Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to amend the State Pension Regulations 2015 to allow deferred pension entitlement accrued by individuals not (a) married and (b) in a civil partnership to be considered part of their estate upon death.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has no plans to amend the State Pension Regulations 2015.
These regulations make transitional provisions enabling a person in the new State Pension system to inherit a deferral payment where their deceased spouse or civil partner had deferred an old State Pension.
Apart from transitional rules, it is no longer possible for a spouse or civil partner to inherit or derive State Pension entitlement from their partner, under the new State Pension system, introduced in 2016.
If an individual is not married or in a civil partnership, it is possible for an arrears payment to made to the deceased's estate under Regulation 30 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987. A maximum of three months arrears of State Pension may be awarded which may include arrears of extra State Pension accrued by the deferral.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire 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 potential impact of the provisions of the State Pension Regulations 2015 which prevent individuals from taking (a) a lump sum payment and (b) an enhanced pension on the finances of pensioners.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such specific assessment has been made.
The Government prepared an impact assessment which looked at the effect of the new State Pension reforms overall on the various types of income that pensioners receive from the state, available at: The single-tier pension: a simple foundation for saving - Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk).
This included estimates on the impacts of changes to deferral policy.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the leaflets referred to in paragraph 133 of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's publication entitled Women's State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions' communication of changes, HC 444, were printed and distributed in financial years (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is not possible to reply to this question with precision.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the last submission of evidence to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into the communication of changes to women's State Pension age was made by her Department.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has not completed their 3-stage investigation. It would not be appropriate to comment whilst the investigation is ongoing; and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of staff in her Department are currently working from home on a full-time or part-time basis whose residence is in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is only available at a Great Britain level.
The proportion of DWP staff who are contractual home workers is 0.03%.
35.55% of staff work in customer facing front line roles which predominantly require staff to work in the office.
The remaining 64.42% of roles in the department can be performed on a hybrid basis, meaning they split their time between working in a workplace and at home. Employees in these roles have been returning to the office in a safe and considered way over the last few months. As part of this, every staff member is having a one-to-one conversation with their manager to discuss their return to the workplace.
DWP maintained its services throughout the pandemic; Jobcentres have remained open throughout the pandemic for anyone who needed face-to-face support and could not be helped in any other way, with DWP employees available on site to support the most vulnerable claimants. On 12 April 2021, Jobcentres in England and Wales returned to normal opening hours from 9am to 5pm, with Jobcentres in Scotland restarting the same face to face service from 26 April 2021.
Across all DWP offices, safety measures remain in place as per the relevant Government and devolved administration health and safety guidance, and whilst these measures are in place it is not possible to return to full office capacity.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is provided on home working to staff in her Department resident in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has a long-standing policy on the circumstances in which an employee might request and be allowed to work from home.
This policy was supplemented in July 2021 with publication of new guidance for those employees that are designated ‘hybrid workers’. This new guide covers a wider range of topics, such as effective performance management and caring whilst working from home.
Both the long-standing home working policy and new hybrid working guidance apply consistently across England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2020 to Question 29272, what progress she has made in her discussions with the Isle of Man Government on the Flybe pension scheme.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It would not be appropriate for a UK Minister to comment on cases that are a matter for the Isle of Man Government, the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority or the independent Pensions Regulator. Members wishing to receive updates should contact the Scheme Administrator or the Isle of Man Government.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the (a) representatives of the Isle of Man Government and (b) the administrators of Flybe Limited, on the outstanding pension liabilities of Flybe Limited (in Administration).
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has engaged with the Isle of Man Government to enquire how they plan to work with Flybe and regulators to support pension scheme members. The Secretary of State has not engaged with the administrators of Flybe Limited.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last met with representatives of WASPI women.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since taking up the post, the Secretary of State has had no meetings with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase youth employment.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Youth unemployment has fallen by over 40% since 2010. Around 3.0 million young people have left full-time education and have successfully found work, with the employment rate for this group at 74.9%, up by 7.5 percentage points since 2010.
The Youth Obligation Support Programme was introduced in April 2017 to provide intensive support for 18-21 year olds making a new claim to Universal Credit. This programme starts with an intensive activity period of workshops and interventions that encourages 18-21 year olds to think more broadly about their skills and job goals, helps them identify any training they need, and supports them to improve their job search, job application and interview skills.
We also believe that early intervention is particularly important, which is why we have introduced Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools, which was trialled in 10 districts starting in February 2016 and rolled out nationally in England only from November 2016. It helps young people make a smooth and effective transition from school to work, training or further study. This support includes advice on the local labour market, ‘soft skills’ employers expect such as teamworking and resilience, job search skills such as CV writing and interview techniques, and the promotion of vocational routes into employment