Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 implications for her policies of trends in the level of youth unemployment since 2010.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Youth unemployment in 2010 was high following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds for Jul-Sep 2024 is 14.8% (4.5 percentage points lower than in Jul-Sep 2010). In recent quarters the youth unemployment rate has been increasing. It has increased by 2.8 percentage points on the year.
To address this our plan to get Britain working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work to reduce the number of young people not earning or learning. We are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. We expect the trailblazers to launch from Spring 2025.
The White Paper also sets out a range of measures to prevent youth inactivity before 18 – including an expansion of work experience and careers advice, action to tackle school attendance and steps to improve access to mental health services for young people
Recent unemployment estimates are subject to heightened volatility due to ongoing data quality problems with the ONS Labour Force Survey. This is particularly the case for the 16 to 24-year-old group, which as a smaller population group has wider margins of error than whole population estimates. Additionally, data prior to Jun-Aug 2011 has not been re-weighted by the ONS causing a discontinuity.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of recent changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment on trends in the level of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 19 November, Secretary of State wrote to the Work and Pensions Select Committee to share internal government modelling produced by the Department outlining estimates of the number of pensioners estimated to move into poverty as a result of the policy change. This letter is available here Winter Fuel Payments eligibility change - Letter from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
The latest modelling shows that compared to the numbers that would have been in poverty without this policy, it is estimated that:
(a) there will be an additional 50,000 pensioners in relative poverty after housing costs in 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2027/28 and an additional 100,000 pensioners in relative poverty after housing costs in 2026/27, 2028/29 and 2029/30.
(b) for all other measures of poverty, it is estimated that there will be an additional 50,000 pensioners in poverty each year from 2024/25 to 2029/30.
The poverty impacts represent the change in the numbers in poverty as a result of the policy change only. They are not an estimate of the change in overall poverty each year or over time and should not be added together or interpreted as cumulative data.
It's important to note that this modelling is subject to a range of uncertainties meaning the poverty impacts are rounded to the nearest 50,000 individuals and the nearest 0.1 percentage point which should be taken into account when interpreting the results. This means that small variations in the underlying numbers impacted can lead to much larger changes in the rounded headline numbers.
The modelling does not account for any other measures announced at the Autumn Budget. The modelling also does not include any impacts on Pension Credit take-up as a result of the changes to Winter Fuel Payment eligibility.
The Prime Minister has been clear that means-testing the Winter Fuel Payment is not a decision that the Government wanted to take but given the £22 billion black hole in the economy, tough choices had to be made to fix the foundations and restore economic stability to make everyone better off in the long term.
Last year Winter Fuel Payments cost around £2 billion and were paid to pensioners regardless of their income. Given the dire state of the public finances the Government has inherited, it’s right that the Government targets support to those who need it most while the Government continues our work to stabilise the economy.
But the Government will continue to stand behind vulnerable households this winter, including through delivering the £150 Warm Home Discount for low-income households from October and extending the Household Support Fund with £421 million to ensure local authorities can support vulnerable people and families. The Government will also ensure around 1.3 million households in England and Wales will continue to receive up to £300 in Winter Fuel Payments, and the new state pension will increase by around £470 next year, which will significantly outstrip any loss for pensioners of the winter fuel payments.
In addition, the Government and industry have worked together to deliver a £500m Winter Support Commitment for customers, which will help customers most in need by providing credit on bills, enhanced debt write-off schemes, and increased funding for charity partners to target hard to reach customers.
The Government continues to urge anyone who thinks they may be entitled to Pension Credit to check now, as all eligible claims can be backdated, and anyone who makes a successful claim will receive their payment. Over a million pensioners will still receive the Winter Fuel Payment and our drive to boost Pension Credit take up has already seen a 145% increase in claims. Anyone who makes a successful claim for Pension Credit before 21 December and meets the eligibility criteria will receive both Pension Credit and a Winter Fuel Payment, and the Government has deployed more than 500 additional staff to process the increase in Pension Credit claims.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 use technology to improve its productivity.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of the Department’s ongoing transformation, we are increasing our use of automation, improving our underlying technology, and increasing the number of citizen self-service opportunities where it is appropriate to do so, meaning that, despite increased demand on our services, more of our time can be deployed onto the activities that support our customers at the point of demand.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 implications for her policies of trends in the level of women in employment since 2010.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to tackling the challenges women face in the labour market and takes seriously the challenges they face in balancing work with other life events. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public authorities to consider impacts on those with protected characteristics, including sex, when exercising their functions, like making decisions. Female participation in the labour market grew substantially over the 2010s, predominantly driven by changes to the female State Pension Age. In recent years, participation has stalled and has only grown by 0.9 percentage points in the last 5 years, and the employment rate for women aged 16-64 currently stands at 72.1%. (Source: Labour Force Survey, Jul-Sep 2024).
