Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking in response to concerns of former employees of Atomic Energy Agency Technology regarding a redress of their pension.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published a report on the AEAT Pension case in June 2023, which made several recommendations for the government. This work was halted due to the general election and the new government will now consider it.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 that the Child Maintenance Service enforces parent (a) compliance and (b) payment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where a paying parent fails to pay on time or in full, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) aims to take immediate action to recover the debt and re-establish compliance. If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS will use a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO) to take payment directly from their wages.
The CMS also has a range of strong enforcement powers that can be used against those who consistently refuse to meet their obligations to provide financial support to their children.
The Department plans to enhance effectiveness in collecting arrears payments by delivering changes via regulations to streamline the enforcement process. This will remove the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order, and instead allow the Secretary of State to issue an administrative liability order. Introducing this simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in Tatton constituency will lose entitlement to winter fuel payments as a result of the proposed changes.
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.
It is estimated that around 18,200 pensioners in Tatton constituency (2010 boundary) will be impacted by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2022 to 2023 which are available via GOV.UK.
This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in Tatton constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in Tatton constituency. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.
Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or Local Authorities.
The published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals receiving Pension Credit will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).
In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 changing the eligibility criteria for the winter fuel payment on the health of pensioners.
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.
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.
The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.
Our continued commitment to the triple lock means the full new state pension is forecast to increase by a further £1,700 over the course of this parliament.
We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.
In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the government had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential employment opportunities of remote working for (a) vulnerable, (b) disabled and (c) elderly people who might struggle to physically attend a workplace.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government is aware of the employment opportunities which flexible working can help create for vulnerable, disabled, older workers and more generally for those who might struggle to attend a workplace.
The Government has committed to consult on making flexible working the default unless employers have good reasons not to. The consultation will consider flexible working in all its forms – it is not just about where people work, but also about when they work and the associated number of hours. The consultation will be launched in due course.
In March 2018, the Flexible Working Taskforce – a partnership across business groups, trade unions, charities, and government departments – was set up and ran for a period of 18 months to advise the Government on policies and proposals around flexible working. Earlier this year the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets wrote to the co-chair of the Taskforce, Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), to commission a further 18 months’ work from the Taskforce to help inform the Government’s thinking as we develop the detail of new policies and navigate the impact of Covid-19 on future ways of working.
In recognition of the changes brought by the pandemic, Access to Work introduced a more flexible offer to support disabled people move into and remain in employment. The new flexible offer complements support provided by employers and contains a combination of support that can be tailored to meet the needs of new Covid-19 working arrangements, including for remote working.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the 2.9 million people excluded from covid-19 financial support claiming universal credit in the event of becoming unemployed during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
At each fiscal event the department works closely with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to estimate welfare spend based on latest unemployment projections. The OBR’s latest projections are available here: http://cdn.obr.uk/CCS1020397650-001_OBR-November2020-EFO-v2-Web-accessible.pdf
The latest Universal Credit forecasts, for number of households, estimated each year are published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2020
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an estimate of the potential additional costs to welfare benefit spending in the event that (a) one million, (b) two million and (c) three million people were to become unemployed.
Answered by Will Quince
At each fiscal event the Department works closely with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to estimate welfare spend based on latest unemployment projections. The OBR’s latest projections are available here: http://cdn.obr.uk/CCS1020397650-001_OBR-November2020-EFO-v2-Web-accessible.pdf
The latest Universal Credit forecasts for number of households, estimated each year are published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables and can be found in, Table 1c, Table 2c and Table 3c, at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/953118/outturn-and-forecast-autumn-budget-2020-revised.xlsx
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the projected number of universal credit claimants by April 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
At each fiscal event the Department works closely with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to estimate welfare spend based on latest unemployment projections. The OBR’s latest projections are available here: http://cdn.obr.uk/CCS1020397650-001_OBR-November2020-EFO-v2-Web-accessible.pdf
The latest Universal Credit forecasts for number of households, estimated each year are published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables and can be found in, Table 1c, Table 2c and Table 3c, at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/953118/outturn-and-forecast-autumn-budget-2020-revised.xlsx
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government has taken in support of its work experience collaboration with Barnardos.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has been working closely with Barnardo’s to develop and scope a pilot of voluntary work experience opportunities for care leavers in some of Barnardo’s high street shops. The objective of this pilot is to give young people independence within their communities and to support them to gain confidence and skills that will help them gain employment and create a better future for themselves.
The pilot is expected to run for 6 months, with individual placements lasting between 6-8 weeks. Barnardo’s have offered that those engaged in work experience will be able to enrol on a Level 2 training course with the Barnardo’s Volunteer Academy at any stage of their placement. They will also have the option to stay on as a volunteer once the placement has ended.
Participants will have a DWP Care Leaver Single Point of Contact, which is a work coach that leads on care leaver issues. Additional support will also be available in the form of a team of staff, including the claimant’s individual work coach and the care leaver’s Personal Adviser, based in the Local Authority care leaver team. The DWP’s National Employer and Partnership Team lead has arranged to meet the staff who will be involved in the pilot in each Jobcentre.
Care leavers will be given a work book to complete during their placement which will encompass feedback and a record of achievements. After the pilot, care leavers will review their progress with their work coach and update their CV. They will also work to agree the next step for them as individuals, for example further training, an apprenticeship or moving into work.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to her Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
No additional funding was allocated to DWP by HM Treasury for EU Exit preparations for the 2018/19 financial year. For 2019/20, DWP has been allocated £15 million for EU Exit preparations.
A full breakdown of the £1.5 billion of additional funding HM Treasury announced at Autumn Budget 2017 for 2018/19 can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on 13 March 2018 (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/).
For 2019/20, DWP’s allocation can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1205, laid on 18 December 2018, which outlines funding for departments for 2019/20. (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/).