State Pension Underpayments and Arrears for Women

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

Consistent with other large-scale LEAP exercises, special payments under the DWP discretionary scheme are not routinely made to those who have been underpaid state pension. However, under exceptional circumstances, such as where severe distress has been caused by the way an individual case has been handled, a case may be referred for consideration of a special payment.

On the point that my noble friend raises on social care and the impact of back payments, where a local authority charges a person for their care and support, regulations set limits below which a person’s income and capital must not be reduced by changes. Local authorities may take most of the benefits people receive into account unless it is specifically required to be disregarded by regulations. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the regulations and guidance tests rests with local authorities. I will take the point about legislation back to the department and write to my noble friend.

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, that was quite a long response, but I think the short version is no—the Government are not going to make any special arrangements. The point was made very clearly by the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, that these people, particularly women, were in very straitened circumstances and suffered and paid a high price for not receiving the pension to which they were entitled. Can the Minister reconsider this? This is a case where the Government got it wrong. Surely some special action should be taken to properly correct the errors that were made.

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes a very good point. All I can say at the moment is that the Government do not have any plans to change. However, I will take the point back to the department, because it is a very fair one.

Cost of Living

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Smith of Basildon]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the end of the Universal Credit uplift, increasing energy prices and rising inflation, what steps are they taking to avoid a cost-of-living crisis for households.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Stedman-Scott) (Con)]

My Lords, we recognise that there are transitory global pressures on costs, including energy. We are maintaining the energy price cap and helping low-income households with fuel bills, and our new £500 million household support fund provides vulnerable households in England with additional help to cover essential costs this winter.

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, is that it? I was expecting a bit more from the noble Baroness. Every home in the country is facing sharply rising costs, with hikes not just in energy bills but in food and fuel prices. A lack of HGV drivers has led to empty supermarket shelves, and there are queues outside petrol stations. Ministers are reported to fear that their Government’s inaction could lead to the country facing “a nightmare Christmas”. Families and businesses are struggling. I know that the Minister is not unsympathetic, but she knows that for some this winter it will be a choice between heating and eating, and for some families it will be a choice between the parents eating and the children eating.

I have two questions for the Minister. First—I heard the Answer she gave but it did not fully answer my Question—what will the Government do to protect, for example, the family of four hit by inflation to the tune of £1,800 by the end of the year, or pensioners having to find an extra £1,000? In addition, given this unfolding cost-of-living crisis, how can she, as a DWP Minister, think that this was an appropriate time to cut universal credit?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

We are quite aware of the difficulties that inflation and rising food and energy costs present. We have introduced this household support fund—I am not being difficult—which is worth £500 million and which covers up to the end of March, which is six months, and, as ever, the Government will continue to assess the situation. That is the best that I can give the noble Baroness right now. On the universal credit uplift, I and others are absolutely aware of the angst and frustration about this decision. I have to repeat myself: it was temporary and it has come to an end. For people who are not able to work, there is one job to do. However, for people who can work, the labour market has never been so optimistic and we must work with them through that.

Chemicals Regulation

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park]

I am very happy to give that undertaking. As my noble friend will know, we are on the cusp of developing a new chemicals strategy. We will be putting out a call for evidence this spring and will consult on a draft strategy before its eventual publication, which currently is proposed to be in 2021-22. It will cover the full range of the UK’s approach to tackling chemicals and pesticides as used in horticulture.

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, can I take the Minister back to the answer he gave about REACH? My understanding of paragraphs 16 and 17 of the recent White Paper is that the Government want a dedicated annexe on chemicals regulation, but in his answer he said, “We don’t want to deregulate for the sake of it; we don’t want to have lower standards”. Therefore, how similar to REACH does he think the EU/UK memorandum of understanding will look?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park]

That is a difficult question to answer. I cannot tell the noble Baroness exactly where we will choose to diverge. I gave one example earlier but there are plenty of others. Poland, for instance, has made a proposal to the EU about banning the use of methanol in windscreen-washing fluids. It has done so because it is affected by abuse of that substance by alcoholics. That might be very sensible for Poland to do but our view is that it is best addressed at the national level. Therefore, there will be areas where it is in our interests to diverge but there will be other areas where, in the interests of both efficiency and saving money, and in the interest of maintaining high standards, we will choose not to diverge. The core principle is that it will be our choice.

North Korea

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, it is a matter of fact that we have, of course, concern for all those who are in this country, whatever their nationality. We have a duty of protection in general terms. We do not provide individual protection for those who are not British citizens, as such, but we are aware that some persons are at particular risk. Because of security matters and the safety of those individuals, it would be wrong of me to go further than that.

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry report which urged all democratic countries to help break the information blockade that engulfs North Korea. The all-party parliamentary group has organised a successful campaign to persuade the BBC World Service to broadcast to North Korea. Is the Minister able to tell your Lordships’ House when those broadcasts will begin?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, I am not at present able to do so, but we strongly support the BBC’s mission to bring high-quality impartial news on this matter, including, of course, providing information about the DPRK. I will see whether the BBC has come forward with any further information that I have not heard about recently.

European Union

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating the Answer to the Urgent Question and for her diligence in keeping your Lordships’ House informed. We understand that it must be embarrassing that this was not a Statement from the Government to Parliament. The Prime Minister is today making his statement to journalists and Ministers had to be summoned to the Dispatch Box through an Urgent Question in the other place to ensure that Parliament is properly informed. I realise that the Minister says that there will be an Oral Statement tomorrow, but she also said that this is a complex set of documents that MPs will understandably wish to read and study in detail. I hope they are able to do that overnight, because most of them will not be able to look at and absorb such a complex and detailed set of documents in order to hold a full debate tomorrow. It would have been helpful if the Government could have made a process Statement today.

Perhaps I may ask the Minister a few questions. First, given that the Prime Minister has himself emphasised in all his negotiations the role and power of national Parliaments, why have the Government sought to bypass Parliament today? Secondly, I know that the noble Baroness understands the importance of this issue to your Lordships’ House, so when will we have a proper opportunity—not just tomorrow, but a proper opportunity, having considered all the evidence—to debate and discuss the Prime Minister’s deal and the case to enlist widespread EU support?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, the Government do not bypass Parliament. In one breath the noble Baroness berates the Prime Minister for not being here to deliver a Statement, but with the next she berates him, it seems, for wanting to make a Statement tomorrow on what is a complex issue, and therefore it is too soon. I sympathise with all Members of the House, in that I know they pay a great deal of attention to the renegotiations, as we should as parliamentarians. They have done so throughout the process and I will continue to do my very best to update them. Of course, it is as ever for the usual channels to determine when there are debates, and I know they are listening carefully to me because the need for Parliament to be closely involved in discussions on these matters is as dear to them as it is to me. However, the papers refer to a work in progress.