Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce sickness absence rates in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to supporting people to remain in or return to work, particularly those experiencing health-related barriers. In Surrey, this commitment is being delivered through several targeted initiatives as part of the Government’s wider Pathways to Work reforms, which aim to improve employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities.
DWP's current offer to employers includes a digital information service, www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk/ which provides tailored guidance to businesses to support employees to remain in work. This includes guidance on health disclosures and having conversations about health, plus guidance on legal obligations, including statutory sick pay and making reasonable adjustments.
Another intervention is the WorkWell pilot, which supports people both in and out of work. It provides low intensity holistic support for health and disability related barriers to employment, and a single joined up gateway to existing local work and health service provision. WorkWell is being delivered in 15 areas across England, including Surrey Heartlands. Participants get a holistic assessment, and a tailored support plan that can include employer liaison; advice on workplace adjustments; health and wellbeing support; confidential support from specialist employment and skills advisors to explore new career opportunities in Surrey; and access to local mental health or physical activity support services within seven days. Participants in Surrey can be referred through primary care hubs, Jobcentre Plus, community-based services, or they can self-refer.
Employer led occupational health services provide expert advice on fitness for work, return-to-work plans, and workplace adaptations, helping individuals remain in work and return to work after sickness absence. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care’s OH reform programme has focused on increasing access to and uptake of occupational health services.
Together, these measures form part of a broader strategy to reduce sickness absence, improve productivity, and support economic growth in Surrey and across the country.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with employers on (a) the adequacy of employer sick pay top-up schemes and (b) their role in supporting workers with long-term health conditions.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government has engaged extensively, including with employers, on the impact of our plan to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay. While employers can choose to go further than their statutory requirements and provide more financial support to their employees when they are sick, and around 60% of all employees report they are eligible for this extra support, our engagement has not included the adequacy of contractual or occupational sick pay schemes. Those who need additional financial support while off sick are able to claim more help through the welfare system such as Universal Credit, depending on their individual circumstances.
In our Get Britain Working White Paper, published November 2024, we committed support for employers to recruit, retain, and develop staff. As part of that, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead ‘Keep Britain Working’, an independent review to consider how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence.
Following the discovery publication in March 2025, Sir Charlie and the review team engaged with a broad range of stakeholders, including employers. In total there were over 500 individual submissions and over 150 meetings and events through which evidence was submitted. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver a final report with recommendations in the autumn.
The Disability Confident (DC) Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. It provides employers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face.
Officials have been discussing with stakeholders, including employers, the options for making the DC scheme criteria more robust. The Government is working towards announcing next steps for improving the scheme later this autumn
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
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 adequacy of (a) regulatory oversight and (b) consumer protection for Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS); and if she will take steps to (i) improve regulatory oversight of SSAS trustees and (ii) ensure that people who have suffered losses relating to SSAS are able to access compensation.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP officials work closely with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to ensure people’s pension savings are protected and that the regulatory regime remains fit for purpose in a changing pensions landscape.
A Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) is an occupational pension scheme typically set up by the directors of a business (often a small or family-run business) who want more control over the investment decisions relating to their pension and often the ability to invest in employer-related assets.
The Pensions Regulator regulates those SSAS which are required to register with it (only occupational pension schemes with two or more members must register with TPR). A SSAS with only one member would be exempt and is unlikely to be registered with TPR. In addition, SSASs are excepted from many pensions regulatory requirements because all the members of these schemes, through being trustees, are responsible for the decisions made. SSASs are therefore not usually eligible for Government compensation arrangements.
Unfortunately, in a few cases SSAS appear to have been misused as a means of avoiding the regulatory regime which helps ensure that members’ pensions are secure. Individuals have been encouraged to use a SSAS inappropriately. Any member who has suffered a loss in connection with a SSAS should contact the Pensions Ombudsman in the first instance.
Asked by: Lizzi Collinge (Labour - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support people in (a) physically and (b) emotionally demanding jobs who are unable to continue working in their current role into their late 60s.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions currently offers employment support for older jobseekers including those affected by low confidence, menopause, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications.
Through Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK and online, we support older people to review their health, finances and skills. We are working with key partners to develop these tools including Department of Health and Social Care, the National Health Service and the National Careers Service
The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out the Government’s approach to the employment support system to target and tackle the root causes of unemployment and inactivity and better join up health, skills and employment support based on the needs for all, including older people.
We know that employers are crucial to enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme
In recognition of employers' vital role, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the Keep Britain Working Independent Review as a part of the Government's wider white paper plans to Get Britain Working. Sir Charlie Mayfield is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions.
Sir Charlie Mayfield is expected to produce a final report with recommendations in autumn 2025.
Asked by: Lizzi Collinge (Labour - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps is she taking to support people in (a) physically and (b) emotionally demanding jobs who are unable to continue working in their current role into their late 60s.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions currently offers employment support for older jobseekers including those affected by low confidence, menopause, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications.
