Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) scope and (b) planned timeline is for her Department’s planned benefit reforms in 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term.
We are working to develop proposals for reform to the system of health and disability benefits and will set them out in a green paper in the spring.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people in (a) low-paid and (b) insecure work receive an adequate income in retirement.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The new State Pension has been designed to provide a foundation for private saving, supported through Automatic Enrolment (AE). The new State Pension improves State Pension outcomes for those who often did less well under the previous system, including those on low incomes. Alongside qualifying through work or self-employment, there is also a wide range of National Insurance credits available, ensuring people can achieve the best possible State Pension outcome.
We have made a commitment to the Triple Lock throughout this Parliament which will mean spending on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion. As a result, over 12 million pensioners will receive up to £1,900 a year more by the end of the Parliament. Pension Credit also provides a means-tested safety-net for those on low-incomes in retirement.
AE has succeeded in transforming retirement saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. AE has been a particular success for lower earners with participation for eligible employees earning between £10,000 and £20,000 in the private sector, increasing from 17% in 2012 to 75% in 2023. However, we know we need to do even more to build on the success of AE in getting people into saving by ensuring security in retirement for all.
The first phase of our review is focused on investment and growth with the twin objectives of increasing investment in the UK and delivering improved returns for savers. In November 2024 we published the interim report of this review with consultations on unlocking the UK pensions market for growth and reforming the Local Government Pension Scheme. These consultations closed in January, and we expect to provide our response in Spring 2025.
However, it is also important that we then consider the broader question of adequacy and how to build on the success of AE to ensure that people are saving enough for retirement. Therefore, the second phase of the review will in due course look at further steps to improve pension outcomes, and pension adequacy for all.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for resolutions to missed child maintenance payments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance and reduce waiting times for missed payments. We use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment.
These powers include deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licenses, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS has also introduced powers to deduct child maintenance directly from a wider range of bank accounts and can apply for a liability order. A liability order legally recognizes the debt and is required before the CMS can take certain enforcement actions against non-compliant parents to enforce those arrears.
Following the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 receiving royal assent in July 2023, secondary legislation is required to bring into force existing powers that allow the CMS to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears.
The administrative liability order will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, which can take up to 22 weeks. Introducing a simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and will get money to children more quickly. We expect the new liability order process to take around six to eight weeks, allowing for delays.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support young people with SEND needs into employment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions are supporting many young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to find employment.
The government will be launching a Youth Guarantee for all 18-21 year olds in England, to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. This will start with eight trailblazers, which are launching this spring, and testing localised approaches to supporting young people, which could include those with SEND.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of putting in place an independent process to set benefit levels in line with the cost of essentials.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review benefit and State Pension rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. Where the relevant benefit or State Pension rates have not retained their value, legislation provides that the Secretary of State is required to, or in some instances may, up-rate their value.
Following this review, benefit and State Pension rates are increased in line with statutory minimum amounts and others are increased subject to Secretary of State’s discretion.
Following the Secretary of State’s up-rating decisions for 2025/26, DWP expenditure on state pensions and benefits will increase by £6.9 billion.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January to Question 27607 on Work Capability Assessment, how many and what proportion of decisions for each assessment interview type were classified as (a) fit for work, (b) need to prepare to work in the future, but have limited capability for work and (c) have limited capability for work and work related activity between January 2019 and December 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested on decisions is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
However, we have provided the monthly figures on health professional (HP) recommendations, Fit for Work, Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA), following a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) separated by assessment type, since January 2021, in the attachment.
Please Note
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will reverse the Government’s decision not to provide pension compensation to women who were born in the 1950s and 1960s.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We carefully considered the Ombudsman’s findings to ensure our decision was fair and based on the evidence.
We have accepted the Ombudsman’s finding that there was a 28-month delay in sending out letters and for this we have apologised. However, we do not agree with the Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy. Full details of the Government’s decision are available here: Government response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Investigation into Women’s State Pension age communications and associated issues - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to publish an Equality Impact Assessment of proposed reforms to the health and benefit system.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As with all policies, we will ensure that considerations about their impact are at the heart of the policy making process.
We will consider the publication of any future Equality Impact Assessments on a case by case basis as usual.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the judgement in Virgin Media Ltd v NTL Pension Trustees II Ltd, [2023] EWHC 1441 (Ch) on (a) occupational workplace pension schemes and (b) employers.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have heard from pension schemes and industry representatives about the impacts arising from this judgment for pension schemes, their members, and sponsoring employers. Potential impacts are likely to be different for individual schemes.
Where schemes do not have a way to demonstrate that historic benefit changes met the reference scheme test, we recognise that this could lead to uncertainty and additional costs.
No final decisions have been made but we are actively considering our next steps and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to introduce regulations amending section 37 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 for contracted out defined benefit schemes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have heard from pension schemes and industry representatives about the impacts arising from this judgment for pension schemes, their members, and sponsoring employers. Potential impacts are likely to be different for individual schemes.
Where schemes do not have a way to demonstrate that historic benefit changes met the reference scheme test, we recognise that this could lead to uncertainty and additional costs.
No final decisions have been made but we are actively considering our next steps and will provide an update in due course.