Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

My hon. Friend is a very diligent representative of his constituents, as I saw with the casework he raised. Our forthcoming Green Paper is key, as is our national strategy for disabled people, where we will explore other ways to offer greater support, such as advocacy, signposting and removing barriers across Government and in wider society.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

What recent estimate she has made of the number of women who have been underpaid their state pension uplift as a result of an administrative error.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman) [V]]

We are aware of a number of cases where individuals have been underpaid category BL basic state pension. The Department has already taken action to correct our records, and we reimbursed those affected as soon as any errors were identified.

[Nick Smith]

Informed commentators say that more than 100,000 women will be impacted by this error. Many will be older women and more likely to be living in poverty. To put this right, will the Minister agree to an investigation into this issue? Will he look again at the rules on backdating to ensure that those women are treated fairly in the future?

[Guy Opperman]

I note the hon. Gentleman’s comments, and we invite anyone who thinks that they have failed to claim a state pension increase that they are eligible for to contact the Department through the Pension Service helpline. Alternatively, Pension Wise can assist.[Official Report, 8 July 2020, Vol. 678, c. 4MC.]