Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of benefits after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Cardiff North constituency.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of covid-19 lockdown restrictions on the secure transferal of private pension funds to a dependent, upon the death of a partner, who would have been a spouse were it not for those restrictions placed on wedding and civil partnership ceremonies.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The rules governing what surviving spouses or partners might inherit following the death of a member will differ for different private pension schemes, and will depend on individual scheme rules. Some schemes will require a couple to be married or in a civil partnership, others will require the scheme member to nominate their partner, in others again the unmarried partner may have to prove financial dependency.
Many Defined Benefit pension schemes pay death benefits, such as death in service lump sums, or, for those already retired, the remainder of the first five year’s pension on the member’s death. These benefits are normally payable even if no survivor benefit is due. In many cases, the trustees have discretion as to who payment should be made to, although the member is encouraged to complete a nomination form to make their wishes known.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that pregnant women that have been furloughed and are receiving 80 per cent of their normal pay are not disadvantaged in qualifying for Statutory Maternity Pay because of a reduction in their earnings.
Answered by Nicholas Brown
The Government is committed to making sure that all employees are supported at this time. We are currently considering?how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme interacts with existing employment rights to family-related payments, including Statutory Maternity Pay, to ensure that the scheme works for parents.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the High Court decision in R (Johnson, Woods, Barrett and Stewart) v SSWP CO/1552/2018, what recent estimate she has made of the number of claimants that have received less money as a result of the incorrect interpretations of the Regulations relating to universal credit’s assessment periods.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department is carefully considering the High Court’s Judgment and it is therefore not appropriate to comment further at this stage.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a legal duty to consider environmental, social and governance risks as part of fiduciary duty for pension fund trustees.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As I noted in my letter of 15 February to the Environmental Audit Committee, which has since been published on the Parliament website, I plan to consult on policy and regulations to clarify the legal duty of trustees of occupational pension schemes to take account of environmental, social and governance risks, amongst others, wherever these are financially material.
My current intention is to publish a consultation in June.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the upcoming review of all personal independence payment claims.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of paying all women aged 60 or over but yet to reach state pension age (SPA) non-means tested income at Jobseekers Allowance rates until SPA is reached.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has no plans to carry out such an assessment.
A concession was made prior to the passing of the 2011 Act which reduced the delay that anyone would experience in claiming their State Pension, relative to the previous timetable, to 18 months. This concession benefited almost a quarter of a million women, who would otherwise have experienced delays of up to two years. A similar number of men also benefited from a reduced increase, and the concession was worth £1.1 billion in total.
This issue has been debated numerous times and numerous statements have already been made. Introducing further concessions cannot be justified given the imperative to focus public resources on helping those most in need.
The current average age of exit from the labour market for women is 63.6 – well above the previous women’s State Pension age of 60. The welfare system continues to provide a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, including for reasons of unemployment, disability and coping with caring responsibilities. The Government is committed to supporting the vulnerable and spends around £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of women affected by the Pensions Acts 1995 and 2011 in Cardiff North constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1953 were affected by State Pension age equalisation under the Pensions Act 1995. The Pensions Act 2011 accelerated the equalisation of State Pension age, and included transitional arrangements limiting State Pension age delays, affecting women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. It also brought forward the increase in State Pension age from 65 to 66 which affected women born between 6 December 1953 and 5 April 1960.
Information on the numbers affected by parliamentary constituency is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. However, the most recent population breakdowns for Wales and its parliamentary constituencies by age can be found here:
The House of Commons library has produced a paper estimating the number of women affected by the 1995 and 2011 Pensions Acts by constituency, which can be found here:
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7405/CBP-07405constituencyestimates.xlsx