Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will relaunch the Kickstart scheme.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to relaunch The Kickstart Scheme.
The Kickstart Scheme was a time-limited response to the effects of the pandemic economic downturn on young people. The scheme came to an end in September 2022 with over 163,000 Kickstart jobs started by young people since its launch.
There continue to be a range of initiatives businesses can get involved in to give opportunities and experience to young people, including apprenticeships, mentoring circles, and work experience. Our Strategic Relationships Team continuously work to connect DWP with employers and partners to strengthen working relationships and to build new opportunities to support young people back to work. This will be strengthened with the introduction of the Youth Guarantee which was announced in The Get Britain Working White Paper.
The Youth Guarantee is for all 18-21 year olds to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work to reduce the number of young people not earning or learning.
Learning from the evaluation of the Kickstart scheme is also being utilised in the design of other employment support.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications have been received in South Devon constituency since 22 August 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 28 November we published national Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes from 29 July 2024 to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK
Data is captured weekly and cannot be broken down further to give a figure from 22 August 2024 exactly. The statistics show that 128,000 Pension Credit claims were received between 19 August 2024 and 17 November 2024. This figure has been rounded to the nearest 1000.
Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
We do not currently hold data at a constituency level.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to negotiate reciprocal agreements with Commonwealth countries on uprating UK pensions.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The department has no plans to negotiate reciprocal agreements with Commonwealth countries on uprating UK pensions.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
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 in South Devon constituency who will be affected by the decision to change eligibility requirements for the winter fuel payment.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
To be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payment statistics, the Pension Credit data that has been used is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024.
Due to Westminster Constituencies boundary changes, data isn’t explicitly available/ published for South Devon constituency. Therefore, to obtain the above figure, the statistics for Totnes constituency (now abolished and replaced by South Devon constituency) has been used. The estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Totnes Constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Totnes constituency.
The estimated number of pensioners in South Devon constituency (2010 boundary) who will lose Winter Fuel Payments is 22,279. This is based on Feb-24 Pension Credit statistics and 22/23 Winter Fuel Payment statistics, (sources below).
Please note that Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.
Furthermore, the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy change (means testing Winter fuel payments to those on Pension Credit and other means tested benefits). We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.
Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals claiming Pension Credit, will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).
Sources used:
winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)
Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk) (Feb-24 data)
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the feasibility of expanding eligibility for the winter fuel payment to include low-income households not in receipt of Pension Credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.
Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control
Support is retained for those on the lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.
We have linked Winter Fuel Payments eligibility to Pension Credit and other qualifying benefits – but not Housing Benefit – because we can pay the majority of eligible recipients automatically based on information held in the Department.
Housing Benefit is not included as a qualifying benefit since the amount that someone receives is based not only on personal circumstances but also on the amount of their rent.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the decision to change eligibility requirements for the winter fuel payment on the public purse.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2022/23, 11.4 million people in 8.4 million households in Great Britain received a Winter Fuel Payment, at a total cost of £2 billion.
The Government estimates that linking entitlement to receipt of Pension Credit and other relevant DWP income-related benefits will reduce expenditure by around £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in 2025/26.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
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 increase Bereavement Support Payments in line with inflation.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) helps people through the immediate period following a bereavement by way of an initial lump sum followed by up to 18 monthly instalments. Where longer-term financial support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been specifically designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs. We have no current plans to change the duration of Bereavement Support Payment.
The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis as part of the annual uprating process, but there is no legal requirement to uprate it. BSP is not a cost-of-living benefit like Universal Credit, which has been increased in line with inflation. We will review the rate of Bereavement Support Payment later this year as part of the annual uprating process.