Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners are in receipt of the State Pension in each (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency in (i) Birmingham and (ii) Solihull; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the increase to the State Pension in the next financial year.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of pensioners in receipt of the State Pension in each (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency in (i) Birmingham and (ii) Solihull are provided in the following tables. These figures are for the quarter ending August 2024 and are available at DWP Stat-Xplore.
(a) (i) - Birmingham
Local Authority Ward | State Pension Caseload |
Acocks Green | 2,848 |
Allens Cross | 1,590 |
Alum Rock | 1,809 |
Aston | 1,890 |
Balsall Heath West | 1,083 |
Bartley Green | 3,565 |
Billesley | 3,045 |
Birchfield | 1,027 |
Bordesley and Highgate | 671 |
Bordesley Green | 875 |
Bournbrook and Selly Park | 1,251 |
Bournville and Cotteridge | 3,502 |
Brandwood and King's Heath | 2,850 |
Bromford and Hodge Hill | 2,462 |
Castle Vale | 1,449 |
Druids Heath and Monyhull | 1,661 |
Edgbaston | 2,509 |
Erdington | 3,155 |
Frankley Great Park | 1,825 |
Garretts Green | 1,208 |
Glebe Farm and Tile Cross | 2,689 |
Gravelly Hill | 1,052 |
Hall Green North | 2,806 |
Hall Green South | 1,830 |
Handsworth | 1,081 |
Handsworth Wood | 2,716 |
Harborne | 3,363 |
Heartlands | 888 |
Highter's Heath | 1,663 |
Holyhead | 956 |
King's Norton North | 2,110 |
King's Norton South | 1,609 |
Kingstanding | 2,714 |
Ladywood | 1,227 |
Longbridge and West Heath | 3,498 |
Lozells | 703 |
Moseley | 3,189 |
Nechells | 857 |
Newtown | 755 |
North Edgbaston | 2,030 |
Northfield | 1,970 |
Oscott | 2,948 |
Perry Barr | 2,948 |
Perry Common | 1,714 |
Pype Hayes | 1,546 |
Quinton | 3,392 |
Rubery and Rednal | 1,878 |
Shard End | 1,729 |
Sheldon | 3,353 |
Small Heath | 1,673 |
Soho and Jewellery Quarter | 1,574 |
South Yardley | 1,393 |
Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East | 1,929 |
Sparkhill | 1,783 |
Stirchley | 1,271 |
Stockland Green | 2,553 |
Sutton Four Oaks | 2,336 |
Sutton Mere Green | 2,303 |
Sutton Reddicap | 1,743 |
Sutton Roughley | 2,354 |
Sutton Trinity | 1,982 |
Sutton Vesey | 4,317 |
Sutton Walmley and Minworth | 3,881 |
Sutton Wylde Green | 2,441 |
Tyseley and Hay Mills | 1,070 |
Ward End | 964 |
Weoley and Selly Oak | 3,202 |
Yardley East | 1,751 |
Yardley West and Stechford | 1,290 |
(a) (ii) - Solihull
Local Authority Ward | State Pension Caseload |
Bickenhill | 2,540 |
Blythe | 2,761 |
Castle Bromwich | 2,725 |
Chelmsley Wood | 1,988 |
Dorridge and Hockley Heath | 2,692 |
Elmdon | 2,464 |
Kingshurst and Fordbridge | 1,784 |
Knowle | 3,167 |
Lyndon | 2,434 |
Meriden | 3,121 |
Olton | 2,772 |
Shirley East | 2,371 |
Shirley South | 2,859 |
Shirley West | 2,687 |
Silhill | 2,789 |
Smith's Wood | 1,868 |
St Alphege | 3,214 |
(b) (i) - Birmingham
Parliamentary Constituency | State Pension Caseload |
Birmingham Edgbaston | 14,853 |
Birmingham Erdington | 16,063 |
Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley | 13,148 |
Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North | 14,525 |
Birmingham Ladywood | 8,847 |
Birmingham Northfield | 16,997 |
Birmingham Perry Barr | 12,384 |
Birmingham Selly Oak | 14,322 |
Birmingham Yardley | 13,381 |
Sutton Coldfield | 21,356 |
(b) (ii) - Solihull
Parliamentary Constituency | State Pension Caseload |
Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North | 14,525 |
Meriden and Solihull East | 20,545 |
Solihull West and Shirley | 19,100 |
In 2025/26, it is estimated the total State Pension expenditure will increase by around £9bn (in nominal terms). This estimation is available in the latest Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables published at Autumn Budget 2024. Source: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of how many economically inactive people will rejoin the workforce as a result of the measures announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The trend of economic inactivity is a long-term challenge; the UK is the only country in the G7 with an inactivity rate higher than before the pandemic. Building a thriving labour market, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in work is central to growing the economy.
Fundamental reforms announced in the Get Britain Working white paper will help us achieve the bold, long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate, meaning over two million more people in work and the UK as one of the top performing labour markets in the OECD.
Backed by £240m of funding announced in the Budget, the White Paper sets out ambitious reform outlined in three interconnected parts:
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the impact on economic growth of the measures announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The trend of economic inactivity is a long-term challenge; the UK is the only country in the G7 with an inactivity rate higher than before the pandemic. Building a thriving labour market, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in work is central to growing the economy.
Fundamental reforms announced in the Get Britain Working white paper will help us achieve the bold, long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate, meaning over two million more people in work and the UK as one of the top performing labour markets in the OECD.
Backed by £240m of funding announced in the Budget, the White Paper sets out ambitious reform outlined in three interconnected parts:
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which spending programmes their Department devolves for administration to (a) local government in England and (b) other local spending bodies; and what the budget is of each such programme for each year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The government has set itself a mission that, by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal, with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution, with a simplified, long-term funding settlement. At Spring Budget, the government announced the trailblazer devolution deals with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and West Midlands Combined Authorities (WMCA), which included a commitment to introduce single funding settlements at the next Spending Review for these MCAs.
At Autumn Statement, the government published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GMCA and WMCA, setting out how the single settlements will work. The government also announced an ambitious new ‘level 4’ of the devolution framework, including a single transport funding settlement for eligible institutions, and a ‘consolidated’ pot at the next multi-year SR covering two DLUHC investment themes – local growth and place, and housing and regeneration. Following successful delivery of the ‘consolidated’ pot, and learning from the trailblazers, Level 4 institutions will then become eligible to receive a single settlement from the subsequent multi-year Spending Review.
Details of major funding programmes, including those administered by local government or other local bodies, are available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will (a) list the spending programmes her Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Guy Opperman
DWP has the following spending programmes which it devolves for administration to local government in England and to other local spending bodies.
We have provided 2021/22 values for each programme.
Please note that we have not included any ESF-funded spend in this list
Programme name | Value 2021-22 (£m) |
Reducing Parental Conflict (Workforce Development Grant) | 3.8 |
Reducing Parental Conflict (CPA) | 0.6 |
Household Support Fund Grant | 421.0 |
Covid Winter Grant Scheme | 59.0 |
Covid Local Support Grant | 198.0 |
Housing Benefit Admin Subsidy | 164.1 |
Housing Benefit New Burdens | 18.6 |
HB Fraud and error initiatives - VEP and HBAA | 22.2 |
Discretionary Housing Payments | 131.8 |
Work and Health Programme | 16.7 |
Work and Health Programme JETS | 40.5 |
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) policies and (b) grant and funding programmes her Department has introduced to provide support to individuals and organisations in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what funding has been allocated to each of those programmes in the 2020-21 financial year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Throughout this pandemic, this Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support to protect jobs and businesses and, for those in most need, injected billions into the welfare system.
As of 5 January, England entered nationwide restrictions to manage a new variant of Coronavirus. With these restrictions, businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure facing forced closure in England are eligible for a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 to help them through to spring. This is on top of the existing Local Restriction Support Grant (Closed) which will continue to offer businesses support of up to £3,000 for each month they’re closed.
Local authorities are being provided with a top up to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) worth £500 million, bringing the total value of ARG to over £1.6 billion. This grant ensures local authorities can support, on a discretionary basis, businesses not eligible for other grants but still affected by restrictions. Business grant policy remains a fully devolved area, with the Devolved Administrations receiving their share of this funding through the Barnett formula in the usual way.
Businesses across the UK can continue to apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which as of mid-December had supported 9.9 million jobs at the cost of over £45 billion, and its extension until the end of April 2021 will give many businesses and workers much-needed security. The Government has also extended the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until the end of April 2021, with a boosted package of support providing the self-employed with grants covering 80% of average trading profits. So far SEISS has seen 2.7 million self-employed workers make claims under the scheme totalling £13.7 billion.
Businesses needing access to liquidity can also apply for guaranteed loans through various loan schemes, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, until the end of March 2021. Over 1.4 million small and medium sized companies have received government-backed loans, worth over £68 billion.
This support comes on top of billions of pounds’ worth of business rates reliefs, tax deferrals, and other labour market schemes.
To support those on low incomes through the outbreak, DWP introduced a package of temporary welfare measures. Taken together, these measures provide over £7bn of additional support through the welfare system for people affected by COVID-19. These include the £20 Universal Credit uplift, increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants, and suspending the Minimum Income Floor for self-employed UC claimants.
DWP also introduced a number of programmes and policy changes to offer support to individuals and organisations. Funding was received to support Covid-19 measures of £1.2bn which include £870 million for Restarting the Job Market and £170m for the Winter Support Grant Scheme).
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs have been created by the Kickstart programme in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the honourable member to PQ 145013.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs have been created by the Kickstart programme in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
So far applications from Gateways and employers covering 32,113 jobs have been approved.
We are currently finalising our MI data at a local level and we will be able to provide further information such as regional figures early in the new year.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of the system for paying housing benefit to providers of exempt accommodation.
Answered by Will Quince
No such assessment has been made.
We are working with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve value for money and quality in the supported housing sector through our joint oversight regime. An important step in this programme was the launch of Local Authority pilots in Birmingham and four other areas, to test innovative ways of ensuring good quality and value for money in supported housing, including exempt accommodation.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to section 2.9 of of the Spending Review 2020, if she publish the value of the average job subsidy in the Restart programme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The chancellor announced at Spending Review £2.9bn for three years of referrals to Restart. Restart will provide intensive, tailored employment support to help over 1 million people back towards sustained employment.
There will be no job subsidies paid as part of the Restart programme. Further detail on the scheme will be announced in due course.