Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of Wild Justice's report entitled Collateral Damage: The Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme - is it working?, published in November 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Rodenticides Stewardship Scheme was developed by The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK to promote responsible use and is overseen by the Government Oversight Group for Rodenticide Stewardship (GOG), chaired by the Health and Safety Executive. The GOG is conducting a review of rodenticide stewardship, under which it will consider all appropriate evidence. The detailed work of this review is expected to be completed in 2025.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) potential merits and (b) viability of auto enrolment for pension credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is not currently possible to accurately identify people who may be entitled to Pension Credit nor to determine how much they may be entitled to on the basis of the data which DWP holds. Like all means-tested benefits, a person’s eligibility for Pension Credit depends on their financial and personal household circumstances - information which, in most cases, DWP does not hold. Entitlement to Pension Credit is only established once a claim is made and award decisions often require the judgment of a decision maker weighing up evidence which cannot be done automatically.
It is however possible to identify certain households as highly likely to be entitled to Pension Credit on the basis of Housing Benefit data which DWP holds. This means we can scale-up last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial by targeting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these households to apply for Pension Credit by 21 December, which is the latest date for making a successful backdated claim and still qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of moving the qualifying week for Pension Credit to (a) 30 September, (b) 31 October and (c) 30 November 2024 on the number of eligible claimants.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There is no qualifying week for Pension Credit. A claim for Pension Credit may be made at any time and may be backdated for up to three months as long as the entitlement conditions are met during that period. This means that a pensioner who was eligible for, but had not claimed, Pension Credit during the qualifying week for the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2024-25 (16 to 22 September 2024) can still qualify for the payment if they make a successful backdated application for Pension Credit by 21 December 2024.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure adequate resources to support the surge in applications for pension credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Prior to the Winter Fuel announcement, Retirement Services Directorate (RSD) had 352 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff deployed on Pension Credit claims. Since the announcement, a deployment plan has been agreed to deploy an additional 537 FTE into RSD to support Pension Credit. With a further 156 FTE planned to onboard from recruitment between November 2024 and January 2025.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential (a) financial cost and (b) impact on levels of child poverty of introducing a child element of Universal Credit of (i) £287.92, (ii) £191.95 and (iii) £143.96 for (A) third and (B) further children.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling child poverty and are introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school to ensure children are fed a nutritious breakfast and are ready to learn. The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin and we will publish a Full Terms of Reference in the coming weeks. We will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to help support women affected by the rise in the State Pension age in North East Hertfordshire constituency.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP offers employment support for eligible customers of all ages, including those below State Pension age, through the network of Jobcentres across the UK, and through contracted employment programmes.
A dedicated offer for older workers seeks to provide tailored support for those affected by low confidence, menopause, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications. This includes an online midlife review tool that supports people to assess their health, wealth and skills.
The government has set out ambitious plans to improve employment support by bringing together jobcentres and the national careers service.