Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 State Pension.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Our system of state, private, and workplace pensions provides the basis for security in retirement. Our commitment to increase the State Pension by the Triple Lock is helping both today’s pensioners and the pensioners of tomorrow. Over the course of this Parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,900.
Together, the new State Pension and Automatic Enrolment provide a robust system for retirement. Those on low incomes are supported by Pension Credit which continues to provide a safety net.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of disregarding military compensation payments when calculating pension credit eligibility and awards.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The first £10 of any War Pension payment or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded in Pension Credit. Income is calculated on a weekly basis, so the disregard is £10 per week.
Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her / his partner.
War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016.
Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount.
In this respect, compensation payments made to veterans are treated more favourably than others who have received comparable compensation payments.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 level of PIP to support disabled people with the extra cost of disability.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution to the extra costs that may arise from a disability or health condition. There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of PIP should be, as everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities. DWP pays close attention to estimates of the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019.
In order to improve the evidence in this area, DWP is now undertaking a new survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability related needs. This project has a methodological advisory group including representatives of disabled people’s organisations, disability charities and academic experts. It is expected to produce findings in Summer 2025.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of an enhanced financial support package for care leavers aged 18 to 25.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We understand the challenges care leavers face and that is why the department continues to provide additional dedicated support through a series of safeguards and easements aimed at simplifying their interaction with the benefit system.
This includes support with preparing applications for Universal Credit when approaching their 18th birthday, an exemption from the Shared Accommodation Rate until their 25th birthday, and, for those aged 18-21, access to Universal Credit and housing support if they wish to take up full-time study in non-advanced education.
More widely, the Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will include bespoke support for unemployed care leavers in the Youth Guarantee.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and are working closely with Department for Education to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities, and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression.
Under the new Youth Guarantee, all young people between 18-21 years will be able to access support to enter employment, education and training opportunities. This includes Care Leavers who we know are more likely than their peers to not be in education, employment or training and may benefit from more tailored support to support their transition as they leave the care provided by their Local Authority.
We are working closely with the Department for Education on the design of the Youth Guarantee, which is in the early stages of development. The Autumn Budget announced that we will establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment, education or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. Further details will be set out the up-coming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support British pensioners residing overseas.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, based on a person’s National Insurance record, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
People move abroad for many reasons and may have access to their host country’s benefit system or other sources of income such as an occupational pension.
Information about the impact on State Pensions of moving abroad is available on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she an estimate of the cost of providing all care leavers in England with the over 25 rate of Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such estimate has been made.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of benefits sanctions on children in the households of those sanctioned.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is a key priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce has already started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025 and will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of benefit sanctions on children in the households of those that have been sanctioned.
The Department records information on the number of children living in Universal Credit (UC) households as part of the official Universal Credit Statistics. The Department also records information on the number of people on UC who have received a sanction as part of the official Benefit Sanctions Statistics. These statistics are produced using different methodologies, therefore information on the number of children living in households subject to a UC sanction is not readily available.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 impact of the stronger nudge to pensions guidance on Pension Wise guidance usage by pension savers.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Stronger Nudge to pension guidance regulations were introduced in June 2022. In the year following this (June 2022 to May 2023) around 124,000 Pension Wise appointments were attended, and in the subsequent year (June 2023 to May 2024) around 119,000 appointments were attended. These figures represent a 14% and 9% increase, respectively, on the number of appointments prior to the introduction of the regulations.
Overall, Stronger Nudge has accounted for around 16% of attended Pension Wise appointments between June 2022 and October 2024, according to unpublished data from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).
Increases in Pension Wise uptake cannot be solely attributed to the Stronger Nudge regulations. The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with MaPS to understand what pensions guidance people are using and to help people get the right guidance at the right time, with further support available through multiple channels.
Depending on individual circumstances, these channels may direct people, through triaging, to Pension Wise (delivered by MaPS) or may help them decide Pension Wise is not appropriate for them at that time. For example, in the 2023/24 financial year, 258,000 people accessed the more holistic Money Helper pensions guidance (also delivered by MaPS). This is a 13% increase from 2022/23.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the over-25 rate of universal credit to care leavers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government supports care leavers by offering a series of safeguards and easements aimed at simplifying and improving their interaction with the benefit system. This includes single care leavers qualifying for the more generous one-bedroom Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate until their 25th birthday.
The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit. Details of the review will be set out in due course.