Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take enable older people to (i) engage with IT and (ii) learn how to use it.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is focused on building a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone. DCMS is responsible for coordinating HMG digital inclusion policy, and aims to ensure that as many people as possible, no matter their age, have a base level of digital skills, as well as internet access.
The cross-cutting nature of digital inclusion means that relevant policies and levers sit across multiple government departments. Rather than setting out a standalone strategy for digital inclusion, DCMS works with the rest of government to ensure departments take digitally excluded people into consideration when delivering public services.
To improve access to digital skills, the government has introduced a digital entitlement for adults with no or low digital skills. This allows older people wishing to acquire essential digital skills to gain specified digital qualifications, up to level 1, free of charge. Essential Digital Skills Qualifications (EDSQs), introduced alongside the digital entitlement, are based on new national standards which set out the digital skills people need to get on in life and work. We also support the provision of essential digital skills training in community settings through the Adult Education Budget.
Public libraries play an important role in tackling digital exclusion. Around 2,900 public libraries in England provide a trusted network of accessible locations with staff, volunteers, free wifi, public PCs, and assisted digital access to a wide range of digital services. Volunteers and library staff have been trained in digital skills so that they can provide library users with support in using digital applications and services.
Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, it falls to local authorities to deliver a comprehensive and efficient library provision that meets local needs. It is not for the department to require the precise provision of library services. The provision of portable devices to lend is something library services are increasingly delivering. We know that at least a quarter of library services in England already provide portable electronic devices for loan, generally targeted at those more likely to be digitally disadvantaged.
Help is available for low income households to access broadband, mobile and landline services. A range of low-cost social tariffs are available to those on Universal Credit, and a number specifically include individuals on Pension Credit. These tariffs are available to eligible households in 99% of the UK. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has a statutory duty to review the affordability of telecommunication services, and we continue to work closely with Ofcom to monitor the market.
We understand that some older people are also hesitant to access online services because they fear that they may become victims of fraud, or that it is an unsafe environment for their personal data. For this reason, we are taking a number of steps to improve the safety and trustworthiness of the online space, including:
Increasing online safety by introducing the Online Safety Bill to Parliament, which sets new rules for firms which host user-generated content, and focuses on protecting people from online scams.
Enabling the widespread use of secure and accessible digital identity solutions that meet the needs of all those who wish to use them, by setting standards, establishing governance, removing legislative blockers, and engaging with industry and civil society groups.
There are currently no plans to introduce an e-cycle scheme for IT equipment, or commission an app for older people. We are aware that for older people with disabilities, poor design of apps or websites can be a significant barrier to online access. The Central Digital and Data Office monitors compliance with the regulations for the accessibility of public sector websites. Charities such as Age UK and AbilityNet play an important role in assisting people with access to technology and the internet.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she will develop a strategy to increase digital inclusion for older people.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is focused on building a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone. DCMS is responsible for coordinating HMG digital inclusion policy, and aims to ensure that as many people as possible, no matter their age, have a base level of digital skills, as well as internet access.
The cross-cutting nature of digital inclusion means that relevant policies and levers sit across multiple government departments. Rather than setting out a standalone strategy for digital inclusion, DCMS works with the rest of government to ensure departments take digitally excluded people into consideration when delivering public services.
To improve access to digital skills, the government has introduced a digital entitlement for adults with no or low digital skills. This allows older people wishing to acquire essential digital skills to gain specified digital qualifications, up to level 1, free of charge. Essential Digital Skills Qualifications (EDSQs), introduced alongside the digital entitlement, are based on new national standards which set out the digital skills people need to get on in life and work. We also support the provision of essential digital skills training in community settings through the Adult Education Budget.
Public libraries play an important role in tackling digital exclusion. Around 2,900 public libraries in England provide a trusted network of accessible locations with staff, volunteers, free wifi, public PCs, and assisted digital access to a wide range of digital services. Volunteers and library staff have been trained in digital skills so that they can provide library users with support in using digital applications and services.
Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, it falls to local authorities to deliver a comprehensive and efficient library provision that meets local needs. It is not for the department to require the precise provision of library services. The provision of portable devices to lend is something library services are increasingly delivering. We know that at least a quarter of library services in England already provide portable electronic devices for loan, generally targeted at those more likely to be digitally disadvantaged.
Help is available for low income households to access broadband, mobile and landline services. A range of low-cost social tariffs are available to those on Universal Credit, and a number specifically include individuals on Pension Credit. These tariffs are available to eligible households in 99% of the UK. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has a statutory duty to review the affordability of telecommunication services, and we continue to work closely with Ofcom to monitor the market.
We understand that some older people are also hesitant to access online services because they fear that they may become victims of fraud, or that it is an unsafe environment for their personal data. For this reason, we are taking a number of steps to improve the safety and trustworthiness of the online space, including:
Increasing online safety by introducing the Online Safety Bill to Parliament, which sets new rules for firms which host user-generated content, and focuses on protecting people from online scams.
Enabling the widespread use of secure and accessible digital identity solutions that meet the needs of all those who wish to use them, by setting standards, establishing governance, removing legislative blockers, and engaging with industry and civil society groups.
There are currently no plans to introduce an e-cycle scheme for IT equipment, or commission an app for older people. We are aware that for older people with disabilities, poor design of apps or websites can be a significant barrier to online access. The Central Digital and Data Office monitors compliance with the regulations for the accessibility of public sector websites. Charities such as Age UK and AbilityNet play an important role in assisting people with access to technology and the internet.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle online financial fraud.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Online fraud is a devastating and pernicious crime can cause devastating financial and emotional harm to victims. The Government has been working with partners in the public and private sectors to keep the public safe and bring these fraudsters to justice.
