Oral Answers to Questions

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

6. What steps the Government have taken to support industry to deliver the pensions dashboard.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

The pensions dashboard is the great leap forward for the pensions industry, and the Government are 100% behind it. We have consulted the industry at length and will publish our feasibility study very shortly.

[Kevin Foster]

I thank the Minister for his answer. The pensions dashboard will be a welcome addition to the information available to Torbay residents about their retirement plans. What work will the Government do, though, to ensure that pension schemes relating to employers of all sizes are included?

[Guy Opperman]

In Torbay, 7,000 people now have the benefit of an auto-enrolled pension. We want to ensure that my hon. Friend’s constituents have online access to as much of their retirement savings in one place as is humanly possible through the pensions dashboard, and that is what we are going to do.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Many of my constituents contacted me to express concern that the Government were going to scrap the pensions dashboard. I welcome the Minister’s 100% commitment, but can he tell us exactly when it is going to be delivered?

[Guy Opperman]

The hon. Gentleman will understand that a feasibility study and consultation are pending, but I will be happy to discuss the dashboard with him in more detail if he will bear with me. There is no question but that the thousands of people in his constituency who have had the benefit of auto-enrolment, and the many thousands of employers supporting those employees, will be benefiting from the process.

[Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon) (Con)]

7. What steps the Government have taken to support disabled people in Budget 2018.

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[Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the personal finances of claimants.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

Universal credit allows claimants to work and earn more, and the evidence is that people on universal credit are moving into work faster. We believe that everyone who can work should be given every support to get into work. That is what the job coaches are doing.

[Julie Elliott]

The Child Poverty Action Group found that almost half of those moving on to universal credit needed support, which is often not available, to set up their claim. If they miss their deadline, they receive no transitional protection and no back-dated credit, and they have to wait a further five weeks for payment. With the new Secretary of State leading the Department, is it not time for the Government to pause the roll-out of this benefit and look again at wiping out these very, very serious wrongs in the system?

[Guy Opperman]

If the individual claimant is vulnerable, there can be backdating, but for those who need extra support, there are advances of 100% from day one and also budgeting support. We are creating a brand new partnership with Citizens Advice to deliver a better universal support service.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

New figures confirm that one in five jobs in London is now low-paid—below the London living wage. That is the highest proportion there has ever been, so working people are also in poverty and need the protection of universal credit, yet the qualifying period is casting many families into very severe hardship. What action will the Minister take to deal with that problem so that people can understand that work will pay, rather than casting them further into hardship?

[Guy Opperman]

The hon. Lady will be aware that the Government introduced the living wage, which is enhanced annually, and that we raised the tax threshold, which assisted individuals. She will also be aware that there is child support for education and that we are freezing fuel duty. All these cost-of-living measures have been of assistance to local people.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

The UN’s damaging report highlights Wales as having the worst poverty rate in the UK, but because social security powers are not devolved to Wales, the Welsh Government are scarcely able to replicate the Scottish Government’s excellent work in alleviating Westminster-driven poverty. Will the Minister commit to stopping the roll-out in Wales until the present problems are resolved and propose the devolution of universal credit powers to enable our country’s Government to reduce poverty and suffering?

[Guy Opperman]

My understanding is that 46 out of 59 offices in Wales have now rolled out the full UC service. The hon Lady will be aware that household incomes have never been higher and that 1 million fewer people are living in absolute poverty compared with in 2010, including 300,000 children.

[Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)]

9. What steps her Department is taking to identify people on legacy benefits with high support needs who will be required to transfer to universal credit managed migration.

--- Later in debate ---

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

13. What estimate the Government have made of the number of people paying into workplace pensions.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

Nearly 10 million people are enrolled in a workplace pension thanks to the success of automatic enrolment. In the Crawley constituency, approximately 48,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled, and thanks are due to the 1,600 employers who have fulfilled their duties locally.

[Henry Smith]

Will my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to Crawley-headquartered B&CE and its People’s Pension for playing such an important role in that roll-out of pensions?

[Guy Opperman]

It was a delight to visit The People’s Pension with my hon. Friend, to see the hundreds of local staff who are doing such a fantastic job and the work that the company is doing as a great local employer, to receive a Crawley Town football shirt—I must confess that I have not yet worn it—and to support a great local business.

[Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington) (Lab)]

Auto-enrolment was a landmark achievement, a creation of the last Labour Government. I welcome the progress that has been made, but does the Minister agree that the threshold is too high—37% of female workers, 33% of workers with a disability, and 28% of black, Asian and ethnic-minority workers do not enjoy auto-enrolment—and that it cannot be right for workers under the age of 22 to be excluded?

[Guy Opperman]

I think that the hon. Gentleman will accept that while auto-enrolment has been a cross-party success story, it was this Government who actually introduced it. The issue that he raises was comprehensively addressed by the 2017 auto-enrolment review, which was conducted by three independent support organisations, and the key points that he raises are being addressed in the current AE review.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

14. What steps the Government have taken in Budget 2018 to ensure that people in work keep more of what they earn when in receipt of universal credit.