Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Webb and Baroness Burt of Solihull

Monday 24th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

6. What steps he has taken to help those reaching retirement age before the introduction of the single-tier pension.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb)]

For those who will reach pension age before the introduction of the new state pension, we have introduced a new class of national insurance contributions, which will allow those pensioners the opportunity to increase their state pension in retirement. More details of the scheme will be announced later this year.

[Lorely Burt]

I am grateful for that answer and it is extremely encouraging. Can my hon. Friend the Minister say what the Government have done to ensure that pensioners in my constituency are able to manage the cost of living rises in this Parliament?

[Steve Webb]

As my hon. Friend knows, the manifesto on which she and I stood proposed a triple lock, which was implemented by this coalition Government. It means that each year the pension will rise by the highest of the growth in average earnings or prices or by 2.5%, so the state pension is now a higher share of national average earnings than at any time in more than 20 years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Webb and Baroness Burt of Solihull

Monday 5th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

8. What steps he is taking to protect members of pension schemes from being incentivised to transfer their pensions.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb)]

The Government have worked closely with the pensions industry to address concerns regarding incentive exercises. As a result, an industry code of practice was published in June, which we fully support. A monitoring board has been established to evaluate the effectiveness of the code.

[Lorely Burt]

I am grateful for that answer. Can my hon. Friend provide evidence on the number of companies that have signed up to the code of practice? Is it achieving its objectives?

[Steve Webb]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that. The industry’s response to the code has been very encouraging. Some 49 individual firms and, perhaps more importantly, 14 representative organisations have publicly signed up to support the code, and the figures are growing. The supporters include the major employee benefit consultancies engaged in these exercises and their representative organisations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Webb and Baroness Burt of Solihull

Monday 13th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

13. What assessment he has made of the effects on women born between 6 March and 5 April 1954 of his proposals to increase the state pension age.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb)]

Our proposed changes will equalise women’s pension age with men’s more rapidly than previously planned. Under the Government’s proposals, women born on 6 March 1954 will have a pension age of 66 and those born between 7 March and 5 April 1954 will have a pension age of up to a month less.

[Lorely Burt]

I highlight the plight of 33,000 women born in one month in 1954 who will be the worst affected under the pension retirement rules. In total, 500,000 women will be affected by one year or more than expected. When they get their pensions, they will be a lot better off than they would have ever been under the Labour party, but what can we do for women in this particular group, who will have to wait an additional two years for their pension?

[Steve Webb]

My hon. Friend raised this important issue, I think, in last Wednesday’s debate when we were startled when she declared an interest in the question. Were we to address the concerns of that group of 33,000 women, we would find that women born one month before or after—who might be affected by a few months less, but still significantly—would ask for a change as well. The short answer is that to delay the whole thing till 2020, as some have suggested, would require an additional £10 billion to be found. She will understand why that is not possible.