We have introduced the Online Safety Bill, which will tackle online fraud and fraudulent advertising. Fraud is included as priority offence on the face of the Bill. This means that companies will have to take robust, proactive action to ensure that user-generated fraud is not readily published or exposed to users on their platforms. The Online Safety Bill also contains a fraudulent advertising duty covering Category 1 & 2A companies (user-to-user services with the highest reach and search functions). These duties will have significant impact on some of the highest harm fraud types, including romance, pension and investment frauds.
DCMS is also leading work on developing the Online Advertising Programme, which will be considering further regulation of online advertising which will also help to reduce online fraud.
We have also been working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre who launched their Suspicious Email Reporting Service in April 2020. This has already led to over 11 million reports received and the removal of over 78,000 scams and 144,000 harmful websites to date. We continue to encourage the public to report fraud to Action Fraud and to forward any suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and suspicious texts to 7726, free of charge.
Industry have been working hard on tackling the threat of online fraud, including through the Online Fraud Steering Group (OFSG), which is a public-private group co-chaired by the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), UK Finance and Tech UK.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the announcement of 8 November 2021 on preventing pension scams, what estimate she has made of the impact on the number of referrals to MoneyHelper for mandatory guidance once the new rules come into force; and whether additional resources have been allocated to MoneyHelper for that purpose.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The legislation will fully come into force on the 30 November. We anticipate that accurate data will become available after this point. It is the Departments intention to monitor the volumes of referrals to MoneyHelper and include this in the review of the regulations I have committed to carry out within 18 months of them coming into force having worked closely with the Money and Pension Service.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the cost of transferring (a) workplace and (b) personal pensions overseas through a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS).
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the same way as transfers to UK pension schemes, a transfer to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) is covered by the requirement to take regulated financial advice if transferring more than £30,000 from a Defined Benefit scheme. This cost is a commercial matter for the firms and financial advisors who are subject to Financial Conduct Authority authorisation to conduct this activity, and who choose to provide the service.
A transfer to a QROPS may also be subject to the overseas transfer charge (OTC). This is not a cost of transferring, it was introduced to limit the opportunities for tax avoidance so that the generous tax regimes of the UK and the tax rules of other countries cannot be manipulated to provide more relief than was intended. Whilst the Government keeps all policy under review there are no plans to make any changes to the overseas transfer charge at this time.
Transfers to overseas schemes have been connected to pension scams in recent years and this is why HMRC requirements around QROPS were tightened in 2017. My department has been working alongside the FCA on regulations in relation to pension transfers, which aim to facilitate transfers to legitimate schemes while preventing transfers to scams.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) which, regulatory bodies are responsible for the criminal prosecution of fraud; how many successful prosecutions for fraud have been secured as a result of actions taken by each of these bodies since 2010; and what penalties have been imposed following each of these prosecutions.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Due to the nature of fraud, it can be committed in a variety of ways against organisations and individuals. As such, we do not hold a record of all regulators that may be involved with the criminal prosecution of fraud. The Government set out its plans for tackling fraud in the joint public and private sector Economic Crime Plan (2019-22), which was published in July 2019. Further information, including a list of organisations involved in the development of it, can be found here: Economic Crime Plan, 2019 to 2022, accessible version - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The number of convictions involving pension scams is not centrally held in the court proceedings database as this specific offence is not separately identified in legislation. Identifying this offence separately would require a manual search of court records, incurring disproportionate costs.
The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions, convictions and outcomes for fraud offences, that will include pensions scams, amongst other offences.
The numbers of prosecutions, convictions and outcomes for fraud offences have been provided in the attached table. These figures were taken from the following published data tool:
The Court Proceedings database does not include the responsible regulatory body bringing the prosecution.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) convictions, and (2) criminal penalties, there were for pension scams in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Due to the nature of fraud, it can be committed in a variety of ways against organisations and individuals. As such, we do not hold a record of all regulators that may be involved with the criminal prosecution of fraud. The Government set out its plans for tackling fraud in the joint public and private sector Economic Crime Plan (2019-22), which was published in July 2019. Further information, including a list of organisations involved in the development of it, can be found here: Economic Crime Plan, 2019 to 2022, accessible version - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The number of convictions involving pension scams is not centrally held in the court proceedings database as this specific offence is not separately identified in legislation. Identifying this offence separately would require a manual search of court records, incurring disproportionate costs.
The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions, convictions and outcomes for fraud offences, that will include pensions scams, amongst other offences.
The numbers of prosecutions, convictions and outcomes for fraud offences have been provided in the attached table. These figures were taken from the following published data tool:
The Court Proceedings database does not include the responsible regulatory body bringing the prosecution.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what changes HMRC made to the process for registering occupational pension schemes in (a) 2006 and (b) 2014; and what the reasons were for those changes .
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HMRC is responsible for registering pension schemes where they wish to benefit from the tax reliefs available to pensions.
As a result of pension tax simplification, pension scheme registration was moved to a new online digital system in 2006.
As part of a wider government response to concerns surrounding pension scams, in 2014 legislation was introduced to enable HMRC to refuse registration where the scheme administrators were not considered to be fit and proper.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) convictions have been secured, and (2) penalties awarded, for pension scams for each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps she has taken to strengthen protections for pension savers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to safeguarding pension savings.
Many pension scams are initiated and perpetuated online, and that is why I am meeting with Google on 10 March to explore what action is being taken against online pension fraud
and persuade them to stop fraudsters using their site.