Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 women affected by changes to the state pension age with the cost of living.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support in retirement. Last year the State Pension saw its biggest ever cash rise, increasing by 10.1%. From April, the basic and new State Pensions will increase by 8.5%, in line with the Triple Lock.
The Government is delivering a comprehensive package of support to help those aged 50 and over to remain in and return to work. We are also committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement, through the welfare benefits system. Support is available to those who are unable to work or are on a low income but are not eligible for pensioner benefits because of their age.
In addition, the government has provided support from 2022-23 to 2023-2024 to help households with the cost of living totalling £96 billion. We are providing further support for 24/25, including uprating working age benefits by 6.7%, raising the National Living Wage and uplifting Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of local rents which will benefit 1.6 million private renters by, on average, £800 a year.
The government is also providing an additional £500m to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund, including funding for the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive an additional £421m to support those in need locally through the Household Support Fund. This will enable further targeted support for people who require assistance to get back to a stable financial position as inflation continues to fall.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 ensure support schemes keep pace with inflation.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. Most of these will increase by 6.7% from April 2024, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2023. The basic State Pension, full rate of the new State Pension and Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by 8.5%, in line with the growth in average weekly earning in the year to May-July 2023. The increase to all these State Pensions and benefits in April 2023 was 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022 and the Government’s manifesto commitment to the triple lock for the new and basic State Pensions.
The Government will also be investing £1.2 billion restoring Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This significant investment will ensure 1.6 million low-income private renters will gain on average, nearly £800 per year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25.
From April 2024, the National Living Wage is set to increase by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour. This represents an increase of over £1,800 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage and is expected to benefit over 2.7 million low-paid workers. The equivalent increase in April 2023 was 9.7%.
The Government understand the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. This commitment is demonstrated by the package of additional support for the most vulnerable provided by one of the largest support packages in Europe. This includes the current Household Support Fund, which is worth £842 million and runs until 31 March 2024 in England. The Devolved Administrations receive Barnett Formula funding as a result of this, bringing the total investment to £1 billion.
Taken together, including the measures outlined above, support to households to help with the high cost of living in total amounts to £104 billion over the period 2022/23 to 2024/25.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 recipients of the Financial Assistance Scheme with the cost of living.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to take action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty, including those who are receiving payments from Financial Assistance Scheme. This includes measures such as:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help tackle pensioner poverty.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2021/22, there were 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10. The Government remains committed to ensuring that older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of financial support for today’s older people and for retirement saving by younger people.
From April 2024, subject to parliamentary approval, the basic and new State Pensions and Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee will be up-rated by 8.5%, in line with earnings growth, benefiting over 12.2 million pensioners. This delivers on the Government’s ‘triple lock’ commitment to increase these rates in line with the highest of growth in prices, growth in earnings or 2.5%. Other State Pension and benefit rates, including the Additional State Pension, will be increased by 6.7%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index for the year to September 2023.
There are currently around 1.4 million pensioners claiming some £5bn of Pension Credit, which tops up their retirement income. This provides invaluable financial support for the poorest pensioners and is a passport to a range of other benefits. We are taking action to raise awareness of Pension Credit, encouraging pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why it is providing total support of over £94bn in 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with their rising bills.
Over 8 million UK households on eligible means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit, will receive Cost of Living Payments totalling up to £900 in 2023/24.
In addition, over 8 million households will receive a £300 pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top up to their winter fuel payment this year, increasing payments to £500 or £600 where the household includes someone aged 80 or over. Pensioners in receipt of an eligible disability benefit will have received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.
In addition to these current measures, to reduce the risk of poverty for future pensioners, automatic enrolment into workplace pensions has transformed pension participation for millions of workers. To date, over 10.8 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, with over 2.1 million employers complying with their duties. Furthermore, our 50 PLUS agenda aims to maximise the labour market opportunities for people to earn and save for longer.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they plan to introduce to financially support vulnerable and marginalised members of our communities in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government has taken steps to protect the most vulnerable in society.
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced Cost of Living Payments in 2023-24, including up to £900 for households on means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and £150 for individuals on disability benefits.
In April 2023, working-age and disability benefits rose in line with September 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation – 10.1%. As a result, more than 10 million working age families will have seen their benefit payments rise by an average increase of around £600 a year for those on Universal Credit.
This year (2023/24), the Government has also increased the State Pension by 10.1 per cent, in line with inflation and the Triple Lock. This delivered the biggest ever cash increase in the State Pension.
The Government is working hard to ensure that all families with children have access to the resources and assistance they need to thrive. The Government is introducing 30 hours of free childcare per week for working parents with children aged 9 months up to 3 years in England, alongside a substantial uplift to the hourly rate paid to providers.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the State Pension above the level prescribed by the triple lock.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government remains committed to ensuring that older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.
