Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what forms of remuneration other than employer pension contributions his Department expects employers to offer in response to the £2,000 cap on salary-sacrificed pension contributions.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions on remuneration packages are a matter for individual employers. The Office for Budget Responsibility's certified costing accounts for a range of possible employer behavioural responses to the reform.
Employer pension contributions made outside salary sacrifice will remain exempt from employer National Insurance contributions.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency expects to publish its research comparing the risk of meningioma associated with Depo-Provera and other contraceptives.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) expects to complete its review of the risk of meningioma associated with Depo-Provera and other contraceptives using data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in June 2028. The MHRA will seek to publish the findings in peer-reviewed journals once the analysis is complete.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the reduction in the value at State Pension age of the average employee’s pension savings as a result of automatic enrolment beginning at 22 rather than 18.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The current minimum age eligibility for Automatic Enrolment is 22 years old. An Impact Assessment was produced for the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) 2023 Act which outlines the impact of reducing the age eligibility to 18 years old, available here: Impact Assessment.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the £58 million of Equitable Life Payment Scheme payments that could not be issued to untraced policyholders has been returned to the Exchequer.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Liberal Democrat Conservative coalition government chose to allocate £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme, which included a contingency of £100 million.
Significant efforts were made to identify and trace eligible policyholders and payments to them began in June 2011.
At 30 September, the total value of payments stood at £1.3957 bn, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £100 million contingency for Equitable Life With-Profits Annuitants has been drawn on to date.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Liberal Democrat Conservative coalition government chose to allocate £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme, which included a contingency of £100 million.
Significant efforts were made to identify and trace eligible policyholders and payments to them began in June 2011.
At 30 September, the total value of payments stood at £1.3957 bn, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the reduction in the value at State Pension age of the pension savings of an employee affected by the £2,000 salary sacrifice cap.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government has not made an estimate of the reduction in pension savings at State Pension age for an individual affected by the £2,000 salary sacrifice cap.
The impact on an individual’s pension savings will depend on their circumstances, including their age, earnings, pension contributions, investment returns and how they and their employer respond to the change.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has published information on the methodology and assumptions underpinning the costing of the measure.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the total additional National Insurance an employee affected by the £2,000 salary sacrifice cap will pay by State Pension age and (b) the investment growth that sum would have earned if saved in a pension.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government has not made an estimate of the reduction in pension savings at State Pension age for an individual affected by the £2,000 salary sacrifice cap.
The impact on an individual’s pension savings will depend on their circumstances, including their age, earnings, pension contributions, investment returns and how they and their employer respond to the change.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has published information on the methodology and assumptions underpinning the costing of the measure.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to provide the national co-ordinating body for the Istanbul Convention with its own budget and staff.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office leads the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. There are no current plans to establish a separate co-ordinating body with its own budget and staff.
The Home Office works across government and with Devolved Governments to support the UK's implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The Government is considering GREVIO’s recommendations and will continue to engage with devolved partners to respond to GREVIO’s baseline report.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency plans to examine the impact of Depo-Provera use on trends in meningioma diagnoses.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 9 September in response to Question 21794.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade on the potential impact of the proposed reduction in the maximum permitted noise level for consumer fireworks on animal welfare.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra ministers regularly engage with their counterparts across Government and have met ministers at the department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) to discuss firework policy. Defra will continue to engage with BIST following the consultation on fireworks and pyrotechnics in the UK.