Asked by: Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in West Bromwich West constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates1.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as at end of September 20192:
In the West Bromwich West constituency since 2012, approximately 16,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1480 employers have met their duties.
1Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf.
2The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink:
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recent agreement between Royal Mail Group and the Communication Workers Union on pension schemes, whether legislation to permit the use of Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pensions schemes will be introduced before the end of the current parliamentary session.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to legislating to facilitate the delivery of collective defined contribution schemes when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons people with progressively deteriorating conditions are subject to repeat personal independence payment assessments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Once someone has been awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which can be paid at one of eight rates, that award will be reviewed. Reviews of PIP are a key part of the benefit to ensure that awards remain correct where needs may change (including where needs increase and the award may need to increase) and that we maintain contact with the claimant, both features that are missing from its predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award, with a light touch review after ten years.
We introduced updated guidance for case managers and an updated PIP Assessment Guide in 2018 which will ensure that those people who receive the highest level of support under PIP, and where their needs are unlikely to change or may get worse, will now receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the ten-year point. In line with PIP’s aim to be needs-based rather than condition-based, the change to the guidance is not condition specific. However, we believe the changes will ensure that those with severe and/or progressive conditions receive the most appropriate award duration that reflects their condition and the needs arising.
Special considerations also apply to claimants who are terminally ill, and our arrangements recognise the particular difficulties faced by people who only have a short time to live. Claims by people with a terminal illness are fast tracked, are not subject to a face-to-face assessment and they are guaranteed the enhanced rate of the Daily Living Component; nearly all also receive the enhanced rate of mobility.
Asked by: Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to ensure that people with progressively deteriorating conditions do not receive reduced support from her Department following repeat personal independence payment assessments.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Once someone has been awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which can be paid at one of eight rates, that award will be reviewed. Reviews of PIP are a key part of the benefit to ensure that awards remain correct where needs may change (including where needs increase and the award may need to increase) and that we maintain contact with the claimant, both features that are missing from its predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award, with a light touch review after ten years.
We introduced updated guidance for case managers and an updated PIP Assessment Guide in 2018 which will ensure that those people who receive the highest level of support under PIP, and where their needs are unlikely to change or may get worse, will now receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the ten-year point. In line with PIP’s aim to be needs-based rather than condition-based, the change to the guidance is not condition specific. However, we believe the changes will ensure that those with severe and/or progressive conditions receive the most appropriate award duration that reflects their condition and the needs arising.
Special considerations also apply to claimants who are terminally ill, and our arrangements recognise the particular difficulties faced by people who only have a short time to live. Claims by people with a terminal illness are fast tracked, are not subject to a face-to-face assessment and they are guaranteed the enhanced rate of the Daily Living Component; nearly all also receive the enhanced rate of mobility.