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1240223

registered interest
date	05/10/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of automatically registering all eligible pensioners for pension credit.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	99017
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2020 answer text <p>It is a long-established policy of all governments, that provision of income-related benefits is contingent on a person making a valid claim. Like other means-tested benefits, Pension Credit eligibility and award amounts are determined by a person’s financial and personal circumstances and it is the responsibility of the person making a claim to provide the correct and accurate information required to establish entitlement.</p><p /><p>Pension Credit is intended to target help at the poorest pensioner households. It would not therefore be practical to automatically register everyone of State Pension age for Pension Credit when the majority of them will simply not qualify. There may also be pensioners, who might qualify for Pension Credit, who do not wish to claim it.</p><p> </p><p>In 2010 the Department ran an innovative pilot scheme to try to boost take-up of Pension Credit. The trial involved automatically paying Pension Credit to some 2,000 people who the Department had identified as possibly having entitlement to Pension Credit without them having to make an actual claim first. At the end of the trial the group were invited to go on and make a claim. The level of take-up was surprisingly low and disappointing, with less than 9% of those involved going on to take up their entitlement. It was therefore not considered a viable and cost effective mechanism to take forward. A copy of the evaluation of the pilot is available at <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214583/rrep796.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214583/rrep796.pdf</a>.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/10/2020 14:48:58 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1240226

registered interest
date	05/10/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of eligible pensioners in each parliamentary constituency are (a) in receipt of and (b) have made claims for pension credit.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	99018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2020 answer text <p>Information on the number of Pension Credit claimants in each parliamentary constituency as of February 2020 is published and available at <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk</a>.</p><p /><p>The information requested on the proportion of pensioners eligible to Pension Credit who are in receipt of the benefit is only available at the Great Britain level. The latest data for 2017/18 is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2017-to-2018</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP publishes annual take-up statistics for income-related benefits, including Pension Credit. These are estimates based on data collected through the Family Resource Survey as well as DWP administrative data. However, the sample sizes available from the survey data are not large enough to enable reliable take-up statistics to be produced at sub-national level e.g. for parliamentary constituencies.</p><p> </p><p>We do not hold the information requested on the number and proportion of claims made by eligible pensioners for pension credit in each parliamentary constituency.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/10/2020 14:52:04 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1240007

registered interest
date	02/10/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Workplace Pensions: Regulation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions are available to the Pensions Regulator in cases where an employer has consistently withheld pension contributions from an employee's workplace pension.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
tabling member printed	Gill Furniss
uin	98733
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2020 answer text <p>The Pensions Regulator (TPR), as the compliance authority for workplace pensions, has a range of statutory powers including the ability to issue fixed and escalating penalty fines to employers for failure to comply with the law.</p><p> </p><p>Information about the use made of those enforcement powers can be found in TPR’s quarterly automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement bulletins, the most recent of which is published on its website, here: <a href="https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/enforcement-activity/enforcement-bulletins/compliance-and-enforcement-quarterly-bulletin-april-to-june-2020" target="_blank">https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/enforcement-activity/enforcement-bulletins/compliance-and-enforcement-quarterly-bulletin-april-to-june-2020</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 07/10/2020 12:58:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4571 label Biography information for Gill Furniss

1238244

registered interest
date	28/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Flybe: Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2020 to Question 29272, what progress she has made in her discussions with the Isle of Man Government on the Flybe pension scheme.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	96091
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>It would not be appropriate for a UK Minister to comment on cases that are a matter for the Isle of Man Government, the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority or the independent Pensions Regulator. Members wishing to receive updates should contact the Scheme Administrator or the Isle of Man Government.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 06/10/2020 13:45:38 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands

1237520

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of initiatives to progress the awareness and take up of pension credit.
tabling member constituency	Bosworth
tabling member printed	Dr Luke Evans
uin	95234
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2020 answer text <p>The precise updated data on the effectiveness of the spring 2020 campaign is not yet able to be provided.</p><p> </p><p>The purpose of the campaign was to raise Pension Credit awareness and test impact.</p><p> </p><p>There was a 20% increase in telephone calls to the Pension Credit claim line (during the course of the campaign the weekly average was 2,493 phone calls compared to a weekly average in 2019 of 2,079 phone calls).</p><p> </p><p>There was also significant engagement with social media and a spike of activity on viewing the Pension Credit website pages with more than 5,000 sessions on the launch day, 10 February (compared to 1,000 on 3 February).</p><p> </p><p>However, it should be stressed that other factors may affect these numbers, including the BBC TV licensing decision and the effect of the Pandemic.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 02/10/2020 13:45:37 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4781 label Biography information for Dr Luke Evans

1237537

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pensions: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) accessed and (b) transferred their pension early since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak which is then potentially classified as an unauthorised payment from their pension fund.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	95085
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2020 answer text <p>This government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. We have introduced, with other departments, measures that assist all savers to understand their choices and the possible risks of the choices they make along with legislation to protect those most vulnerable to scams.</p><p> </p><p>There is currently no information available about pension unauthorised payments since the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak. This is because administrators of a registered pension scheme must tell HMRC when certain reportable events occur; reportable events include unauthorised payments. The scheme administrator does this by completing and submitting an Event Report for a tax year, these must be received by HMRC by the 31<sup>st</sup> of January after the end of the tax year to which the Event Report relates. Therefore, reports for the period March to date are not available.</p><p> </p><p>The data available from the industry has so far revealed little evidence of an increase in transfers or scams since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. Similarly, independent regulators report less of a problem. We will continue to monitor and assess if there has been any increase in pension scams activity as a result of the crisis.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/09/2020 15:23:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1237538

