Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Department for Education on assessing the potential impact of reducing assistive technology support during higher education on disabled people’s employment outcomes.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions maintains regular dialogue with the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure disabled students are supported as they transition into the labour market. Assistive and accessible technology (ATech) is key to enabling independence, greater inclusion, and participation for disabled people. While this technology is already creating opportunities, this government believes there is potential to do much more.
The Access to Work Scheme has been operating in Great Britain since June 1994 and provides grant funding to disabled people, as well as those with a health condition. The grant supports workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. The grant cap was increased in April 2024 to £69,920. To further support sustainable employment, the DWP is also investing in the “Connect to Work” initiative, which is expected to support around 100,000 disabled people and those with health conditions in 2026/2027.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants for (a) new Access to Work awards and (b) the renewal of existing awards who undertook holistic workplace assessments received support in line with the recommendations of those assessments in each of the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold data on how many applicants for (a) new Access to Work awards and (b) the renewal of existing awards who undertook holistic workplace assessments received support in line with the recommendations of those assessments in each of the last three years. Determining this information would require manually reviewing individual applications which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what resources he has allocated to help ensure the timely and efficient processing of the 86,000 cases inherited by Capita from My CSP.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December.
The issues and delays facing some civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.
In response, we have set up a dedicated a surge team of 150 staff to work alongside the 500 Capita staff to clear the backlog. There is an agreed recovery plan in place that prioritises the most urgent cases including bereavements, ill health and hardship cases and has clear timelines and targets for full-service restoration for all members.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are putting in place direct support for people facing delays in their first payments. We are also actively working with all partners to ensure affected members do not suffer permanent financial loss as a result of this issue.
The Cabinet Office has set out arrangements whereby employing departments are able to make interest-free hardship loans to those who are waiting for their pension benefits.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people with disabilities into work in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
DEAs in the Jobcentres supporting the constituency deliver in-depth Work Ability conversations, focusing on strengths, suitable work options, workplace adjustments and confidence building. Additionally, part of the constituency is served by the WorkWell West pilot in the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversee the Disability Confident Scheme and continue to increase access to Occupational Health. Bath Jobcentre organised a Disability Confident job fair which was held at the Guildhall in October with Disability Confident employers, further job fairs targeting disabled people are currently in planning.
In recognition of employers’ vital role in addressing health-related economic activity, we appointed Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the independent Keep Britain Working Review. The Report was published on 5 November. In partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Health and Social Care, we are rapidly designing the Vanguard phase to test new employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in work and develop a Healthy Workplace Standard, putting Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) the introduction of a compensation scheme to support those facing financial hardship as a result of the delays in administering pensions and lump sums and (b) the prioritising of hardship cases including unpaid retirees, people retiring imminently, ill-health retirement cases and bereavement cases.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December.
The issues and delays facing some civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.
In response, we have set up a dedicated a surge team of 150 staff to work alongside the 500 Capita staff to clear the backlog. There is an agreed recovery plan in place that prioritises the most urgent cases including bereavements, ill health and hardship cases and has clear timelines and targets for full-service restoration for all members.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are putting in place direct support for people facing delays in their first payments. We are also actively working with all partners to ensure affected members do not suffer permanent financial loss as a result of this issue.
The Cabinet Office has set out arrangements whereby employing departments are able to make interest-free hardship loans to those who are waiting for their pension benefits.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of workplace financial wellbeing companies on financial inclusion.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that employers can play an important role in supporting the financial wellbeing of their employees. The Financial Inclusion Strategy seeks to support employers who want to build the financial resilience of their workforce.
Payroll savings schemes are identified in the Strategy as a specific, impactful step employers can take to achieve this goal. The Strategy outlines the Government’s work with the Financial Conduct Authority to provide greater regulatory clarity to employers, so they can offer these schemes with confidence. The Money and Pensions Service is also working with Nest Insight and The Investing and Savings Alliance on the launch of a National Coalition of Employers to encourage uptake among firms.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of compensation for the loss of inflation protection for benefits accrued before 1997 for past members of the AEA Technology pension scheme who were transferred out of the public sector scheme in 1996.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise the challenges members of the AEA Technology pension scheme face and are directly tackling the point you raise about the loss of inflation protection. The Chancellor announced at the Budget that this Government will introduce annual increases on compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme that relate to pensions built up before 6 April 1997. These will be Consumer Prices Index-linked (capped at 2.5%) and apply prospectively (i.e. to payments going forward) for members whose former schemes provided for these increases.
I am pleased to confirm that past members of the AEA Technology pension scheme with pre-97 accrual will benefit from this measure.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure preserved Armed Forces Pension benefits are claimed.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence continues to conduct tracing exercises 60 working days after the pension due date to establish the member's address and invite them to claim; we continue to explore additional mechanisms to identify individuals who qualify for an unclaimed deferred pension.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of people facing financial difficulties due to the time taken to issue Teachers' Superannuation Scheme statements for teachers pensions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Recalculating benefits for retired members is a complex process. The teachers’ pension scheme (TPS) has around 590,000 members affected by transitional protection, 142,000 of which are rectification members. For those members retiring, these cases are relatively straightforward as no benefits are already in payment. For retired members, additional complications around tax, interest rules and system functionality required extensive consultation.
Capita, as the scheme administrator, keeps affected members informed of revised timelines through established channels, including My Pension Online and its website. The latest update is available here: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/public-news/2025/11/timeline-for-sending-out-remediable-service-statements-rss.aspx.
As responsibility for this work transitions to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as the new scheme administrator of the TPS in summer 2026, the department is working with TCS to finalise the timeline for issuing all remediable service statements. Once the timeline is confirmed, it will be communicated to all affected scheme members.
This is a high priority for the department, and officials continue to closely monitor progress and work with Capita to streamline processes and introduce automation where possible. Original pension benefits continue to be paid for retired members, and any pension adjustments arising from members’ choices will be backdated with interest to ensure members are not financially disadvantaged.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of people in receipt of a teachers pension impacted by the length of time taken to issue Teachers' Superannuation Scheme statements.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Recalculating benefits for retired members is a complex process. The teachers’ pension scheme (TPS) has around 590,000 members affected by transitional protection, 142,000 of which are rectification members. For those members retiring, these cases are relatively straightforward as no benefits are already in payment. For retired members, additional complications around tax, interest rules and system functionality required extensive consultation.
Capita, as the scheme administrator, keeps affected members informed of revised timelines through established channels, including My Pension Online and its website. The latest update is available here: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/public-news/2025/11/timeline-for-sending-out-remediable-service-statements-rss.aspx.
As responsibility for this work transitions to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as the new scheme administrator of the TPS in summer 2026, the department is working with TCS to finalise the timeline for issuing all remediable service statements. Once the timeline is confirmed, it will be communicated to all affected scheme members.
This is a high priority for the department, and officials continue to closely monitor progress and work with Capita to streamline processes and introduce automation where possible. Original pension benefits continue to be paid for retired members, and any pension adjustments arising from members’ choices will be backdated with interest to ensure members are not financially disadvantaged.