Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 adequacy of the cost of living payments for pensioners who are in receipt of State Pension but not Pension Credit.
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 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 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 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: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 8 November (HL2809), what support is available to individuals subject to No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) conditions as part of their total cost of living package of £37 billion this year, but excluding the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
In addition to the Government supporting those in receipt of public fund benefits with cost-of-living payments, the package also includes a range of measures that those with no recourse to public funds could also benefit from, if they meet the eligibility criteria.
This would include an increase to the National Living Wage (NLW) by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over, from 1 April 2023 for those individuals who have a right to work. In addition, the Government’s commitment to the triple lock will see an increase from April 2023 of 10.1% to their State Pension.
For those who require extra support, the government is providing an additional £1bn to help with the cost of household essentials, for the 2023-24 financial year, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £2.5 billion.
In England this includes an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842m, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Guidance and individual Local Authority indicative allocations for this further extension will be announced in due course. Devolved administrations will receive £158 million through the Barnett formula.
Local Authorities can provide a basic safety net support to an individual, regardless of their immigration status, if there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example if:
Local Authorities must use their judgement to decide what legal powers and funding can be used to support individuals who are ineligible for public funds or statutory housing assistance.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits of maintaining the pension triple lock.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.
Following the conclusion of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ annual uprating review, the Chancellor has announced in the Autumn Statement that the Government will uprate the State Pension by inflation at 10.1% on 10 April 2023. This is in line with the commitment to keep the triple lock.
Supporting people in retirement after they have worked hard all of their lives is important, especially as pensioners cannot easily increase or supplement their incomes.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Basic State Pension in meeting the needs of pensioners.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people. Since 2010, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension has risen by over £2,300, in cash terms. That's £720 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £570 more than if it had been uprated by earnings since 2010. The Government has committed to the Triple Lock for the remainder of the Parliament.
People in receipt of the basic State Pension may additionally receive some earnings-related additional State Pension or, if they had been contracted out, a work based pension or a combination of the two.
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 she plans to take to help prevent people from living in poverty in later life.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty.
We are forecast to spend over £134 billion on benefits for pensioners in 2022/23. This amounts to 5.4% of GDP. This includes spending on the State Pension which is forecast to be over £110bn in 2022/23. The full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will have risen by over £2,300 since 2010. The Government has committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for the remainder of the Parliament.
There are currently around 1.4m pensioners claiming some £5bn of Pension Credit which provides financial support to help with day-to-day living costs for people over State Pension age and on a low income and acts as passport to a range of additional support, including help with rent and Council Tax, as well as energy bills.
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 10.7 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, with over 2 million employers complying with their duties. With these changes, an estimated additional real terms £33 billion was saved into workplace pensions in 2021 compared to 2012.
Furthermore, the Mid-Life MOT helps people plan for employment in later life and a financially secure retirement, through reviewing their finances, health and skills. Following the success of tests delivered through ten Local Enterprise Partnerships in 2021, the Government has announced a £5m expansion of the Mid-life MOT initiative. As part of the expansion, Mid-life MOTs will be delivered online, in the private sector and through the Department for Work and Pensions national network of jobcentres. Further detail was announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 July 2022 which can be found here.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-07-06/hcws183
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of real terms value of the state pension following the increase in the cost-of-living.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government has acted to protect pensioners against the current cost of living situation with a range of support. The value of the State Pension should not be considered in isolation.
Since 2010, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension has risen by over £2,300, in cash terms. That's £720 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £570 more than if it had been uprated by earnings. The Government has committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for the remainder of the Parliament.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to introduce any additional measures aimed at helping pensioners to deal with inflationary pressures.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government is providing £37 billion in cost of living support this year, including £15 billion in a new support package announced in late May. This includes extra support to help all pensioners stay warm this winter.
Households eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment will receive an extra one-off payment of £300, paid in November/December alongside the existing Winter Fuel Payment. Pensioners, as all domestic electricity customers, will see £400 off their bills from October with no need to repay, through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. In addition, households in receipt of Pension Credit will receive a one-off payment of £650 in two lump sums, the first from July and the second in the autumn.
Further support for pensioners can be provided by local authorities through the Household Support Fund, which will be in place until April 2023.
Next year, the Triple Lock will apply for the State Pension. Subject to the Secretary of State’s review, pensions and other benefits will be uprated by this September’s CPI which, on current forecasts, is likely to be significantly higher than the forecast inflation rate for 2023/24.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will reconsider the decision to suspend the pension triple lock in the context of rising costs of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people.
Decisions on the rates for State Pensions are made each Autumn as part of the Up-rating review by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Act 2021 temporarily suspended the earnings limb of the Triple Lock, as reported wage growth was statistically affected due to the effects of the pandemic in the labour market.
In 2022/23 State Pensions will be up-rated by 3.1%, using the consistent mechanism used each year to determine the rate of price increases for pensions and benefits. The Government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way in 2023/24 and for the remainder of the Parliament.
Over the last two years, the basic and new State Pension have increased by more than 5.6%. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. This is a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.
The Government recognises that many households, including pensioners, will need support to deal with rising living costs.
Pension Credit tops up retirement income and is a passport to support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills, and a free TV licence for those over 75. The Warm Home Discount Scheme provides those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit a discount on energy bills. Other support available to pensioners includes Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.
Furthermore, we have set out a generous package of support, with a non-repayable £150 council tax rebate from April and a further reduction of £200 on energy bills in October. The £200 reduction in households’ energy bills from October will help people manage the increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs over a few years, so they are more manageable for households.
Our package builds on the £12 billion of support over this financial year and next to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households, and the most vulnerable, including pensioners.
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, if she will take steps to (a) retain the State Pension triple lock and (b) tackle increased pensioner poverty.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is continuing the Triple Lock long term. The 2021 Uprating Bill is a one-year response to exceptional circumstances. The Government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for 2023/24 and the remainder of the Parliament.
The Government is committed to alleviating pensioner poverty. Latest figures show there are 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty, after housing costs, compared to 2009/10.
Pension Credit provides invaluable financial support for the most vulnerable pensioners. We are undertaking a range of actions to raise awareness and increase take up.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department will take to implement its commitments on the triple lock for state pensions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As a result of the Triple Lock, the full yearly basic State Pension is now over £2,050 higher than in 2010 in cash terms.
Decisions on the rates for State Pensions are made each Autumn as part of the Up-rating review by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
We are committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve; the State Pension is the foundation of support for older people