Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Torsten Bell and Catherine Atkinson(3 days, 16 hours ago)
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The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Torsten Bell)
The hon. Lady is right to highlight the question of pensioners’ living standards, and we are taking action right the way across the board to deal with that. She will have seen the increases in the state pension in April. We have seen nearly 60,000 extra awards for pension credit over the course of the year since last July, compared with the year previously. On her question about pre-1997 indexation, this issue was recently discussed at the Work and Pensions Committee, and we have set out our response to that Committee’s report.
Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)
Backing Rolls-Royce, a brilliant Derby business, to deliver small modular reactors with £2.5 billion of investment shows what Labour’s new industrial strategy is about—backing British business, creating more skilled jobs and delivering clean, secure energy. Does the Chancellor agree that, after years of chaos under the Conservatives, Britain is unashamedly open for business?
Winter Fuel Payment
Debate between Torsten Bell and Catherine Atkinson(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Torsten Bell
What this Government are doing is sorting out the mess in the public finances left by the Conservative party, and not repeating its irresponsibility. All Opposition parties oppose all of the tax rises set out in the autumn Budget, yet claim that they support the spending on the NHS and on pensioners—they cannot have it both ways. The party of Liz Truss has not learned its lesson.
Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)
No one I have spoken to in Derby thinks that millionaires should be receiving the winter fuel allowance, but many will welcome the lifting of the threshold so that more people receive it. Does the Minister agree that this shows the Government listening; it shows money being targeted at where it is needed; and it shows what can be done with a stable economy?
Torsten Bell
My hon. Friend is completely right. As I say, we have set the threshold at a level that means that the vast majority of pensioners—not just in her constituency, but right across England and Wales—will receive support in the coming winter. Importantly, we are announcing the threshold now, to make sure those payments can be made in time for this winter.