Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Moroccan counterpart on the potential merits of a compensation scheme for UK citizens that lost their investments in the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort project; and whether he has taken other steps to help ensure adequate (a) financial and (b) other compensation for those affected.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office remains committed to helping all British investors affected by the failure of the Paradise Golf & Beach Resort (PGBR) development and will continue in its efforts to work with the Moroccan authorities to help them receive the compensation to which they are entitled. His Majesty's Ambassador to Rabat continues to seek opportunities to raise PGBR with his counterparts and relevant stakeholders in Morocco to encourage a satisfactory resolution to this longstanding issue. FCDO officials in London continue to raise the issue with their counterparts in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the level of dependence on emergency food parcels.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

On 30 July, the Secretary of State held a food poverty roundtable with key food poverty stakeholders to understand the key priorities in this area.

We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into food poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.

Additional steps include our plans to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.

In addition, on 17th July, we announced our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, to begin work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.

The Taskforce’s publication of 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we are developing the Strategy, exploring all available levers across Government to deliver an enduring reduction in child poverty this parliament. This is part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change which will be published in the Spring.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to publish research on the (a) Midlife MOT initiative and (b) digital Midlife MOT website.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Midlife MOT initiative consists of three key work strands: the Job Centre Plus (JCP) Midlife MOT, the Private Sector Midlife MOT and the Digital Midlife MOT.

The Private Sector Midlife MOT pilot programmes concluded at the end of June 2024. Findings from qualitative research, conducted in house by the Department for Work and Pensions, will be published in early 2025.

The evaluation for the Job Centre Plus Midlife MOT is not yet complete but is planned for publication during 2025. The Digital Midlife MOT Website evaluation will start in February 2025, and we plan to publish once complete.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating an independent process to set benefit levels according to the cost of essentials.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review benefit and State Pension rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. Where the relevant benefit or State Pension rates have not retained their value, legislation provides that the Secretary of State is required to, or in some instances may, up-rate their value.

Following this review, benefit and State Pension rates are increased in line with statutory minimum amounts and others are increased subject to Secretary of State’s discretion.

Following the Secretary of States’ up-rating decisions for 2025/26, DWP expenditure on state pensions and benefits will increase by £6.9 billion.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of defined contribution pensions were accessed after a Pension Wise guidance appointment in each of the last five years.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The information is not available. There are two sources which provide relevant data in relation to the request. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publish the number accessing a pension pot in the contract-based market (from 2015/16 to 2023/24) and whether this was accessed following financial advice, a Pension Wise appointment (and no financial advice), or no financial advice or guidance: Retirement income market data 2023/24 | FCA.

The Money and Pension Service (MaPS) have previously published survey data on outcomes of Pension Wise appointments. A copy has been attached (see figure 12).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Pension freedoms and DWP benefits, published on 27 March 2015, what assessment she has made of the impact of that policy on defined contribution pension savers.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to enabling savers to achieve security in retirement. We’ve announced as part of the King’s Speech that the Pensions Bill will include measures to give savers the benefit of guided retirement products, with a retirement income; this will change the experience of Defined Contribution savers as our approach would provide a secure income over retirement as a default, unless the member chooses something different.

We have also committed to assess adequacy for future savers as part of the second phase of the pensions review. We closely monitor the decumulation decisions of Defined Contribution savers. This has included research on retirement planning and decumulation decisions, such as Planning and Preparing for Later Life and analysis of Pensions Freedoms.

Planning and Preparing for Later Life - GOV.UK

Pension Freedoms: a qualitative research study of individuals’ decumulation journeys - GOV.UK

Open Doors 2025

Found: Chair); Johanna Baxter; Mr Peter Bedford; Steve Darling; Damien Egan; Gill German; Frank McNally; John Milne

Submit Evidence (by 3 Mar 2025)

The Work and Pension Committee is conducting an inquiry into jobcentres, the first in a series of inquiries in response to the Government’s Get Britain Working White Paper.