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Written Question
Maternity Allowance and Maternity Pay: Cost of Living
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to increase (a) maternity pay and (b) maternity allowance, in the context of the cost-of-living crisis.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is currently conducting his statutory annual review of State Pensions and benefit rates. The outcome of that review will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Terminal Illnesses: Cost of Living
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support people with terminal illnesses during the period of increases to the cost of living.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Government wants to do all it can to alleviate the pressures on those nearing the end of their lives, and on their families.

The main way that the department does this is through special benefit rules, sometimes referred to as “the Special Rules”. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.

Furthermore, the Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so, from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year, which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Also included in the £37bn is a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people who are receiving additional-needs disability benefits, and up to £650 in cost of living payments (paid in two separate payments of £326 and £324) for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit.

Pensioner households entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment will receive a pensioner Cost of Living Payment this winter of £300 per household. This will be paid as a top up to their Winter Fuel Payment and payments will be increased to £500 for a household with someone of State Pension age and £600 for a household with someone aged 80 or over.


Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: Cost of Living Payments
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend eligibility for the £650 Cost of Living payment to people in receipt of Contributory Employment and Support Allowance.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Cost of Living Payment is being targeted at low income households who are in receipt of a means-tested income replacement benefit. Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance is a non-means tested benefit. Non-means tested benefits are not qualifying benefits for the Cost of Living Payment in their own right because people receiving these benefits may have other financial resources available to them. We have no plans to change the current eligibility criteria.

This payment comes on top of extensive Government support with the cost of living, including six million disabled people having been paid a separate £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.

These payments are part of the Government’s £15bn package of support and sit alongside:

  • a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment to anyone entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023;
  • the extension of the Household Support Fund with an additional £421 million to support households in England with the cost of essentials;
  • a £150 Council Tax rebate sent earlier this year to those in Council Tax bands A-D in England, creating a total of at least £1,200 in direct support for millions;
  • a £400 reduction on energy bills given to all domestic electricity customers over the coming months, and the Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year.

The guidance with the full list of support can be found at:

Overall government support for the cost of living: factsheet - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Universal Credit: Young People
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason there is a lower rate of Universal Credit for people under the age of 25; what recent assessment her Department has made of the difference between (a) average costs incurred by and (b) Universal Credit entitlement for people (i) under and (ii) over the age of 25; what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the lower rate of Universal Credit on (A) homelessness and (B) poverty; and whether her Department plans to take steps to equalise the rates of Universal Credit.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

No such assessment has been made.

Universal Credit provides those who are under 25 with lower rates than those over the age of 25. This is to reflect the fact that these claimants are more likely to live in someone else’s household and have lower living costs. It also reflects the lower wages that younger workers typically receive. However, it is acknowledged that some claimants under 25 do live independently and all claimants have different needs. This is why Universal Credit includes separate elements to provide support to claimants towards additional costs, such as housing costs.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad
Tuesday 27th September 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

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 impact of the freeze on the state pensions of people living abroad on levels of poverty amongst those people.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

DWP does not make such an assessment. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. Entitlement is based on an individual’s National Insurance record. The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions overseas is long-standing and has been supported by successive post-war Governments for over 70 years. We continue to up-rate UK State Pensions abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating. There are no plans to change this policy.

This Government continues to take the view that priority should be given to those living in the UK when drawing up expenditure plans for pensioner benefits.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: Females
Wednesday 21st September 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age, whether the Government plans to offer compensation to those affected by the change.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent, and it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage as the investigation is ongoing.

Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.


Written Question
National Insurance Contributions: State Retirement Pensions
Monday 5th September 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

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 the increase in the National Insurance contribution threshold on eligibility for the State Pension; and what steps his Department is taking to mitigate any consequent loss of entitlement.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Although the Primary Threshold [PT] at which an employee starts paying National Insurance has increased to £242 per week, the Lower Earnings Limit [LEL] has remained at £123 per week for 2022/23. People will build a qualifying year for their State Pension if their earnings from a single job are at or above £6396 per year [52 times the LEL]. This in effect provides for a zero-rate band between the LEL and the PT where individuals are treated as having paid NI contributions for benefit entitlement purposes.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Older People
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason (a) people over the state pension age who wish to claim Personal Independence Payments (PIP) rather than Attendance Allowance (AA) are not entitled to do so and (b) AA does not include a mobility component as PIP does; and if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people over the state pension age to claim PIP.

Answered by Chloe Smith

The aim of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is to focus additional help with the extra costs of disability on people who become severely disabled earlier in life and who, as a consequence, face limited opportunities to work, earn and save compared with other people. Once PIP has been awarded, and subject to the conditions of entitlement continuing to be met, it can continue in payment after reaching State Pension age (SPa), including the mobility component where that was awarded prior to SPa.

Attendance Allowance (AA) does not include a mobility component. It is normal for social security schemes to contain different provisions for people at different stages of their lives, which reflect varying priorities and circumstances. The rules for AA recognise that developing mobility needs is a common and foreseeable feature of the ageing process.

We have no plans to review these rules.


Written Question
Industrial Health and Safety: Pregnancy
Thursday 24th February 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

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 implications for its policies of the recommendations of the December 2021 Maternity Action report, Unsafe and Unsupported, on workplace health and safety for pregnant women during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Chloe Smith

No assessment has been made.

  • The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance to employers on managing risk and how to complete a risk assessment for their business. This guidance includes examples of common risks faced by new and expectant mothers. It also explains what to do if significant risks cannot be controlled.

  • HSE is working with unions and industry groups to ensure this guidance is up to date.


Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: Coventry South
Friday 21st January 2022

Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been affected by the underpayment of social security payments after transitioning from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance in Coventry South constituency.

Answered by Chloe Smith

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19th January to question number 104377.