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Written Question
Off-payroll Working: National Insurance Contributions
Wednesday 30th March 2022

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the rise in National Insurance contributions from April, what financial support they will provide to support employees of umbrella companies.

Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott

The Government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills, and higher wages. To that end the Government has taken decisive action to make work pay by cutting the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, meaning that claimants will be able to keep more of their earnings. At the same time, we have also increased the Work Allowance by £500 a year, this is the amount that households with children or a household member with limited capability for work can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to be tapered, meaning many claimants will be able to earn over £550 each month before their Universal Credit begins to be reduced.

The taper is applied to earnings net of tax, national insurance contributions, including the proposed increase from April, and 100 per cent occupational/personal pension contributions.

Reducing the taper rate from 63% to 55% means that the marginal effective tax rate for someone paying basic rate tax and national insurance will fall from around 75% before these changes to under 70% in 22-23 (this is after accounting for the introduction of the Health and Social Care Levy).

In the Spring Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the earnings threshold where people start paying National Insurance would increase to £12,570 from 6 July, which is worth over £330 a year for employees.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits
Thursday 27th May 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that compensation payments to survivors of historical institutional abuse living in Great Britain do not affect means-tested welfare payments.

Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott

Existing powers to disregard redress payments for the purposes of means-tested benefits, which are provided for by the Historical Institutional Abuse Act (Northern Ireland) 2019, only cover claimants living within Northern Ireland.

The Government is currently considering how best to address this issue for those who happen to live elsewhere in the UK.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Compensation
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of compensation payments to survivors of historical abuse living in Great Britain on any means-tested welfare payments to which they may be entitled; and what steps they are taking in response to any such assessment.

Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Redundancy
Tuesday 27th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help people affected by large scale (1) retail, and (2) hospitality, sector redundancies to find employment.

Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott

Throughout Great Britain, the Department for Work and Pensions through the Rapid Response Service (RRS) gives support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy. This includes those in the retail and hospitality sector.

The range of support available from Jobcentre Plus and partners may include:

  • Connecting people to jobs in the labour market.
  • Help with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them.
  • Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market)

Moreover, the Government has announced and implemented the Plan for Jobs measures to create, support and protect jobs, and help everyone to find a job, whoever they are and wherever they live in Great Britain.

The Plan for Jobs measures cover support for youth (Kickstart/DWP Youth Offer) including skills and apprenticeships, for individuals recently made unemployed (Job Entry Targeted Support Scheme), as well as support for those who maybe unemployed for over 12 months (Restart).

The package of measures is underpinned by the extra 13,500 work coaches who have been successfully recruited, who can provide personalised support at the point of need.

Employment support is transferred to Northern Ireland, so this support is provided by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.


Written Question
Poverty: Children
Tuesday 5th March 2019

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to tackle child poverty across the United Kingdom.

Answered by Baroness Buscombe

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on Wednesday 27 February HL13942

There is clear evidence that work offers the best opportunity for families to move out of poverty and towards financial independence. Children in workless households are around 5 times more likely to be in poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. 62% of children living in a workless couple family are in relative poverty (before housing costs) compared with only 3% where both adults work full-time.

This is why we are continuing to undertake the most ambitious reform to the welfare system in decades – so that it supports people to find and to stay in work. Nationally, there are now over 3.5 million more people in work. Universal Credit is at the heart of these reforms. It is designed to promote full-time work and employment for partners where possible, through smoother incentives to increase hours.

Working parents on UC can have up to 85% of their childcare costs reimbursed – worth up to £1,108 per month for someone with two or more children. We have also introduced additional flexibility on support for up front childcare costs, increased work allowances, and doubled free childcare available to working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours per week.