In April, the State Pension saw its biggest ever rise, increasing by 10.1%. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in 2010. That’s £790 more than if it had been uprated by Prices, and £945 more than if it had been uprated by earnings (since 2010).
The Government also provides additional support to older people, which includes the provision of free bus passes, free prescriptions, and Winter Fuel Payments, with Cold Weather Payments for those in receipt of Pension Credit.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
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 (a) ensure regular and adequate uprating of benefits and (b) mitigate the risk of families falling into poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children, and around £152 billion on pensioners. Of this, around £79 billion will be spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.
With respect to up-rating, the Social Security Administration Act 1992 places an obligation on the Secretary of State to review increases in prices and earnings each tax year, and to increase certain State pensions, additional-needs disability benefits and carers benefits at least in line with the relevant index. In the case of the new and basic State Pensions, the Government is committed to increasing these in line with the triple lock for the remainder of this Parliament. This is the highest of the increase in prices, the increase in earnings, or 2.5%.
Once he has completed his review of the increase in prices, he must also decide whether to up-rate other benefit rates, and if so by how much. In the up-rating for the tax year 2023/24, all relevant State pension and benefit rates were increased by 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022.
With 1.05 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals, including parents, to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 working age adults living in workless families were 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in families where all adults work.
To support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an ambitious package of measures designed to support people wherever they live in the UK to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.
The Government recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours which is why, from 28 June, the changes to the Universal Credit (UC) childcare element announced in Spring Budget 2023 will provide generous additional financial support to parents moving into paid work and/or increasing their working hours.
This government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to provide cost of living support to those in receipt of the new State Pension and ineligible for Pension Credit, including its associated cost of living support measures.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government understands the pressures people including pensioners are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, running from October 2022-March 2023, will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what the energy price would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to over £37bn of cost of living support announced in 2022.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing a further £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24.
The Government recognises the rising costs felt by all pensioners and therefore nearly 12 million pensioners will benefit from a 10.1% increase to their State Pension payments from April 2023, under the Triple Lock.
Pensioner households have received a £300 Cost of Living payment in 2022/23. In winter 2023/24, more than eight million pensioner households will receive a further £300 payment
Pensioners can also benefit from the discretionary Household Support Fund for which the government has provided total funding of £2.5 billion.
This is a substantial package of support which recognises the current additional costs faced by pensioners.
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, whether his Department has made additional financial support available to pensioners who are not eligible for Pension Credit during the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government understands the pressures people including pensioners are facing with the cost of living and has put in place a significant package of measures. This includes action to support people with their energy bills. The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, running from October 2022-March 2023, will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what the energy price would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to 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.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing a further £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24.
The Government recognises the rising costs felt by all pensioners and nearly 12 million pensioners will benefit from a 10.1% increase to their State Pension payments from April 2023, under the Triple Lock.
Pensioner households have received a £300 Cost of Living payment in 2022/23. In 2023/24 a further Cost of Living payment will be made. More than eight million pensioner households will receive an additional £300 to help with bills.
Pensioners can also benefit from the discretionary Household Support Fund for which the government has provided total funding of £2.5 billion.
This is a substantial package of support which recognises the current additional costs faced by pensioners.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the impact of receiving the (a) basic State Pension and (b) new State Pension on recipients of those pensions, in the context of the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government understands the pressures pensioners are facing with the cost of living and has taken clear action to support all pensioners. Nearly 12 million pensioners will benefit from a 10.1% increase to their State Pension payments from April 2023, under the Triple Lock.
People on the basic State Pension can receive amounts of earnings-related additional State Pension or, if they were contracted-out, an occupational or private pension, or a combination of the two. In 2023/24, additional State Pension payments will also increase by 10.1%. Most people on the new State Pension do not receive the full rate, as the amount is based on an individual’s National Insurance record paid both before and after 2016 when the new State Pension was introduced. Transitional arrangements are in place that reflect this and ensure fairness to both groups of people.
Pension Credit is an income-related benefit that targets help at the poorest pensioners, whether they reached State Pension age before or after the introduction of the new State Pension.
In addition, all Pensioner households have been supported by a £300 Cost of Living payment in 2022/23. In 2023/24 a further Cost of Living payment will be made. More than eight million pensioner households will receive an additional £300 to help with bills.
The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, running from October 2022-March 2023, saves a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what the energy price would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to 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. To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing a further £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24.
Pensioners can also benefit from the discretionary Household Support Fund for which the government has provided total funding of £2.5 billion.
This is a substantial package of support which recognises the current additional costs faced by pensioners.