Cost of Living: Pensioners

Debate between Baroness Stedman-Scott and Baroness Wheatcroft

Thursday 26th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

If the noble Baroness does not mind, I do not agree that the Chancellor has ignored things. He has had to deal with a pretty difficult set of circumstances. Due to legacy benefits, we can do an uprating only once a year, the reasons for which all noble Lords know. Since 1987, we have consistently used the September inflation figure and that will continue.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, one-third of the household support fund is earmarked for pensioners. The second tranche of £500 million, which is not a great deal, came into play on 1 April this year. Could the Minister tell us how much of that fund has already been exhausted, how quickly the first tranche was exhausted and what work has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of the household support fund?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

I confirm that the Department for Work and Pensions requires local authorities to provide management information returns detailing their spend and the volume of awards made for food, energy and water bills. MI returns for the scheme, running from 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, will also detail grant spend and the volume of awards made to families with and without children. This will be published in the coming months.

State Pension Underpayments and Arrears for Women

Debate between Baroness Stedman-Scott and Baroness Wheatcroft

Monday 21st February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

Even if somebody is divorced, their ex-husband’s contributions to NI will still be taken into account when deciding their pension award. That has always been the case and it will be the case on this.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, when more than £60 million that should have been paid has not been paid, surely somebody should be held responsible in the end for that error. In the private sector, the sum of £60 million would be taken very seriously. Can the Minister tell us, therefore, who was ultimately responsible for this failure to pay such a large sum of money?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

The shortfall or underpayment was identified as a result of a marker on the computer system not working correctly. We put it right and we are doing our best to pay people what they should have. It should not have happened, but ultimately the Government must take responsibility.

Child Poverty: Nuffield Foundation Review

Debate between Baroness Stedman-Scott and Baroness Wheatcroft

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

The statistic shared by the noble Lord is sobering. Again, not wishing to sidestep the issue, I will need to go to the relevant department to make sure that he gets an answer. I will make sure that it is shared with noble Lords.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, the Minister is a kind and compassionate person. Can she tell the House how this Government felt comfortable taking away the £20 uplift in universal credit just as food and fuel prices are on the way up? How will that affect the children already living in poverty?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

That is the subject of the month so we should expect noble Lords to raise it. I must say that I have answered this question a number of times. The Government’s position is clear: the uplift was a temporary solution that we extended for six months, and it is to stop. We have the household support fund, of another £500 million, and we are doing everything we can in terms of energy to make sure that people have the support they need. I would be happy to write to the noble Baroness laying all that out, rather than taking time now, to make sure that people understand.

Unemployment: Over-50s

Debate between Baroness Stedman-Scott and Baroness Wheatcroft

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

Kickstart for older workers: message received and understood. The UK Government are investing £2.5 billion in the national skills fund to aid the lifetime guarantee, we have a free online skills toolkit and the Chancellor’s announcement in July of his Plan for Jobs included an extra £17 million to support 32,000 more vocational training places.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB) [V]]

My Lords, a snapshot by the Institute for Fiscal Studies last year showed that one in four people on furlough were over 50. My concern is that many of those people will not go back into employment again—as we have heard, over-50s are harder to employ. Could we not profitably use the time when people are on furlough to retrain them for the jobs that will be available when we come out of the pandemic properly?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

I am pleased to be able to confirm to the House that, where an employee is on furlough, they can take part in training, volunteer for another employer or organisation or work for another employer if contractually allowed.

Covid-19: Youth Unemployment

Debate between Baroness Stedman-Scott and Baroness Wheatcroft

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

The noble Lord is right to point out the level of unemployment among young people and graduates; I take no argument with that. But he asks when the Government will recognise this: we are working flat out to ensure that young people get the help they need to get a meaningful job and the skills they need to compete effectively in the job market. I can assure the noble Lord and the whole House that we are working at pace to achieve this.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB) [V]]

My Lords, one thing that has become apparent during Covid is that initiatives work best when they are local rather than national. Needs for skills and therefore for training are also often local rather national. For instance, the noble Baroness, Lady Janke, referred to the creative industries. In this country film production is thriving in Yorkshire, while Leamington Spa is the capital of video games. So can the Minister reassure me that local authorities will have much more say in what training schemes are made available and how they will be funded locally?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

My noble friend raises a number of relevant points. As I have said, we are working with local authorities and businesses. There is absolute mileage in all my noble friend says about things being done locally, because people know one another best in their local community. My strapline for all that we are doing is “To be known nationally but felt locally”.