As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, too many women who care for their families still experience challenges staying and progressing in work. This is reflected in the higher rates of female inactivity and unpaid carers, and contributes to the gender pay gap. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out how it will take a system-wide approach to reducing barriers to work, including measures to make it easier to access affordable childcare and manage caring responsibilities alongside work.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 effectiveness of the Pension Credit awareness campaign.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Our campaign has seen DWP receive around 150,000 Pension Credit applications in the 16 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement compared to around 61,300 Pension Credit applications in the preceding 16 weeks. This represents a 145% increase in applications. The latest figures also show that 42,500 Pension Credit awards were made since the 29 July.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the employment rate.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State, and ministers, regularly meet with Cabinet and ministerial colleagues, regarding a range of matters.
Our ambitions are to reverse the trend of inactivity, and to raise both productivity and living standards whilst improving the quality of work. To help achieve this, we have set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, demonstrating our commitment to bringing those furthest away from the labour market into it, increasing local labour supply.
Achieving our ambitions requires a cross-government approach, which is why the Employment Rights Bill will make work more secure, boost wages, and help people thrive by supporting them into and to get on in work.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to support the Royal British Legion Credit their Service campaign.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The department has had a number of discussions with stakeholders about the treatment of armed forces compensation payments in the benefit system and has further such discussions planned. There are already special rules in place for the treatment of these payments.
Those receiving War Disablement Pensions and guaranteed income payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme do not have their Universal Credit reduced to take account of this income. Pension Credit includes a weekly £10 disregard for War Pension payments. There are no plans to change these arrangements.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to provide additional support to people in the workplace with clinical neurodiversity conditions.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We continue to strive towards providing more support for people in the workplace with clinical neurodiversity conditions. On 2 April 2023, World Autism Acceptance Day, we announced the launch of a new review into autism and employment. The Buckland Review, which is being led by the Rt Hon Member for South Swindon, is focused on supporting employers to recruit and retain autistic people, identifying barriers to this, and developing ways to overcome those barriers. Whilst the Review's primary focus is autism, many of the adjustments and initiatives that would benefit autistic people could also benefit a wider group of people who think differently, including those with other neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. The review will present recommendations to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions later this year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people in the workplace with clinical neurodiversity conditions.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We continue to strive towards providing more support for people in the workplace with clinical neurodiversity conditions. On 2 April 2023, World Autism Acceptance Day, we announced the launch of a new review into autism and employment. The Buckland Review, which is being led by the Rt Hon Member for South Swindon, is focused on supporting employers to recruit and retain autistic people, identifying barriers to this, and developing ways to overcome those barriers. Whilst the Review's primary focus is autism, many of the adjustments and initiatives that would benefit autistic people could also benefit a wider group of people who think differently, including those with other neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. The review will present recommendations to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions later this year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the service being offered by the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) can play an effective role in helping lift children out of poverty. Through both family-based arrangements (FBAs) and CMS arrangements, we estimate receiving parents in separated families received £2.6 billion annually in child maintenance payments in the three financial years ending 2020 to 2022. Overall, we estimate that on average these payments kept 160,000 children out of absolute low income on an after-housing costs basis each year.
The CMS is focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the service being offered to both potential customers and those already in the service.
In 2022 the CMS introduced a new digital service ‘Get Help arranging Child Maintenance’ (GHACHM). GHACM is a digital service, available 24/7, making it more accessible for customers.
The majority of applications are now made online. Expanded payment functions via telephony and online services have also helped to provide more options to parents.
CMS has made significant improvements in their telephony service and internal management information suggests the average time to answer calls has reduced by a third since 2021/22.
The CMS recently piloted ‘Real Time Customer Feedback’ on behalf of the department to better understand customer experience.
A Private Members’ Bill (PMB) to streamline CMS enforcement, being taken forward by Siobhan Baillie, is currently ongoing working towards a third reading in the House of Lords. The PMB removes the requirement to make court applications for liability orders which enable the CMS to progress with enforcement action, thus improving the efficiency of the enforcement process.