Through Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK and online, we support older people to review their health, finances and skills. We are working with key partners to develop these tools including Department of Health and Social Care, the National Health Service and the National Careers Service
The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out the Government’s approach to the employment support system to target and tackle the root causes of unemployment and inactivity and better join up health, skills and employment support based on the needs for all, including older people.
We know that employers are crucial to enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme
In recognition of employers' vital role, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the Keep Britain Working Independent Review as a part of the Government's wider white paper plans to Get Britain Working. Sir Charlie Mayfield is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions.
Sir Charlie Mayfield is expected to produce a final report with recommendations in autumn 2025.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people with musculoskeletal conditions to (a) find and (b) remain in work.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In our March Green Paper, we set out our Pathways to Work Guarantee, backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by 2030 and a total of £2.2 billion by over four years. Our £2.2bn Pathways to Work investment brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament. We will build towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits.
Disabled people and people with health conditions 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, including people with musculoskeletal conditions, to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers 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 also recognise that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the DWP and DHSC Joint Work & Health Directorate (JWHD) is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025. Additionally, the JWHD has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care have worked together on the 10 Year Health Plan, ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people. We will further pilot the integration of employment advisers and work coaches into the neighbourhood health service, so that working age people with long term health conditions have an integrated public service offer. A patient’s employment goals will be part of care plans, to support more joined up service provision.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the treatment of SSIP funds as savings rather than pensions by local authorities.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP does not take into account the value of a pension fund (such as a SIPP) that someone and/or their employer has paid into, this protects investments for retirement. Monies drawn from a pension fund, either as a lump-sum, a pension/annuity or both will be taken into account in means-tested benefits in the usual way. This includes where someone reaches the age for state pension credit and has chosen to continue to defer their private/occupational or state pension, in which case this may be taken into account as notional income.
How SIPPs are treated by local authorities is a matter for them and MHCLG.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to issue guidance to pension funds on reducing the proportion of their funds invested in the fossil fuel industry.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pension funds have a duty to manage investments in the best long-term interests of their members, which includes decisions concerning investments in fossil fuels. Occupational pension schemes are required to make climate-related disclosures aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Schemes should also set out their stewardship approaches to voting and engagement in the Statement of Investment Principles and Implementation Statement. Schemes voluntarily signed up to the Financial Conduct Authority’s Stewardship Code can also publish an additional Stewardship Report. TCFD reports and information about stewardship increasingly provide evidence of how schemes are managing climate risks and actively engaging with companies to reduce exposure to fossil fuels. Trustees may decide to divest from fossil fuel companies, or funds with high carbon exposure, particularly where sustained engagement efforts do not achieve satisfactory outcomes.
My Department has issued statutory guidance for trust-based schemes, which trustees must have regard to. The guidance aims to support trustees in their efforts to meet their climate reporting and governance duties. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) also provides detailed guidance to support trustees address climate-related risks and provides feedback to the industry on areas for improvement. Information from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is available to support FCA-regulated pension providers.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has considered the risks posed by (a) climate change and (b) nature destruction as factors for the Pensions Commission to take into account.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Climate Change Governance and Reporting Regulations in the UK already require trustees of larger occupational pension schemes to identify, assess, and manage climate-related risks and opportunities, and to report on these actions in a manner aligned with the Task Force Climate Related Disclosures TCFD recommendations. Regulations do not currently cover nature risks, but in line with guidance from the Pensions Regulator pension schemes should be placing greater consideration on nature-related risks, including familiarisation with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures framework.
My department is legislating through the Pensions Scheme Bill for a larger, more consolidated pensions system, which will be better equipped to manage systemic risks such as those posed by climate change and biodiversity loss, and to invest in projects and businesses that contribute to climate solutions and environmental resilience.
Separately, the Government is currently consulting on UK Sustainability Reporting Standards aligned with international sustainability standards, and Climate Transition Plans. Together these initiatives will support the UK’s net-zero goals and broader green agenda and are expected to influence the investment landscape in which pension schemes operate.
The Government has asked the Pensions Commission to examine the pensions system as a whole and look at what is required to build a future-proof pensions system that is strong, fair and sustainable.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with the Pensions Regulator on the effectiveness of the steps it is taking to ensure the independence of pensions trustee bodies.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department works closely with the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to ensure that pension scheme trustees always act in the interests of all beneficiaries.
All pension scheme trustees have the same duties and responsibilities and must comply with the law and the rules of their scheme. All pension schemes are required by legislation and the Regulator’s General Code of Practice to have processes in place to identify and manage conflicts of interest.
TPR’s corporate plan outlines the importance of good governance as a foundation of the pensions system and their priority to raise standards of trusteeship. The plan outlines their core delivery objectives in 2025 to 2026 to develop a new strategy for raising the standards of trusteeship and expand their market oversight to the largest professional trustee firms. DWP continues to regularly review TPR’s delivery against its corporate plan through its sponsorship arrangements.
The Government recognises the vital role trustees play in running occupational pension schemes and will consult on matters to improve trusteeship and governance later this year.