work and disability benefits as a man with the same date of birth.
This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, and any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would be highly dubious as a matter of law. The Government does not respond to individual EDMs.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Women Against State Pension Inequality on transitional state pension arrangements for women born after 1951 in advance of Budget 2018.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Work and Pensions has regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
This issue of transitional state pension arrangements for women born after 1951 has been debated numerous times, during successive governments including the Liberal and Conservative coalition 2010-2015. The Government has no plans to revisit the policy on women’s State Pension age. We do not intend to make further concessions in addition to the transitional arrangements for those adversely affected by the acceleration of increases in State Pension age which have already been made, in 2011 when the Pensions Bill was debated in Parliament.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last met with representatives of WASPI women.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since taking up the post, the Secretary of State has had no meetings with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
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, from what acceptance date the Independent Case Examiner's Office is currently allocating complaints to an investigation case manager.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Independent Case Examiner’s Office is currently allocating complaints to investigation case managers that were accepted for examination between March and May 2017. The time it takes to allocate complaints for investigation has been impacted by the on-going Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) complaints campaign.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of women affected by changes in the state pension age have made an official complaint to the Independent Case Examiner's Office.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have interpreted this as a question about the number of women who have made a complaint as part of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign. All women born after 6th April 1950 have been affected by the changes in State Pension age. There are estimated to be 3.58 million women affected by the State Pension age changes born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1960 in Great Britain. 3,521 WASPI complaints have been received by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office, therefore around 0.1% of women in the above birth cohort have made an official complaint to the Independent Case Examiner's Office.
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.