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731003

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the finding by the Equality and Human Rights Commission review published on 3 April, Being disabled in Britain: a journey less equal, that across the UK 18.4 per cent of disabled people aged 16 to 64 were considered to be in food poverty in 2014 compared with 7.5 per cent of non-disabled people.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Deech
	uin	HL22
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2017 answer text <p>It is widely acknowledged that the reasons why people are in food poverty are complex and overlapping, and therefore would be misleading to link this to any particular cause. The Government’s approach has been about recognising the value and importance of work, to make work pay and to support people into work whilst protecting the most vulnerable in society. We are committed to ensuring that those in work are paid a fair wage; have opportunities to progress and achieve their potential. We are getting disabled people into employment and working to change attitudes, introducing reforms to make sure that work always pays and that we support people into work. Since June 2016 over 750,000 of people who were receiving incapacity benefits are now either preparing for or looking for work.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 05/07/2017 12:20:20 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

746096

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Personal Independent Payment assessors receive appropriate training to allow them to take a holistic approach to a claimant's assessment.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Thomas of Winchester
	uin	HL238
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2017 answer text <p>All Health Professionals (HPs) working on the delivery of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments must be either an occupational therapist, level 1 nurse, physiotherapist, paramedic or doctor. They must also be fully registered and have at least two years’ post full-registration experience. In addition to their profession, the Department recognises the importance of ensuring that individuals also have sufficient experience, skills and training to carry out their duties and PIP providers are required to ensure that the HPs carrying out assessments have knowledge of the clinical aspects and likely functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and impairments.</p><p> </p><p>All new assessors complete one month of intensive training in disability analysis which includes a functional evaluation as to how medical conditions and the long-term medical treatment of those conditions affect an individual’s ability to perform day-to-day activities. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role.</p><p> </p><p>Final approval to work as a health assessor must be conferred by the Department for Work and Pension’s Chief Medical Adviser on behalf of the Secretary of State.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 04/07/2017 14:40:36 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3785 label Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester

746097

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government whether they will review the criteria for assessing Personal Independence Payments to take into account claimants with mental health issues.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Thomas of Winchester
	uin	HL239
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2017 answer text <p>The Personal Independence Payments (PIP) assessment criteria have been designed to take account of the impact of all impairments on individuals’ ability including those with mental health issues. The inclusion of such activities as 'Making budgeting decisions' and 'Engaging with other people face-to-face' ensures that consideration is given to the impact of such impairments on people's daily living needs.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, by assessing claimants' ability to plan and follow journeys, the Mobility component also reflects the impact of impairment on an individual's ability to get around, and ensures the assessment takes account of mental, intellectual and cognitive impairments.</p><p> </p><p>We believe the current PIP assessment criteria are the best way of identifying those whose mental health is most limited and have no plans to change these.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 12/07/2017 16:11:39 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3785 label Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester

746098

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government whether there is enough flexibility in the Personal Independence Payments criteria to allow for claimants with unusual conditions.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Thomas of Winchester
	uin	HL240
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment works effectively for individuals with any health conditions or disability. This is achieved by measuring the impact on an individual’s ability to undertake a range of activities.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 11/07/2017 13:00:09 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3785 label Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester

746104

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the statement in the Green Paper on work and health and disability,  Improving Lives,  published in October 2016, what consideration they have given to allowing the voluntary incorporation of a portion of a severely disabled employee’s Employment and Support Allowance to be offset as part of their pay, in order to help enhance their employability.
	tabling member printed	Lord Vinson
	uin	HL246
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2017 answer text <p>Improving Lives – the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper, published In October 2016, attracted over 6000 responses, including many on how to enhance the employability of ESA recipients. We are currently considering future policy options in this area.</p><p> </p><p>Existing measures to reduce potential costs to employers, and so improve employability, include Access to Work which offers practical advice and funding of up to £42,100 pa for employees’ support costs over and above reasonable adjustments.</p><p> </p><p>Our new ‘Small Employer Offer’ for small and medium-sized enterprises is trialling a £500 payment to employers for mentoring and supporting disabled people employed for over 3 months.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 12/07/2017 16:04:35 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	1807 label Biography information for Lord Vinson

747343

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2017
	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: Tax Allowances
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government whether they have estimated the number of workers earning below the personal tax threshold who have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme that operates on a Net Pay basis; and if not, why not.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL320
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not, therefore, hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The latest official analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This guidance covers the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax. Provided an employer has selected a qualifying pension scheme for automatic enrolment, they have complied with their automatic enrolment duties with respect to scheme choice.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL321 HL322 HL323 question first answered 11/07/2017 15:55:57 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

747344

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2017
	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: Tax Allowances
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government against whom a worker earning £11,500 can claim if they discover that their employer has used a workplace pension scheme operating on a Net Pay basis for auto-enrolment, in order to recover the 25% taxpayer bonus they could have received in a Relief at Source scheme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL321
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not, therefore, hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The latest official analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This guidance covers the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax. Provided an employer has selected a qualifying pension scheme for automatic enrolment, they have complied with their automatic enrolment duties with respect to scheme choice.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL320 HL322 HL323 question first answered 11/07/2017 15:55:57 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

747346

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2017
	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: Tax Allowances
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of low paid workers' claims against their employers for the money they are due in tax relief if it is denied to them by their employer's choice of pension scheme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL322
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not, therefore, hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The latest official analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This guidance covers the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax. Provided an employer has selected a qualifying pension scheme for automatic enrolment, they have complied with their automatic enrolment duties with respect to scheme choice.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL320 HL321 HL323 question first answered 11/07/2017 15:55:57 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

747348

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2017
	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: Tax Allowances
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government whether low paid workers who earn less than the personal tax threshold may claim against the Pensions Regulator for failing to ensure that employers use a suitable auto-enrolment scheme that does not force them to pay more than they should for their pensions.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL323
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not, therefore, hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The latest official analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This guidance covers the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax. Provided an employer has selected a qualifying pension scheme for automatic enrolment, they have complied with their automatic enrolment duties with respect to scheme choice.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL320 HL321 HL322 question first answered 11/07/2017 15:55:57 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

747350

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2017
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost saving, in long-term expenditure on State Pensions, from changing the current triple lock into a double lock using the best of earnings or CPI inflation, from 2020 onwards.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL324
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p><br>The Government is committed to ensuring economic security for people at every stage of their life, including when they reach retirement. The Government is also clear that fairness between the generations must be maintained. We are committed to the Triple Lock for the remainder of this Parliament. Economic forecasts suggest that State Pensions will go up by at least 2.5% each year for the length of this Parliament and so maintaining the Triple Lock for this Parliament will cost no extra money.</p><p> </p><p>It is estimated that uprating the State Pension by a double lock (highest of earnings or inflation) from April 2020 would reduce State Pension expenditure by the following compared to the Triple Lock:</p><p>(1) 0.03% of GDP in 2029/30;</p><p>(2) 0.08% of GDP in 2039/40;</p><p>(3) 0.13% of GDP in 2049/50;</p><p> </p><p>It is estimated that in 2066/67, uprating by a double lock would reduce State Pension expenditure by around 0.2% of GDP compared to uprating by the Triple Lock.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL325 question first answered 11/07/2017 15:41:13 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann