Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to support (a) the right to work and (b) financial security for older people.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 26 November 2024, the Government published the Get Britain Working White Paper which sets out fundamental reforms to employment support to help people into good work and create an inclusive labour market in which everyone can get into and on at work.
Increasing the proportion of older people returning to work and staying in work reduces the risk of later life poverty as it increases pensions saving and improves physical and mental wellbeing. On an individual scale it ensures people can fulfil their potential into later life and save towards a financially resilient retirement.
The Equality Act 2010 is very clear on the need for employers to recruit the best talent based on merit, irrespective of a person’s age. The Department for Work and Pensions therefore works across government, and through regular engagement with employers to encourage positive attitudes towards older workers.
The Department already offers employment support through Jobcentres and tailored one-to-one engagement for eligible over 50s on Universal Credit. Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK and online also support older people to review their health, finances and skills.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to promote and support the active participation of older people in society.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government knows that work can help older people play active and fulfilling roles in society, improve physical and mental wellbeing and build towards a financially comfortable retirement.
The Department already offers employment support through Jobcentres and tailored one-to-one engagement for eligible over 50s on Universal Credit. Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK and online also support older people to review their health, finances and skills.
Getting more older people who are economically inactive but want to work into employment is crucial to meeting our long-term ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate. Our Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our approach to the employment support system to target and tackle the root causes of unemployment and inactivity and better join up health skills and employment support based on the needs for all, including older people.
The Government has also launched an independent review into the role of UK employers in promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces which will run until Summer 2025.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to tackle (a) age discrimination and (b) ageism in the workplace.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises the need to recruit on merit, irrespective of a persons' age. The 2010 Equality Act provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment, rendering it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees or job applicants based on age.
The Government acknowledges the key role employers play in helping older individuals to remain in or re-enter the workforce, and the importance of embracing policies conducive to this support. Age diversity within the workforce brings numerous benefits to businesses, in addition to broader advantages such as fresh perspectives and knowledge-sharing.
The Department for Work and Pensions, (DWP) is therefore working across government, and through regular engagement with employers, to encourage positive attitudes towards older people.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy that all changes to financial support for (a) people who are unwell and (b) disabled people be preceded by a public consultation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are working to develop proposals for health and disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement. This will launch a public consultation on the proposals.
This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to announce any changes to the benefit system for financial year 2024-25.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Get Britain Working White Paper sets out that we plan to develop proposals for long term reform of the system of health and disability benefits.
We are working to develop proposals for Health and Disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper in Spring.
The Get Britain Working White Paper also sets out our plans to bring down economic inactivity levels and take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. It can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/get-britain-working-white-paper
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of GDPR regulations on people who experience bank (a) fraud ,(b) error and (c) deletions.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP will ensure that any data is processed in compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Department routinely handles large volumes of data and has robust security processes in place to manage the safe transfer, storage, and use of data.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to support benefits claimants who are being investigated by her Department but no longer have access to required information because it has been deleted by their bank.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where DWP is conducting a criminal investigation into suspected fraud it may request relevant information from third parties. Information received may be presented as evidence if that investigation proceeds to prosecution. Requests for information must comply with DWP’s statutory Code of Practice.
Where an individual is asked to provide information to the department, they should endeavour to provide it unless there is a reason that they cannot. If they are dissatisfied with the service they have received, they should raise the issue with the team handling their case. If they do not feel they have received a satisfactory service, they can raise this with the Independent Case Examiner.
DWP’s complaints procedure can be found here.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to respond to the Freedom of Information Act request by Mr Langton of 21 December 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Mr Langton’s Freedom of Information request was made electronically and was received by the Department on 21 December 2024. The request has been given the reference FOI2024/105315. The statutorily defined deadline to respond to any Freedom of Information request is to do so on or before the 20th working day following receipt of the request. The deadline for this request is 23 January 2025 and we aim to respond on or before that date.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to provide a formal response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions’ communication of changes, published on 19 July 2021.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We provided a formal response to the Ombudsman’s findings on the State Pension age investigation on 17 December 2024. This can be found in the library of both houses and is publicly available on GOV.UK. Government response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Investigation into Women’s State Pension age communications and associated issues - GOV.UK
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 25 of the Government response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into Women’s State Pension age and associated issues, what the evidential basis is for the statement that awareness among the 45-54 age group that State Pension age was increasing had increased to 90%.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Attitudes to Pensions: the 2006 Survey was a large-scale survey commissioned by DWP and carried out by the respected National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the School of Social Sciences, University of Birmingham. The authors included a mix of academics and research professionals, experienced in survey design and delivery, and the report was quality assured to Government Social Research standards. Almost 2,000 adults took part in the survey, and weightings were applied to ensure results were representative of the population.
The survey report includes the finding that the percentage of women who reported knowing that women’s State Pension age would increase in the future was 90% for women aged 45-54.
The 45-54 female subgroup has a sample size of 203. With a sample of this size, we can get a reliable estimate of the percentage of women among this group who reported knowing that the women’s State Pension age would increase in the future. Using confidence intervals, we can have 95% confidence that this figure would be around 85-95%. The 95% level is a widely accepted standard of confidence. Therefore, even at the lower estimate, the data shows the vast majority of 1950s women were aware.
The 2006 Attitudes to Pensions Survey report is available online at