Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of willingness of the government of Canada to enter discussions for a reciprocal social security agreement.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
There are two separate social security arrangements in place between the UK and Canada, made in 1995 and 1998. The UK Government is not intending to change the social security relationship with Canada.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support UK pensioners in Commonwealth countries.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions, and we continue to up-rate it abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
People move abroad for many reasons and it is their own choice to do so. There is information available in leaflets and on GOV.UK on how to claim State Pension from overseas and on what the effect of going abroad will be on entitlement to the UK State Pension.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce measures in the current parliament to eliminate the need for food banks.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation.
The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. We will spend over £242bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £108bn on people of working age and over £134 billion on pensioners. Of the total amount, around £64 billion will be spent on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain.
We understand the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and have taken action to support and help families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23. The recently announced package of support worth £15 billion to help households with rising energy bills, brings total government support to £37 billion.
Government is also providing an additional £500 million from October to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, £421m will be used to extend the Household Support Fund (October 2022 – March 2023). At least a third of the extension funding (£140m) will be spent on pensioners and at least another third (£140m) will be spent on families with children.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many food banks (1) are operating in England, and (2) were set up in each year since 2010; and what assessment they have made of the factors which led to food banks being established.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
No assessment has been made.
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a national level.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend sick pay regulations to match those in Germany to encourage employees who display symptoms of COVID-19 to remain at home.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
As part of the Government's response to the pandemic, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) has been made payable from the first day of sickness absence from work, rather than the fourth, and eligibility extended to those who are following public health advice on self-isolation due to coronavirus, including where they do not have symptoms. These measures will remain in place until 24th March 2022.
Sick pay regimes sit alongside the different welfare systems, economies, and employment obligations and protections in place internationally which need to be taken into account when making international comparisons.
In the UK, SSP should not be looked at in isolation. Government support through the welfare system, including Universal Credit, is also available for those on low incomes who need extra financial help when they are sick or incapable of work.
As we learn to live with Covid-19, Government is continuing to take a broader look at the role of SSP and is keeping the system under review.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address child poverty in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
This Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. In 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work, were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there were almost 1 million fewer workless households and almost 580,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK in September 2021.
We are giving the lowest earners a pay rise by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April 2022, and making permanent changes to Universal Credit, worth £1000 a year on average, to two million in-work claimants.
With our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has been expanded by £500 million and the new 'Way to Work’ campaign there is a national drive to get half a million people who are out of work into jobs in the next five months.
We recognise that some people require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country are now able to access a £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula applies in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million.
To support low income families further, we have increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers to £4.25, helping eligible low-income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins. We are also investing over £200m a year from 2022, to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English Local Authorities.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that inflation will reach 4 per cent this winter; and what assessment, if any, they made of such reports when deciding to increase the state pension by 3.1 per cent.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We have introduced the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill into Parliament due to a statistical anomaly caused by the pandemic which has seen earnings growth surge to 8.3 per cent. This Bill temporarily amends the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and sets aside the earnings link for 2022/23. In its place, the Bill will require the Secretary of State to increase the relevant pensions and benefits by not less than the higher of inflation, which we now know is 3.1 per cent, or 2.5 per cent. The Bill covers the basic State Pension, the new State Pension, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit, and survivors’ benefits in Industrial Death Benefit.
When we introduced the Bill earnings indices were showing significant volatility and we needed to take clear and decisive action to address the exceptional growth in earnings, and to give clarity on what would happen in April of next year. That is why we placed a double lock on the face of the Bill.
Last year we saw earnings fall by one percentage point. In response, we legislated to set aside the earnings link, allowing the Secretary of State to award an up-rating of 2.5 per cent as this was higher than inflation. If we had not done this, State Pension would have been frozen. This legislation plus last years ensures the value of the State Pension is more than maintained relative to prices over the two years of the pandemic.
The Secretary of State is required to undertake an annual review of State benefits and pensions which needs to be completed by the end of November due to IT deadlines. There are also interdependencies with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Local Authorities which require the rates before Christmas. The new rates are then included in the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order which is laid in Parliament in January and debated in both Houses before coming into force at the beginning of the new tax year.
By convention under successive governments, in order to meet these timescales, the Secretary of State uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12 months to September, which is published by the Office for National Statistics in October. On average, September CPI is higher than the following April half the time, and it is lower half the time. Using actual inflation figures for the previous September ensures that over the medium term benefit rates will always match actual inflation trends. There is no risk that they will lose their value in real terms.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost savings that will be achieved through the suspension of the “triple lock” on state pension payment increases.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Our latest estimates are that the difference between maintaining the Triple Lock in the face of the earnings spike and the double lock could be £4-5 billion. But we will not know the final numbers until later in the autumn.
Since 2010, we have increased the value of the full yearly basic State Pension by over £2,050, in cash terms. We now spend over £129 billion a year on pensioners in 2021/22.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost savings that will be achieved through the suspension of the "triple lock" on state pension payment increases.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Our latest estimates are that the difference between maintaining the Triple Lock in the face of the earnings spike and the double lock could be £4-5 billion. But we will not know the final numbers until later in the autumn.
Since 2010, we have increased the value of the full yearly basic State Pension by over £2,050, in cash terms. We now spend over £129 billion a year on pensioners in 2021/22.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of rising wages on the feasibility of re-introducing the "triple lock" on pensions in 2022.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government has introduced the Social Security (Uprating of Benefits) Bill which will suspend the earning linked measure of the Triple Lock for up-rating for 2022/23 only. The Government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for 2023/24 and the remainder of the Parliament.
Decisions on the rates for State Pensions are made each Autumn as part of the Up-rating review by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. These are normally informed by earnings and prices data published in October each year. We will review the 2022 earnings growth figures at the appropriate time.