Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the change in value of the full basic state pension weekly payment in 2023–24 if it had been linked only to consumer price index inflation since 2010.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The full weekly amount of basic State Pension would have been worth £139.10 in 2023-24 if it had been uprated by inflation (CPI) since 2010.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimates they have made, if any, of the cost savings that would result from increasing the minimum years of National Insurance contributions required for a full State Pension from 35 to 45.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made. The number of Qualifying Years required for a full State Pension strikes a balance between achieving wide coverage, maintaining the contributory principle and ensuring the overall affordability of the State Pension.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the savings to the Exchequer in total cost of paying UK State Pensions in 2023–24 if full state pensions for all newly retired individuals required a National Insurance record of 45 years instead of 35 years, assuming no purchase of additional voluntary years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have not made any estimate of the savings to the Exchequer of paying UK State Pensions in 2023–24 if a full state pension for all newly retired individuals required a National Insurance record of 45 years instead of 35 years. There are currently no plans to review the qualifying criteria for the new State Pension.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the value of the full Basic State Pension weekly payment in 2023–24 would be if the pension had been tied only to average earnings since 2010, rather than the triple lock.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The full weekly amount of Basic State Pension would have been worth £138.05 in 2023-24 if it had been uprated by earnings, rather than the Triple Lock.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their latest estimate is of the take-up of Pension Credit in the past five years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates for Pension Credit take-up in a financial year are available in the “Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up” publication, which can be accessed on the statistics section of gov.uk. Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The latest estimates for Pension Credit take-up relate to the financial year 2019 to 2020. The table below outlines take-up estimates for this year, and the four years preceding:
Financial Year | Estimate of Pension Credit take-up |
2019 to 2020 | 66% |
2018 to 2019 | 63% |
2017 to 2018 | 61% |
2016 to 2017 | 61% |
2015 to 2016 | 61% |
Please note – methodological refinements have been applied to the data from 2016 to 2017. Therefore, comparison to previous years should be treated with caution.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many claimants currently receiving Universal Credit who are in employment or self-employment are earning (1) under £12,570 a year, (2) between £12,571 and £25,000 a year, (3) between £25,001 and £35,000 a year, (4) between £35,001 and £50,000 a year, and (5) over £50,000 a year.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit is designed to reduce as household earnings increase, so the number of high income households receiving UC would likely be very small. The level at which entitlement ends will differ depending on individual circumstances and other unearned income.
As earnings information is only available at household level this has been provided below
In January 2023 there were:
Notes:
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many claimants currently receiving Universal Credit are (1) self-employed, (2) employed, and (3) unemployed.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The total number of self-employed Universal Credit claimants in January 2023 was 493,300. This has been rounded to the nearest 100.
The latest statistics published monthly on Stat-Xplore show that, from the 5.8 million people on Universal Credit in February 2023, 2.2 million were in employment and 3.6 million were not in employment.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) men, and (2) women, who earn less than £12,570 in any one job, who are members of auto-enrolment workplace pension schemes which operate on a Net Pay basis.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP do not hold this data.
A policy paper has been published showing the number of people who save into an occupational pension under net pay arrangements whose taxable pay is below the personal allowance is estimated to be 1.2 million in 2026-27. In 2023/24, the Personal Allowance is £12,570.
Women are estimated to make up 75% of those earning below the personal allowance and contributing to a pension scheme that uses net pay arrangements. The 1.2 million can therefore be broken down into around 0.3 million men and 0.9 million women.
Notes:
Source: Pensions relief relating to net pay arrangements - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the waiting times for Pension Credit applicants.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Following the successful launch of our campaign to increase up-take of Pension Credit, we have received an unprecedented number of claims. We have increased the resources available to process the extra volume of claims and have also adapted our claims processing approach, which has enabled us to improve productivity and clear claims more effectively.
We are now clearing more cases per day than we are receiving. We are also prioritising the oldest cases, and those presenting in hardship, to ensure we get payments to those most in need.
With these measures in place and, assuming the current volumes of new claims for Pension Credit, we anticipate that both processing times and outstanding cases will return to the levels we had before the recent three-fold increase in claims.
Successful claims and arrears will be paid accordingly to ensure all those who are entitled do not miss out.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many claims for Pension Credit have been waiting for more than (1) two, (2) three, (3) four, (4) five, and (5) six, months for approval; and what percentage of applications this comprises.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.