Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling women affected by the Pensions Acts 1995 and 2011 to take up their state pension early in lieu of support under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Self-employed Income Support Scheme, universal credit and other support schemes.

No assessment has been made. Unlike a personal or workplace pension, which can potentially be drawn earlier on grounds of ill health, it has always been the case, under successive governments, that nobody can claim their State Pension early, before they reach their State Pension age. The welfare system continues to provide a safety-net for those who need support, that have not yet reached State Pension age.