Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 adequacy of the accessibility of Universal Credit for farmers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have engaged with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and farmers to raise awareness on how they can access services through various channels including partnering with NFU at county shows, providing NFU an informative toolkit and continuation of inviting NFU to our regular stakeholder events.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure that parents of children with special educational needs can find work that meets their needs.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
One of the Government’s primary missions is to grow the economy, getting more people into work and helping those in work get better paid jobs is central to achieving this. The Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers who provide invaluable support for children, relatives, partners, friends, and neighbours who may need care.
Support is offered to those carers in receipt of Universal Credit, either on a voluntary basis for those eligible for Universal Credit Carer Element and / or Carers Allowance, or through individualised work coach support for part time carers. This support can include help from a work coach to access skills provision, referrals to contacted provision such as Restart, careers advice, job search support and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry.
As part of our commitment to reform employment support through delivery of a new national jobs and careers service we will transform the current service and consider the specialist needs of specific groups in designing our new approach.
Alongside employment support, the Government have also announced Plans to Make Work Pay, which will create a new partnership between business, trade unions and working people. The Plan to Make Work Pay will end exploitative zero hours contracts; end the scourge of fire and rehire practices; and introduce basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal. We will strengthen the collective voice of workers and create the Fair Work Agency to ensure employment rights are upheld.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 the removal of Winter Fuel Payments on pensioners' standards of living.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.
Over the next five years we expect over 12 million pensioners are likely to see their State Pensions increase by thousands of pounds as a result of our commitment to the Triple Lock.
We are prioritising support for pensioners through our Warm Homes Plan which will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.
The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.
We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.
Our other steps include cutting waiting times in the NHS which will help many pensioners currently waiting in pain and discomfort for treatment, and delivering the economic stability which is so crucial for pensioners.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an estimate of the number of pensioners who will have winter fuel payment withdrawn in (a) Epping Forest constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In Epping Forest constituency, the estimated number of pensioners who will have Winter Fuel Payments withdrawn is 15,744. In England, the estimated number of pensioners who will have Winter Fuel Payments withdrawn is 8,609,778. This is based on Feb-24 Pension Credit statistics and 22/23 Winter Fuel Payment statistics, (sources below).
This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Epping Forest constituency and England from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Epping Forest constituency and England. The Pension Credit data is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024 in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payments statistics.
Please note that the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy change (means testing Winter fuel payments to those on Pension Credit and other means tested benefits). We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.
Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).
Furthermore, Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.
Sources used:
winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)
Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk) (Feb-24 data)
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the accessibility of Universal Credit support for people working in the farming sector.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Universal Credit is a 24 hour, seven days a week, digital service that allows customers to manage their own data and account online at a time which is convenient for them. Where a meeting is required, Work Coaches are able to offer multiple appointment channels, including digital, to minimise disruption to business, and ensure any meetings are as convenient as possible.
We are working with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to ensure a smooth transition from Tax Credits to Universal Credit, as well as providing Transitional Protection when applicable.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of financial support provided to people on the State Pension.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Government remains committed to ensuring that older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.
In April, the State Pension saw its biggest ever rise, increasing by 10.1%. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in 2010. That’s £790 more than if it had been uprated by Prices, and £945 more than if it had been uprated by earnings (since 2010).
The Government understands the pressures people including pensioners are facing with the cost of living and has put in place a significant package of measures. To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing a further £26bn in cost-of-living support for 2023/24. This is a substantial package of support which recognises the current additional costs faced by pensioners.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help support people with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help. Overall, we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of bills.
This includes up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments for households on eligible means-tested benefits. The next payment of £300 will be made between 31 October 2023 and 19 November 2023 for most people who are eligible, which follows on from the £301 payment issued in April 2023 to 8.3 million households. A further payment of £299 will be made by spring 2024 for those entitled. In addition, more than eight million pensioner households across the UK will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living Payment during winter 2023-24 paid as a top up to the winter fuel payment and 6.4 million individuals on eligible ‘extra-costs’ disability benefits have also received a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.
For people who require additional support, in England, the Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. Local Authorities are expected to support households in the most need, and in particular those who may not be eligible for the other support Government recently made available but are nevertheless in need of support. In the case of Westmorland and Furness, the local authority has been allocated £3,045,591 for this period. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.
From April, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%, and in order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels also increased by the same amount.
To support those who are in work, from 1 April, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to uprate benefits in line with inflation.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Secretary of State is conducting his statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. The outcome of the review will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to maintain the pensions triple lock.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is currently conducting his statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of that review, which will be announced in due course.