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1023922

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2018
	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, how many complaints of maladministration from women born in the 1950s relating to the change in their state pension age submitted to her Department’s Independent Case Examiner have been (a) resolved, (b) rejected, (c) closed for other reasons.
	tabling member constituency	Ceredigion
	tabling member printed	Ben Lake
	uin	201695
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service<strong>. </strong>Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent.</p><p>The table below provides information on the method by which complaints submitted to the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office, concerning changes to women’s State Pension age, were closed.</p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Reason for complaint closure</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Number</ins> <ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">(a) Resolved (we have interpreted this as meaning closed following issue of an ICE investigation report)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">192</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">(b) Rejected (the complaint failed to meet the ICE acceptance criteria)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">1,598</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">(c) Paused for other reasons (includes withdrawn complaints and those closed following a High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review of the Departments handling of the change to women’s State Pension age – it is not within the ICE remit to consider issues which are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings.)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2,506</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong> </strong></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Independent Case Examiner’s Office received the first complaints from women relating to changes in their state pension age in October 2016. The table below provides details of the numbers received in each of the past three reporting years.</ins></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Year (April to March)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Number received</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2016/2017</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">243</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2017/2018</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2981</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">2018/2019 (to 13 December 2018)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">1072</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/12/2018 15:27:52 question first ministerially corrected 18/12/2018 17:16:19 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 92203 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4630 label Biography information for Ben Lake

1050445

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	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	Pension Credit: North West
	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 pension credit claimants in (a) Warrington, (b) Warrington North constituency and (c) the North West who have a partner of working age and will be affected by forthcoming changes to the rules on pension credit.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Helen Jones
	uin	213950
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>The changes the government announced on January 14 will ensure that the same work incentives will apply to the younger partner as apply to other people of the same age, and that taxpayer support is directed to where it is needed most.</p><p> </p><p>The changes will not affect mixed age couples who are entitled to Pension Credit and/or pension age Housing Benefit immediately before 15 May, unless their entitlement to both those benefits subsequently ends.</p><p> </p><p>The number of future mixed age couples that are estimated to be affected by forthcoming changes is not available.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/02/2019 14:58:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 99559 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

1050629

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	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, what steps her Department is taking ensure that there is sufficient public awareness of the changes to universal credit entitlement for mixed-aged couples among people who are affected by that change.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	214138
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>The Department announced on 14 January that the mixed age couple policy change will come into force on 15 May. Following the announcement we are implementing plans to raise awareness of the change among people who may be affected.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is writing to mixed-age couples who are already in receipt of Pension Credit or pensioner Housing Benefit. This is in addition to providing information on gov.uk and through existing departmental channels. The Department’s staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres will also be able to provide such information, as will staff in local authorities who administer Housing Benefit. The Department will also work with relevant organisations to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/02/2019 15:19:33 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 99546 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1050630

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	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, what the date of completion is of the most recent equality impact assessment carried out on the changes to universal credit entitlement for mixed-aged couples.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	214139
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>An Equality Impact Assessment for the introduction of Universal Credit was published on 9 November 2011. It contains an assessment of the effect of Universal Credit by age groups, including people aged over 50 and mixed age couples. In line with the DWP’s legal duties, equality impacts have been further considered in developing our plans for implementation.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/02/2019 15:04:25 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 99548 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1055244

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2019
	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	Pension Credit
	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 29 January 2019 to Question 212389, what estimate she has made of the number of couples affected in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22 of the changes to be introduced in May 2019 to the eligibility for pension credit of couples where one partner has reached state pension age and the other has not.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral West
	tabling member printed	Margaret Greenwood
	uin	217093
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2019 answer text <p>The Welfare Reform Act 2012 amended entitlement conditions for Pension Credit so as to require both members of a couple to have reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit before the couple can be entitled to it.</p><p> </p><p>The change will not affect mixed age couples who are entitled to Pension Credit and/or pension age Housing Benefit immediately before the implementation date unless their entitlement to both those benefits subsequently ends.</p><p> </p><p>An estimate of the number of mixed age couples who may be affected by the forthcoming changes to be introduced on 15 May 2019 is set out below:</p><p><strong>Estimated mixed age couples affected by policy change</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019/20</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020/21</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021/22</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>15,000</p></td><td><p>30,000</p></td><td><p>40,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/02/2019 14:04:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 100747 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4400 label Biography information for Margaret Greenwood

