Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1000268

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2018
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2018 to Question 185131 on Independent Case Examiner, if she will publish that same information for complaints by women on the equalisation of the state pension age.
	tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
	tabling member printed	Ged Killen
	uin	187381
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Individual departments have set up complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour 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.</p><p>The Independent Case Examiner is independent, and discusses complaints. The Independent Case Examiner is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about the DWP, and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an I Independent Case Examiner investigation (or the service provided by the Independent Case Examiner) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.</p><p>The table below provides details of the number of complaints concerning the equalisation of women’s state pension age, that have been (a) received; (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 (we have interpreted (c) as a request for the number of concluded complaint examinations).</p><p>At the end of October 2018, there were 865 such cases awaiting a decision on whether the complaint could be accepted for investigation, which explains the drop in the number of cases accepted for investigation since April 2018.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Complaints received</p></td><td><p>Complaints accepted for investigation</p></td><td><p>Concluded complaint examinations</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2017</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2017</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2017</p></td><td><p>211</p></td><td><p>187</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2017</p></td><td><p>172</p></td><td><p>157</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2017</p></td><td><p>171</p></td><td><p>148</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2017</p></td><td><p>144</p></td><td><p>124</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2017</p></td><td><p>222</p></td><td><p>185</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2017</p></td><td><p>290</p></td><td><p>243</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2017</p></td><td><p>297</p></td><td><p>232</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2017</p></td><td><p>418</p></td><td><p>338</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 2017</p></td><td><p>320</p></td><td><p>265</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 2017</p></td><td><p>222</p></td><td><p>177</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2018</p></td><td><p>314</p></td><td><p>254</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2018</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>210</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2018</p></td><td><p>171</p></td><td><p>132</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2018</p></td><td><p>196</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2018</p></td><td><p>159</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2018</p></td><td><p>147</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2018</p></td><td><p>131</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2018</p></td><td><p>108</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2018</p></td><td><p>101</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2018</p></td><td><p>119</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/11/2018 14:57:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4672 label Biography information for Ged Killen

1002135

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Pensions Regulator: Risk Assessment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enhance the moral hazard powers of the Pensions Regulator.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	188087
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>We have announced in the White Paper, <em>Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes, </em>that we intend to introduce a stand-alone interview power and enhanced inspection powers to enable the Pensions Regulator to conduct its investigations in a more efficient way.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s recent consultation on a stronger Pensions Regulator asked for views on proposals to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers, including specifically enhancing its anti-avoidance powers, which deal with moral hazard. We are considering the responses and hope to publish our conclusions shortly, with a view to taking forward any necessary legislation in due course.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 188088 question first answered 12/11/2018 12:41:52 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1002136

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Pensions Regulator: Powers
	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 bring forward legislative proposals to enhance the (a) information-gathering and (b) anti-avoidance powers of the Pensions Regulator.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	188088
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>We have announced in the White Paper, <em>Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes, </em>that we intend to introduce a stand-alone interview power and enhanced inspection powers to enable the Pensions Regulator to conduct its investigations in a more efficient way.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s recent consultation on a stronger Pensions Regulator asked for views on proposals to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers, including specifically enhancing its anti-avoidance powers, which deal with moral hazard. We are considering the responses and hope to publish our conclusions shortly, with a view to taking forward any necessary legislation in due course.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 188087 question first answered 12/11/2018 12:41:52 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1002137

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Pensions: Consumer Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on proposed verification and security measures for individual users of the proposed Pensions Dashboard.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	188089
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>On Tuesday 4 September 2018, I published a written statement providing an update on pensions including the pensions dashboard. This statement can be found here: <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>An industry-led Dashboard, facilitated by Government, will harness the best of industry innovation. We will continue to engage with industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders on this model and Government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/11/2018 12:45:41 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1002138

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2018
	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	Pensions: Consumer Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the participation of pension schemes in the Pensions Dashboard will be compulsory.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	188090
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>As set out in the Autumn Budget, DWP will consult on the detailed design for pensions dashboards, and on how an industry-led approach could harness innovation while protecting consumers. As part of the consultation, due to be published shortly, the Department will explore how to maximise the participation of pension schemes.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/11/2018 12:44:09 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

731130

	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
	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, (a) on which dates and (b) by which means his Department has taken steps to raise awareness by way of publicity about changes to the UK state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow East
	tabling member printed	David Linden
	uin	107
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2017 answer text <p>Between April 2009 and March 2011, the Department mailed women born between 6th April 1950 and 5th April 1953, informing them of their State Pension age under the 1995 Pensions Act. This involved sending 1.16 million letters to the affected women.</p><p>Following the 2011 changes, DWP wrote to individuals directly affected to inform them of the change to their State Pension age. This applied to women born between 6th April 1953 and 5th April 1960. These letters were sent between January 2012 and November 2013. This involved sending 5.77 million letters to the affected men and women.</p><p>In addition to writing directly to those affected, the Government provided a range of information in order for all individuals to be able to find out their State Pension age and conditions of their benefits. For example, following the Pensions Act 1995, State Pension estimates, issued to individuals on request, made the changes clear. Since 2000, the Department has issued 14 million State Pension estimates on request. Between 2003 and 2006, the Department issued about 16 million automatic pension forecasts, which were accompanied by a leaflet about State Pension age including equalisation. DWP also ran a pensions education campaign in 2004, which included informing people of the future equalisation of State Pension.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 28/06/2017 16:22:51 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4640 label Biography information for David Linden

731295

	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
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions
	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 ending the triple lock on pensions on pensioner poverty.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	65
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2017 answer text <p>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.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 27/06/2017 10:03:32 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

732270

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2017
	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
	hansard heading	Winter Fuel Payment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Government's policy is on winter fuel payments.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	923
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2017 answer text <p>There will be no change to the universal nature of the Winter Fuel Payment for the length of the Parliament.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/07/2017 13:54:51 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

732272

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2017
	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
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Uprating
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's policy is on the state pensions triple lock; and whether he intends to review that policy.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	971
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2017 answer text <p>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.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/07/2017 15:56:51 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

732691

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2017
	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
	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, whether he plans to meet representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign to discuss the effect of 1995 and 2011 changes to women's state pension age.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	1141
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2017 answer text <p>There are no current plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign in the immediate future.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, most recently in a Westminster Hall Debate on 5th July 2017 in which I stated I will be meeting the all-party parliamentary group when it is reformed.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition to the substantive debate on this issue, previous Ministers have met with WASPI representatives to discuss the effect of the 1995 and 2011 changes to women’s State Pension age. Baroness Ros Altmann and Shailesh Vara MP met with representatives of the WASPI group on 29th June 2016 to listen to their concerns.</p><p> </p><p>This issue was also raised in a meeting on 23 November 2016 between the former Secretary of State Damian Green, the then Minister for Pensions Richard Harrington MP and representatives from the relevant All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).</p><p> </p><p>Following these meetings and debates, the government maintains the view that the 1995 and 2011 changes to State Pension age were necessary. We remain very clear that we will make no further changes to the State Pension age or pay financial redress in lieu of pension. Therefore the government believes that there is no value for either party in future meetings with representatives from the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A key priority for Government remains supporting individuals aged 50 years and over to return to and remain in the labour market, and tackling the barriers to them doing so. Since 2016 much work has been done to provide support back into employment, with 1.2 million over 65’s now in employment. In addition there is training and retraining, in many ways, as well as investment in lifelong learning and returnship schemes. We have also extended our network of older claimant champions to all 34 Jobcentre Plus districts to provide best practice and support to work coaches.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 12/07/2017 09:20:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell