Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much higher the basic state pension is in 2018–19 than it was in 2010–11, following the increase announced in April by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
In 2010-11 the basic State Pension was £97.65 per week. In 2018-19 it is £125.95 per week, an increase since 2010-11 of £28.30 per week or over £1450 per annum. Legislation for the basic and new State Pensions allows for annual increases at least in line with average earnings growth. This ensures that people above State Pension age receive increases in their basic State Pension income that are in line with earnings growth in the population as a whole. In addition, this Government has committed to increases in line with the Triple Lock for the duration of this Parliament, ensuring that increases will be the highest of the growth in prices, earnings or 2.5%. For 2018/19 these pensions increased by 3% (the rate of prices growth under the Consumer Price Index). The full rate of basic State Pension is now £660 more than if it had been uprated by earnings over this period.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they hold data on the family circumstances of babies born to low income families in the UK; if so, which department holds those data; and how many babies were born to low income families that had (1) parents in a couple relationship, and (2) a single parent, in the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
Information on the number of children born into families in low income is not available for any period.
This is because the main sources of income data only capture a household's situation once a year. Therefore we do not record the income of the family on the day the child is born. The sample size for households with very young children will be small and it may also be the case that the response rate from families with very young children will be lower than usual and therefore may not be representative.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to trialling the introduction of personal budgets for employment support in order to support more disabled people into work.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Government recognises that people need support that is tailored to their needs. Personal Budgets are currently being trialled in Access to Work to offer customers greater flexibility to manage their Travel to Work or Support Worker costs. Initial findings from the trial are expected in early 2017.
The Work and Health Unit, in partnership with NHS England, are also exploring options for trialling the expansion of personal health budgets to include employment support through the work and health Innovation Fund. This is being considered as part of a small number of health-led employment support trials that we hope to set up with devolution areas and as part of the ongoing development of Integrated Personal Commissioning where employment could be considered as part of a wider conversation to support the roll out of personal health budgets.
A Personal Budgets model was previously tested in the Right to Control Trailblazers, which ran from 2010 to 2013. Disabled people taking part in the trailblazers were offered greater choice and control over the support they received, as well as the option to take a direct payment and arrange their own support. The final evaluation report did not find any evidence that the Right to Control Trailblazers had a significant positive impact on customers, both overall and by subgroup.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation in the recent report from the charity Sense, <i>Realising Aspirations for All</i>, to break the link between welfare benefits and access to employment by making support voluntary and available to all disabled people, regardless of the benefits they claim.
Answered by Lord Freud
We welcome the Sense report, Realising Aspirations for All and its findings. We want all disabled and people with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations.
We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation to understand how every individual can have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will continue to engage with Sense and other key stakeholders as part of the Green Paper consultation.