1125019

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	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	Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to introduce the Pensions Bill before summer 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
	tabling member printed	Gill Furniss
	uin	251381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2019 answer text <p>This Government has recently published responses to a series of consultations, and have engaged extensively with key stakeholders and the Pensions Regulator.</p><p> </p><p>In these we have committed to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers to both enforce pension’s legislation and to punish those who have acted recklessly or failed to comply with their obligations. We have committed to facilitate industry to make pensions dashboards a reality. We are also compelling pension schemes to make consumers data available to them and to facilitate collective defined contribution schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will bring forward legislation to introduce these measures as soon as parliamentary time permits.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 14/05/2019 15:14:40 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 117711 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4571 label Biography information for Gill Furniss

1125459

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	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	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow City local authority area and (c) Scotland in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	252116
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2019 answer text <p>The policy for free TV licences for those aged 75 and over is the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport until the BBC takes responsibility in 2020.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 years and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m) (Nominal)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Glasgow South West constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>£0.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(b) Glasgow City local authority</strong></p></td><td><p>£4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(c) Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p>£51.7</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 14/05/2019 15:44:45 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 117714 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1126921

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	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: British Nationals Abroad
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimates he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of uprating state pensions for pensioners who live overseas.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	254754
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">All political parties since WW2 have</del> <ins class="ministerial">Successive post-war Governments have followed</ins> the same policy. Up-rating UK State Pensions for recipients who are overseas residents is longstanding; state Pensions are payable worldwide and are up-rated where there is a legal requirement to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The policy on the up-rating of UK State Pensions paid to recipients living outside the UK has been in place for over 70 years. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide without regard to nationality. Entitlement to the UK State Pension is based on the national insurance contributions on a person’s national insurance record. The annual index-linked increases to UK State Pensions are paid to recipients overseas only where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in EEA countries or in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that provides for the up-rating of the UK State Pension. The Government has no plans to change the policy <ins class="ministerial">upheld by all previous Governments, Labour, Coalition and Conservative for the past 70 years.</ins> <del class="ministerial">of all Governments, Labour, Coalition or Conservative since WW2.</del></p><p> </p><p>The estimated costs of up-rating state pensions overseas where they are currently not up-rated are available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-costs-of-uprating-state-pension-in-frozen-rate-countries" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-costs-of-uprating-state-pension-in-frozen-rate-countries</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/05/2019 16:41:54 question first ministerially corrected 20/06/2019 15:16:55 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 119892 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1131301

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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	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 recent estimate she has made of the number of additional claims that will be made for pension credit following the limiting of free TV licences to people aged over 75 claiming that benefit.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
	tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
	uin	263077
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>The BBC made its announcement about future eligibility of free TV licences on Monday 10 June. It is too early for an assessment of the potential impact on additional Pension Credit claims to be made. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits, including pension credit at general Great Britain level can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017</a></p><p>The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on <a href="https://gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://gov.uk/</a> , in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.</p><p>Potential customers can use the Pension Credit <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.</p><p>One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit</a></p><p>The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.</p><p>Most recently we have provided to relevant organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the recent changes for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 25/06/2019 13:34:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 123349 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan

1133309

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	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	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in Norwich South constituency in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.
	tabling member constituency	Norwich South
	tabling member printed	Clive Lewis
	uin	266801
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.</p><p>The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.</p><p>This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.</p><p>On 10 June 2019, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age-related-tv-licence-policy" target="_blank">announced</a> that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.</p><p>The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 years and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m) (Nominal)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Norwich South constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>£0.96</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 25/06/2019 17:06:01 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 124931 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4500 label Biography information for Clive Lewis