Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Davies Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Stephen Timms]

The hon. Gentleman is completely mistaken. These changes will not take effect until November next year and following each claimant’s award review after that date. Who receives the benefit will depend on the outcome of the assessment at that time. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the view of the Office for Budget Responsibility is that about 10% of those who are currently claiming PIP will lose their benefit as a result of these changes—a much lower proportion than the one he has just referred to.

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

11. What steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in Colne Valley constituency.

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

In Colne Valley, my hon. Friend’s constituents receive support from Huddersfield jobcentre. Work is also ongoing led by West Yorkshire combined authority, which is one of our trailblazers. It is stepping up to help everybody who needs help getting into work, whether or not they are on universal credit.

[Paul Davies]

Recently, Kirklees college, in partnership with Flannery Plant Hire and Kirklees council, officially launched the Kirklees operator skills hub to meet local skills demand in the construction industry. The hub, which is the fifth of its kind in the country, is a mobile unit with two virtual-reality plant machinery simulators and classroom facilities for skills bootcamps, and will open many doors for young people in my constituency. Does the Minister agree that such initiatives will help many young people into work, and help us to bring about the growth that we need in our economy?

[Alison McGovern]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. As we have said in response to a number of questions, our ministerial team know that this Government are about building the homes that we need and ensuring that the jobs in the sector go to people who will really benefit from a career in construction, and I congratulate Kirklees college and all those involved in that pioneering work. Last week I visited the UK Construction Week conference, where George Clarke talked about the fantastic opportunities in construction and the great building businesses. I say well done to everyone in my hon. Friend’s constituency who is pushing this forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Davies Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Emma Reynolds)]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, the ombudsman took six years to consider a range of complex cases, and we are looking at their complexity. I was the first Minister in six years to meet representatives of the WASPI campaign. We hope to be able to update the House in the coming weeks.

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

T5.   The work of unpaid carers is of huge value and is often heroic. A recent report by Carers UK revealed that 42% of those receiving carer’s allowance are struggling financially. I was therefore really pleased by the significant increase in carer’s allowance announced in the Budget. It is the largest increase in decades and will benefit many in my constituency. Does the Minister agree that this change will help mitigate the financial challenges that carers have faced for the past 14 years?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight that research from Carers UK. The Budget increased the earnings threshold, so people will be able to earn £10,000 a year from work and still claim carer’s allowance, and an extra 60,000 carers will become entitled to the allowance. It is a very big step forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Davies Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Blake Stephenson (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con)]

6. What steps she is taking to ensure pensioners who are eligible for but have not previously claimed pension credit receive a winter fuel payment in winter 2024-25.

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

8. What steps her Department is taking to help increase uptake of pension credit.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Emma Reynolds)]

We have been running a national campaign since September across a range of channels, including print and broadcast media, to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim, and we will continue to work with external partners, local authorities and devolved Governments to boost the take-up of pension credit.

[Emma Reynolds]

The winter fuel payment was once described as the

“largest benefit paid to pensioners…regardless of need, giving money to wealthier pensioners when working people on lower incomes do not get similar support.”

Those are not my words, but the words of the Tories’ 2017 manifesto.

[Paul Davies]

Claiming pension credit can provide pensioners with additional help for housing costs, council tax and heating bills. We all have a duty to boost pension credit uptake to ensure that low-income pensioners in all our constituencies receive the necessary support. I welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister and the Work and Pensions Secretary collaborating with local authorities and charities for the annual pension credit week of action, which took place during recess. What more can be done to ensure that low-income pensioners receive pension credit?

[Emma Reynolds]

We were pleased to see 160 local authorities respond positively to our call for action. They are working with us to drive the boost in uptake of pension credit. Apart from the national campaign that we have been running, we will bring together the administration of housing benefit and pension credit in a way that the former Government failed to do.

--- Later in debate ---

[Liz Kendall]

That is not true. The Conservative Government did not even allow the Office for Budget Responsibility to do an analysis of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget and sat on 31 publications that, under their own rules, should have been published. We published an equality analysis. The right hon. Gentleman will know that that was never done for secondary legislation when he was in government, but this Government will be open and transparent, which is what we are already doing.

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

T5. Since the election, numerous constituents have contacted me to raise concerns about the Child Maintenance Service’s inefficiency in collecting arrears payments. Can the Minister outline the measures being taken to enhance the service’s effectiveness in this area?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)]

My hon. Friend is entirely right to raise this issue. He will be pleased to know that this Government are looking to utilise new powers to obtain a liability order without recourse to the courts, reducing the time taken to secure such an order from 22 weeks to around six.