Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice exercise to identify people who have been underpaid State Pension, how many people identified as having received an underpayment have deceased, by each category of error; in how many of those cases his Department (a) has been unable to identify an heir and (b) has sent a letter to an heir and (i) has not received a response and (ii) has received a response but payment has not yet been made; and what steps his Department is taking to (A) identify heirs and (B) follow up cases where no response has been received to an initial contact letter.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.
The Department uses all available resources to identify heirs. In the instance when a response is not received for the initial contact letter, we issue further letters inviting the heir to contact DWP.
The Department will be publishing its progress with the State Pension Underpayment Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercises to the end of February 2024 before the end of March 2024.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact on (a) physical and (b) mental wellbeing of the NHS workforce working beyond the age of the current state pension age.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessment has been made. National Health Service staff are not expected to work beyond state pension age, though some choose to do so. The NHS Pension Scheme is generous, and provides good pensions for retirement. The scheme offers a partial retirement option, which allows staff to draw down part of their pension and continue working in a more flexible way.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits to going beyond statutory requirements in supporting and promoting flexible working opportunities. NHS England have produced guidance for employers on supporting their older workforce, together with a wide-ranging package of support for NHS staff. This includes tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their well-being, and emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the (a) physical and (b) mental ability of NHS staff to work beyond the state pension age.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessment has been made. National Health Service staff are not expected to work beyond state pension age, though some choose to do so. The NHS Pension Scheme is generous, and provides good pensions for retirement. The scheme offers a partial retirement option, which allows staff to draw down part of their pension and continue working in a more flexible way.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits to going beyond statutory requirements in supporting and promoting flexible working opportunities. NHS England have produced guidance for employers on supporting their older workforce, together with a wide-ranging package of support for NHS staff. This includes tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their well-being, and emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the (a) physical and (b) mental ability of NHS staff to work beyond the state pension age.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessment has been made. National Health Service staff are not expected to work beyond state pension age, though some choose to do so. The NHS Pension Scheme is generous, and provides good pensions for retirement. The scheme offers a partial retirement option, which allows staff to draw down part of their pension and continue working in a more flexible way.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits to going beyond statutory requirements in supporting and promoting flexible working opportunities. NHS England have produced guidance for employers on supporting their older workforce, together with a wide-ranging package of support for NHS staff. This includes tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their well-being, and emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) physical and (b) mental ability of people to work (i) until and (ii) beyond the state pension age.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides information to support people to make informed decisions such as Midlife MOT sessions in Jobcentres, and the digital Midlife MOT offer available to everyone online which offers financial, health and career guidance. There is no requirement for people to work beyond the State Pension age, however some people may choose to.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) physical and (b) mental feasibility of people being able to continue working (i) until the existing state pension age and (ii) beyond that age.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides information to support people to make informed decisions such as Midlife MOT sessions in Jobcentres, and the digital Midlife MOT offer available to everyone online which offers financial, health and career guidance. There is no requirement for people to work beyond the State Pension age, however some people may choose to.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) physical and (b) mental ability of people to work (i) until and (ii) beyond the state pension age.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides information to support people to make informed decisions such as Midlife MOT sessions in Jobcentres, and the digital Midlife MOT offer available to everyone online which offers financial, health and career guidance. There is no requirement for people to work beyond the State Pension age, however some people may choose to.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria the Government uses to assess whether to amend the state pension age.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under Section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014, the Secretary of State has a duty to periodically review whether the existing rules about State Pension age are appropriate. He must consider evidence about life expectancy and appoint an independent reviewer to report to him on other factors that are relevant for the review.
The second Government Review of State Pension age was published on 30 March 2023. Government concluded that the planned increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 will take place between 2026-2028. Government also concluded that due to uncertainties in relation to life expectancy data, labour markets and the public finances, there will be a further review within two years of the next Parliament to consider age 68. The further review will be supported by the latest evidence, including life expectancy projections, updated with 2021 Census data, and the economic position.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to (a) collect and (b) publish management information on the number of people who have (i) had changes to their National Insurance record and (ii) are waiting to have their state pension calculation updated.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP does not publish this information as changes to a citizen’s National Insurance Record forms part of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) function. When DWP receives notification from HMRC of a change in a citizen’s National Insurance record, DWP reviews the State Pension claim accordingly.
The vast majority of changes to a citizen’s National Insurance Record are processed by DWP within days. However, more complex cases requiring specialist caseworkers can take longer to resolve.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 implications for his policies of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions’ communication of changes, published on 20 July 2021.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It would not be appropriate to comment on the Ombudsman's report published on 20 July 2021. The Ombudsman’s investigation is ongoing and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
The Department is cooperating fully with the Ombudsman’s investigation and will carefully consider any findings that arise from the final report.