Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the policy of the Office for Equalities and Opportunities on white privilege.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

We established the Office for Equality and Opportunity to lead work to ensure that whoever you are, wherever you come from, and irrespective of your race or ethnicity, Britain is a country that will respect your contribution and give you a fair chance to get on in life.

Officials in the OEO are working across government to tackle race inequalities, including through our Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, announced in the King’s Speech, which will introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for larger employers and extend the right to make equal pay claims to ethnic minority and disabled people.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government which, if any, departments have a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans issues and whether the Office for Equality and Opportunity holds records relating to such roles.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Decisions regarding internal departmental roles are for departments to make. The Office for Equality and Opportunity does not hold records relating to such roles.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what different gender identities are recognised by the Office for Equality and Opportunity, and the Government People Group.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As was the case under the previous administration, there is no list of gender identities recognised by the Government People Group or Office for Equality and Opportunity.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on positive action, affirmative action, and positive discrimination, in relation to protected characteristics in Civil Service recruitment.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Decisions on recruitment are delegated to departments. They are responsible for ensuring their policies are compliant with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles and any other relevant legislation such as, in this instance, the Equality Act 2010.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Pension Credit applicants are currently waiting for a decision on their eligibility for Pension Credit from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The total outstanding Pension Credit claims as at the end of week commencing 18^th November 2024 was 91,075. This includes 9,343 advanced claims where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age.

These figures are taken from data held on DWP’s Pension Credit system. This is collected for internal departmental operations use only and whilst it is the best source of information available, it is not intended for publication or quality assured to National Statistics standards.

The Department is significantly increasing the resource on Pension Credit to ensure it processes claims as quickly as possible, with around 500 additional staff to support the increase in applications generated from the successful Pension Credit take-up campaign.

If a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have applied for Pension Credit since 29 July.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Statistics published on 28 November, show that 150,000 Pension Credit claims were received between 29 July and 11 November Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Pension Credit applicants were deemed eligible for Pension Credit in the 2023 calendar year.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are unable to provide information on how many claims made for Pension Credit in the calendar year of 2023 were subsequently awarded. This is because the Department currently reports awards numbers by the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made.

The total number of Pension Credit awards made in the 2023 calendar year was 145,200.

Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who have applied for Pension Credit since 29 July have started receiving Pension Credit payments.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are unable to advise how many claims for Pension Credit have been made and then awarded since 29 July 2024. This is because the Department currently reports clearance times by the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made. As such this information is not currently available.

However, statistics published on 28 November, show that 42,500 Pension Credit Claims were awarded between 29 July and 11 November Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Pension Credit applicants were deemed eligible for Pension Credit in the 2023–24 financial year.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are unable to provide information on how many claims made for Pension Credit in the financial year of 2023 were subsequently awarded. This is because the Department currently reports awards numbers by the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made.

The total number of Pension Credit awards made in the 2023–24 financial year was 133,500.

Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Found: Baroness Stedman-Scott: Yes.

Found: ; Lord Carter of Coles; Lord Laming; Lord Mott; Lord Prentis of Leeds; Lord Shipley; Baroness Stedman-Scott

Found: Baroness Stedman-Scott: You talked about the average of £46 per hour.