Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Martyn Day

Monday 11th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to support pensioners in the context of the increase in the cost of living.

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

Mr Speaker, I hope to be a better Pensions Minister than the one from whom I have just inherited the job.

The United Kingdom Government have provided £37 billion-worth of support for those most in need, including pensioners. Some pensioners will receive in excess of £1,500 over and above the state pension, which is up this year.

[Martyn Day]

I thank the Minister for that answer, but pension credit figures show that an estimated £1.7 billion goes unclaimed. Not only are 850,000 families missing out on this essential support, but they are also ineligible for the £650 cost of living payment. Will the Minister consider extending the cut-off date for entitlement to that payment to next March? Will the Department finally look at a proper benefits take-up strategy such as the one we have in Scotland?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Martyn Day

Monday 14th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ensure that vulnerable people have access to welfare benefits through Post Office services.

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

Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy worked closely with the Post Office to ensure that vulnerable customers were able to access benefit payments during lockdown. It remains the case that at least 99% of customers with a bank, building society, credit union or Post Office card account can already access their benefit or pension payments at post office branches or post office ATMs.

[Martyn Day [V]]

Some 1.23 million people do not have a bank account. Given the DWP’s decision that new benefits or state pensions will no longer be collected using the Post Office card account, with the scheme officially closing in November next year, how will the Minister ensure that an estimated 300,000 vulnerable people can still access their benefits?

[Guy Opperman]

Any customer with a building society or credit union account will be able to continue to access their benefit or pension payments at a post office, even after the closure of the Post Office card account, including all bank accounts. There is also the ability to open a basic bank account, for which assistance can be given.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Martyn Day

Monday 7th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

14. What assessment she has made of the effect of transferring to universal credit on households’ levels of financial resilience.

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

Universal credit ensures that support goes to those who need it, allowing 700,000 more people to receive benefits than did previously—this is worth approximately an extra £2.4 billion. Those who move to UC from legacy benefits and whose circumstances remain the same will be eligible for protection of their entitlement at the point of transition.

[Guy Opperman]

The situation is that this is an assessment period and no one has to wait to receive a UC payment; an advance of up to 100% is available to those in need, and significant funding has gone to Citizens Advice Scotland.

[Martyn Day]

Some 700,000 households yet to move to UC have insufficient savings to cover that five-week wait, which clearly proves that UC is not working. Will the Minister consider making that advance payment to claimants a non-refundable first UC payment?

[Guy Opperman]

As the hon. Gentleman is aware, there is a managed migration pilot in Harrogate, where we are learning lessons, and I take on board the points he makes. That completes at the end of 2020 and, obviously, everyone not in the pilot stays on the legacy system as it currently runs.

Work and Pensions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Martyn Day

Tuesday 9th July 2019 Ministerial Corrections

[Martyn Day]

Does the Minister think it right that the UK has the lowest state pension in the developed world?

[Guy Opperman]

The reality of the state pension in this country is that it has risen by £1,600 in real terms through the triple lock. It also needs to be looked at in the context of the significant high private pensions that, thanks to automatic enrolment and other reforms, show that this is comparable to many other European countries.

[Official Report, 1 July 2019, Vol. 662, c. 913.]

Letter of correction from the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman).

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day).

The correct response should have been:

[Martyn Day]

Does the Minister think it right that the UK has the lowest state pension in the developed world?

[Guy Opperman]

The reality of the state pension in this country is that it has risen by £1,600 in cash terms through the triple lock. It also needs to be looked at in the context of the significant high private pensions that, thanks to automatic enrolment and other reforms, show that this is comparable to many other European countries.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Martyn Day

Monday 1st July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

19. What recent assessment she has made of the level of pensioner poverty in the UK.

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

The overall trend in the percentage of pensioners living in poverty has fallen dramatically over recent decades. Relative pensioner poverty rates before housing costs have halved since 1990 and rates of material deprivation for pensioners are also at record lows. We want to maintain this achievement.

[Guy Opperman]

It is not the Government’s intention to change the Pensions Act 1995, the Pensions Act 2007 or the Pensions Act 2011. There was a £1.1 billion concession in 2011. The policy was conceived in 1993, continued under the Labour Government for 13 years, continued under the coalition and will continue under this Government. I should also point out that a judicial review is pending. I cannot comment any further than that.

[Martyn Day]

Does the Minister think it right that the UK has the lowest state pension in the developed world?

[Guy Opperman]

The reality of the state pension in this country is that it has risen by £1,600 in real terms through the triple lock. It also needs to be looked at in the context of the significant high private pensions that, thanks to automatic enrolment and other reforms, show that this is comparable to many other European countries.[Official Report, 9 July 2019, Vol. 663, c. 2MC.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Martyn Day

Monday 7th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

It was a pleasure to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency last summer and see the fantastic work and the jobs revolution that is taking place in Basildon. It was also a pleasure to meet dBD Communications, one of his top companies, which has done a fantastic job in creating new employment and getting new training work done, and has an expanded order book that is enhancing job opportunities in Basildon.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

T9. On 19 December, I received the observations of the Secretary of State in response to a public petition that I had submitted on behalf of my constituents calling for a halt of universal credit and for the problems to be fixed. Her response concluded that“we can see no reason to halt the rollout of Universal Credit”.So what, if anything, has changed in the past three weeks?