Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the uptake of Pension Credit in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral, (c) the North West and (d) United Kingdom.
Answered by Paul Maynard
To raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up, the Department launched a nationwide marketing and communications campaign in April 2022.
Nationally, the campaign has included advertising on TV, broadcast radio and in newspapers; in medical centre and Post Office screens; as well as advertising on buses and digital street displays. Online marketing activity has also included social media, internet search engines and sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their friends and family are likely to visit.
We have also been promoting Pension Credit at a local level in regional newspapers (including Liverpool Echo, Blackpool Gazette, Bolton News, Lancashire Evening Post, Manchester Evening News); and on local radio (stations such as Capital radio in Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester and Greatest Hits Radio in Blackpool and Bolton).
There is a strong indication that the campaign has had a positive impact and has resulted in an unprecedented number of Pension Credit applications.
The Department is building on this success through a range of creative no-cost media campaigns to boost awareness of the benefit. We are also engaging with stakeholders, including other Government Departments, Councils, and charities, in order to harness their help and support to raise awareness through their networks and channels. For example, we will be holding a Pension Credit Week of Action commencing on 10 June. As in previous years, this will be an opportunity to collaborate with all our partners to maximise awareness of Pension Credit and to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of freezing of income tax thresholds on pensioners.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. The Personal Allowance has nearly doubled since 2010 and is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioner households are entitled to but not in receipt of housing benefit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
DWP annually publishes estimates of benefit take up, which includes Housing Benefit for pensioners. The latest official statistics can be found here.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the uptake of housing benefit in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral, (c) the North West and (d) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
With the completion of the rollout of Universal Credit in December 2018, new claims for HB are predominately for pensioners and are administered by Local Authorities.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings a Universal Support scheme participant has with their personal adviser on average (a) prior to employment and (b) when in post; and what proportion of those meetings are (i) online and (ii) in person.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
For the first phase of Universal Support, which includes both Work and Health Programme Pioneer and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, Providers and Local Authorities will tailor the level of support to an individual’s needs. Subsequently the DWP does not collect data on the volume and intervention type for meetings conducted with individuals participating in these programmes.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the proportion of Universal Support scheme participants who (a) have successfully moved into employment since that scheme's introduction and (b) are still employed.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given on 24 April 2024 to PQ22549.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people that have been helped into work by the Universal Support scheme since 13 September 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given on 24 April 2024 to PQ22549.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been (a) identified through and (b) referred to the Universal Support scheme by (i) work coaches and (ii) contracted providers since 13 September 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The information requested is not available.
Statistics on the Work and Health Programme Pioneer element of Universal Support are planned to be published later this month, and we are committed to publishing Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme data in due course.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the sectors of employment that people have successfully moved into after having participated in the Universal Support scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The information requested is not available.
Statistics on the Work and Health Programme Pioneer element of Universal Support are planned to be published later this month, and we are committed to publishing Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme data in due course.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which organisations are contracted providers to identify and refer potential participants for the Universal Support scheme; and how many participants each of those contracted providers has referred onto that scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Universal Support (US) is being delivered in two phases. The expansions to Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) and the Work and Health Programme (WHP Pioneer) are being rolled out for phase one of the service. IPSPC is not a Contracted Employment Provision, it is a grant awarded to Local Authorities (LAs) to deliver the provision and that could involve in-house delivery or contracted out to providers by the Grant Recipient (LA).
In order to make WHP Pioneer accessible to all eligible individuals, including those who are not regular customers of Jobcentre Plus, DWP Signposting Organisations (SOs), including contracted providers, will be able to signpost individuals that they think will benefit from WHP Pioneer to DWP. However, please note the final decision regarding a referral to WHP Pioneer will remain with DWP. For WHP Pioneer the majority of referrals will be made via this route by providers. A list of providers can be found here.
Information regarding how many participants each contracted provider has referred is not available.
Statistics on the WHP Pioneer data element of US are planned to be published later this month, and we are committed to publishing IPSPC programme data in due course.