Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Newton]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. As I have said, the customer satisfaction ratings are high, and the assessments themselves consistently meet our quality target, which is over 90%. I am pleased to say, however, that our plans for the video recording of the assessments are going very well, and the live testing trial will start later this month.

[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.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Employment (Alok Sharma)]

I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and discuss that particular case.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T9. I am very grateful to Crawley DWP staff, who successfully helped with the transition to universal credit in June. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the support available to claimants who are transferring?

[Amber Rudd]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his work with the jobcentre in Crawley to ensure that claimants get the best benefits. We have had some changes from the Budget, as he will be aware, and will bring forward more details of regulations to help to deliver those outcomes as soon as possible.