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pension Wise: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have booked a Pension Wise guidance session since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	95086
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2020 answer text <p>Between 1 March 2020 and 24 September 2020, the number of Pension Wise guidance sessions booked totalled 69,815.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/09/2020 16:06:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1237539

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pensions: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is planning to take to increase public awareness of the risks of pension scams.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	95087
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. The Government is raising public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p> </p><p>Joint and independent communications from the FCA and tPR spelling out the dangers, what to watch out for and giving clarity to trustees and providers on the boundaries between guidance and advice have been issued since April this year (<a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a>). Prior to Covid-19 the FCA and tPR conducted regular campaigns, through the ScamSmart branding, to raise awareness of pension scams and what to watch out for, these have been deemed very successful, over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme as a result of the most recent pre Covid campaign, July – November 2019.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Government is actively monitoring the numbers of transfers and scams and preparing further policy responses. At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. All of the participating organisations have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged of an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry.</p><p> </p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made multiple posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Schemes Bill was amended by Government in the House of Lords to add to the example conditions that can be placed on the statutory right to transfer by regulations. This amendment makes it explicit that the regulations can require that in certain circumstances the member demonstrates they have taken information or guidance before the transfer can proceed to ensure they are informed of the risks.</p><p> </p><p>The Government wants to support all pension savers aged 50 and over in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, to make informed choices about their retirement income, which includes making them aware of Pension Wise through communications from their pension scheme trustees. We intend introducing Single page summary and single page risk warnings from age 50 and then every 5 years until the point they access their pension savings.</p><p> </p><p>The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) conducted trials to establish different ways to encourage more people to take Pension Wise guidance before accessing their pension savings under Pension Freedoms. These trials found that a nudge developed using behavioural science principles significantly increased take-up of Pension Wise guidance among those wishing to access their pension savings under pension freedoms. The evaluation report was published in July 2020. We are working to develop the most effective and proportionate way to implement this nudge to pension guidance. We intend to publish our proposed way forward shortly.</p><p>In addition we have banned cold calling and seek to provide and prosecute and publicise the convinction of all who comitt pension scams.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/09/2020 15:36:14 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1237540

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pensions: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a training programme for pension and finance professionals to help ensure they can readily identify scam risks.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	95088
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding consumer savings. The Government is raising public awareness of scams through ongoing communications directly from DWP and with other organisations.</p><p> </p><p>Joint and independent communications from the FCA and tPR spelling out the dangers, what to watch out for and giving clarity to trustees and providers on the boundaries between guidance and advice have been issued since April this year. Prior to Covid-19 the FCA and tPR conducted regular campaigns, through the ScamSmart branding, to raise awareness of pension scams and what to watch out for, these have been deemed very successful, over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme as a result of the most recent pre Covid campaign, July – November 2019.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Government is actively monitoring the numbers of transfers and scams and preparing further policy responses. At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. All of the participating organisations have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged of an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p>DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made 18 posts referencing Pension Scams and #ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Schemes Bill was amended in the House of Lords to add to the example conditions that can be placed on the statutory right to transfer by regulations. This amendment makes it explicit that the regulations can require that in certain circumstances the member demonstrates they have taken information or guidance before the transfer can proceed to ensure they are informed of the risks.</p><p> </p><p>The Government wants to support all pension savers aged 50 and over in the lead up to accessing their pension savings, to make informed choices about their retirement income, which includes making them aware of Pension Wise through communications from their pension scheme trustees. We intend introducing Single page summary and single page risk warnings from age 50 and then every 5 years until the point they access their pension savings.</p><p> </p><p>The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) conducted trials to establish different ways to encourage more people to take Pension Wise guidance before accessing their pension savings under Pension Freedoms. These trials found that a nudge developed using behavioural science principles significantly increased take-up of Pension Wise guidance among those wishing to access their pension savings under pension freedoms. The evaluation report was published in July 2020. We are working to develop the most effective and proportionate way to implement this nudge to pension guidance. We intend to publish our proposed way forward shortly.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with organisations and regulators to look at all interventions which can better protect savers.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 29/09/2020 15:51:17 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1237541

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Pensions: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will provide a breakdown of the types of pension scams that have occurred since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Neil Gray
uin	95089
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2020 answer text <p>DWP is working across government and with regulators to monitor and respond to any increases in transfers or pension scams. To date, this monitoring has revealed little evidence to demonstrate an increase in either transfers or scams across the industry as a whole as confirmed by the independent regulator. This has been confirmed by responses from industry. The Government will continue to monitor and respond to any emerging evidence.</p><p> </p><p>The Government established Project Bloom, a cross-government taskforce that brings together law enforcement, government and industry to share intelligence, raise awareness of and the reporting of scams through public communication campaigns, and take enforcement action where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to work with Regulators and enforcement agencies to prevent scams and take appropriate action. In the period March - July 2020, 116 reports of possible pension fraud were received by Action Fraud, compared to 179 for the same period in 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Project Bloom has identified that the methodology of scammers is continually evolving, moving away from the traditional type of theft of peoples pensions through setting up a sham scheme, towards investment related fraud. Investment related fraud includes persuading individuals to invest in ventures that do not exist or using multiple charging structures that the member is not aware of.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 02/10/2020 13:56:13 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray