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1150219

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of women on low incomes born in the 1950s who have had their state pension age changed in (a) Blackpool, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	895
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>Women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1953 were affected by State Pension age equalisation under the Pensions Act 1995. The Pensions Act 2011 accelerated the equalisation of State Pension age, and included transitional arrangements limiting State Pension age delays, affecting women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. It also brought forward the increase in State Pension age from 65 to 66 which affected women born between 6 December 1953 and 5 April 1960.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions only holds estimates at a Great Britain level.</p><p> </p><p>The Office for National Statistics publishes data bi-annually on population numbers and projections. This is not segmented into income categories. They do offer data segmented into local area groups and region. The next release of population data will be available on the 21/10/2019 at: <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/nationalpopulationprojections2018based" target="_blank">https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/nationalpopulationprojections2018based</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 21/10/2019 13:37:37 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1150220

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions Ministers in her Department have had with groups representing women born in the 1950s who have had their state pensions age changed as a result of the Pensions Act 2011 on options for those women to draw their pensions at a reduced rate at 64 years of age.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	896
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has committed to meeting the joint chairs of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on State Pension inequality for Women.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 21/10/2019 16:32:23 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1150222

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to help reduce the financial losses incurred by women on low incomes born in the 1950s who have had their state pension age changed.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	897
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>For people who cannot work, the welfare system will continue to provide a safety-net, as it does for people of all ages now. We will spend around £55 billion this year (2019/20) on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. This is around 2.5 per cent of GDP, and over 6 per cent of government spending, and as a share of GDP, the UK’s public spending is second highest in the G7 [OECD 2015 data].</p><p> </p><p>The new State Pension is actually more generous for many women, who often did less well in the past. Women who reached State Pension age in 2016 are estimated to receive more State Pension on average over their lifetime than women ever have before. By 2030, over 3 million women stand to gain an average of £550 more per year as a result of the recent reforms.</p><p> </p><p>There are now 5 million women aged 50 and over in the workforce compared to 4.2 million five years ago. This is a record high.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to improving the outlook for older workers, including women, affected by increases in the State Pension age, and removing the barriers they may face. We have removed the default retirement age, meaning most people can choose when to retire, and extended the right to flexible working.</p><p> </p><p>To support people with their future planning, DWP launched an online web page in February this year which brings together money, job and health elements of the mid-life MOT: <a href="https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/" target="_blank">https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/</a></p><p> </p><p>To support employers, Business in The Community has also created MOT guides that support business. <a href="https://age.bitc.org.uk/tools-impact-stories/toolkits" target="_blank">https://age.bitc.org.uk/tools-impact-stories/toolkits</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 21/10/2019 15:07:15 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1150325

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy for Jobcentre staff proactively to inform universal credit claimants that they should make a claim to new-style ESA or new-style JSA if they are likely to be eligible.
tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
tabling member printed	Mark Tami
uin	1598
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to questions 43 and 482 on 21 October.</p><p /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 22/10/2019 14:34:50 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1150340

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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: Scunthorpe
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 people in Scunthorpe constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
uin	1661
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates<sup>1</sup>.</p><p> </p><p>I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as at end of September 2019<sup>2</sup>:</p><p> </p><p>In the Scunthorpe constituency since 2012, approximately 9,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1370 employers have met their duties.</p><p> </p><p><sup>1</sup>Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p><sup>2</sup>The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink:</p><p><a href="https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests" target="_blank">https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 21/10/2019 17:00:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1150463

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	Department for Work and Pensions: Public Appointments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which public appointments she is responsible for.
tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
uin	1579
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>The public appointments that the department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. <a href="https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf" target="_blank">https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 22/10/2019 14:17:42 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1150500

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	Unemployment: Romford
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of literacy and numeracy on trends in unemployment in the Romford constituency in each of the last 10 years.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	1616
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2019 answer text <p>No assessment has been made of the effects of literacy and numeracy on trends in unemployment in the Romford constituency.</p><p> </p><p>All claimants, including those in Romford, are screened by their Job Centre Plus Work Coaches for any barriers to employment that they face, including their literacy and numeracy skills.</p><p> </p><p>In particular, the review of skills considers whether claimants have the basic skills employers require - including Maths and English (spoken and written).</p><p> </p><p>Where needed, claimants can access or be referred to skills provision, with activities recorded in the Claimant Commitment.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government since 2010 unemployment across the country has fallen by nearly 1.2 million, with unemployment falling in every region and country of the UK.</p><p> </p><p>In Jul 2009 - Jun 2010 the employment rate for Romford was estimated at 70.1%. In Jul 2018 – Jun 2019 the employment rate was estimated to be 72.6%.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/11/2019 13:08:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1150531

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	Universal Credit: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the total cost to her Department of universal credit scams to date.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	1784
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>If a claimant has been the victim of a scam, and has not benefited from an advance in any way, they will not be asked to repay it. The Department considers all cases on their own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p> </p><p>Completed investigations thus far, have shown that the total amount claimed in fraudulent Universal Credit (UC) advances as of 30<sup>th</sup> September 2019 was £1,868,000 (rounded to the nearest thousand).</p><p> </p><p>It is important to clarify that these are not losses. The Department will endeavour to recover this money and pursue fraudsters. Recovery has already started in some of these cases.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 22/10/2019 14:40:46 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1150532

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	Universal Credit: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) individuals and (b) third party individuals investigated for universal credit fraud have been (a) referred for prosecution and (b) successfully prosecuted.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	1785
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>The Department takes this issue very seriously and we are committed to taking appropriate action to deter this fraud.</p><p> </p><p>There are 28 individual cases being prepared for prosecution and 1 successful individual prosecution.</p><p> </p><p>There has been 1 successful third party prosecution and a 2<sup>nd</sup> third party case is due in court next month.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 22/10/2019 14:25:25 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1150533

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
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	Universal Credit: 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 her Department is taking to increase public awareness of universal credit scams.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	1786
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>We have raised awareness of recent Universal Credit advance payment fraud via a dedicated social media campaign, which reminds people of the importance of safeguarding their identity.  Staff throughout the Department are actively encouraged to report any instances of potentially fraudulent activity for investigation.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is committed to the prevention, detection and investigation of all types of benefit fraud. We take the issue of misuse of the welfare system very seriously and will continue to use appropriate penalties to deter fraudulent behaviour which can be very distressing for innocent victims.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>If any claimant has concerns about the safety of their personal information, they should speak to a member of Departmental staff, or get help from the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, Action Fraud, online at <a href="http://www.actionfraud.police.uk" target="_blank">www.actionfraud.police.uk</a> or by telephone on 0300 123 2040, which is promoted through display materials in Jobcentres.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 22/10/2019 14:57:57 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury