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167612

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2014
	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comments by Lord Freud in the Grand Committee debate on the Child Poverty Act 2010 (Persistent Poverty Targets) Regulations 2014, that the facts Lord McAvoy had quoted were "simply not true" (HL Deb, 25 November, col GC 263), how they were not true.
	tabling member printed	Lord McAvoy
	uin	HL3387
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>I wrote to the Noble Peer on this issue on 4<sup>th</sup> December 2014. I have placed a copy of this letter in the library of the House and have also attached it to this response.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 15:43:27 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud attachment 1 file name Letter to Lord McAvoy 4.12.14.PDF title Letter to Lord McAvoy 4th Dec 2014
	tabling member	4158 label Biography information for Lord McAvoy

166611

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2014
	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	Public Health Funerals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of pauper's funerals in each of the last three years; and what steps his Department is taking to support families on low incomes with the costs of funerals.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
	uin	216270
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>My department does not collect data on the number of Local Authority funerals.</p><p> </p><p>The Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme continues to provide help towards a simple, respectful, low-cost funeral and in 2013/14, over 33,000 awards were made worth £44.7 million, with an average award of £1,347.</p><p> </p><p>Social Fund Budgeting Loans are also available to those on income related benefits to cover costs relating to funeral expenses.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 02/12/2014 11:44:12 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

166089

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the basis on which projections of potential returns are used by the investment management industry in communications with pension holders.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL3147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Since 6 April 2003, certain money purchase pension arrangements have been required to provide members with Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPIs). Legislation requires that statutory illustrations are produced in accordance with guidance prepared by a prescribed body approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and by the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland.</p><p>The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the prescribed body and has been since 6 April 2007. The FRC fulfils its obligations through the publication of Actuarial Standard Technical Memorandum AS TM1: Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (AS TM1). It reviews AS TM1 regularly and the last completed review was carried out in 2013 following the introduction of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2734) which came into force on 6 April 2014. The AS TM1 specifies that the investment return should take into account the current and anticipated future investment strategy of the member’s funds over the period to retirement and be consistent from year to year, with the rationale documented and made available to members on request.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require a projection at point of sale for contract based pensions. The investment return must reflect the investment potential of the (expected) underlying assets, subject to an overall cap of 5%pa. Flanking projections must be provided using returns which vary by +/- 3%. The FCA has a public commitment to review the basis every 4 years and the next review is due in 2015. The FCA do not require further projections during the lifetime of the contract as pension scheme members will receive statutory statements prepared under DWP legislation. However, where a provider chooses to provide additional projections, they must follow the same basis as point of sale projections.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:26:30 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

155623

	registered interest
	date	11/11/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Motherwell and Wishaw
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of applicants for personal independence payments in Motherwell and Wishaw constituency appealed their personal independence payment decision between June 2013 and June 2014; and how many appeals were submitted for disability living allowance between June 2012 and June 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Mr Frank Roy
	uin	214354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits, including a person’s entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The number of individuals living in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency who applied for PIP and the outcomes of those applications, between April 2013 and July 2014, can be found in published DWP statistics available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2014.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS does not keep data on the proportion of benefit claimants who choose to appeal the DWP’s final decision. In the period June 2013 to June 2014, 61 PIP appeals were lodged in the Tribunal venue in Hamilton which serves appellants living in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency and other nearby locations.</p><p> </p><p>Between June 2012 and June 2013 966 appeals against decisions made by DWP on claims for DLA were lodged at the Hamilton venue.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 12/01/2015 15:31:16 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	626 label Biography information for Mr Frank Roy

166639

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2014
	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	Poverty: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have carried out any forecasts of the level of child poverty between now and 2020; and if so, whether they will be made public.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL3230
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government does not produce forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty as the number of children in poverty is dependent on factors which cannot be reliably predicted, such as the median income.</p><p> </p><p>The Government does measure annual child poverty statistics through the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income in the UK have consistently been reported since 1998/99; these are available for each financial year up to 2012/13, the latest period for which estimates are available.</p><p> </p><p>There has been no assessment of the impact on child poverty of the combined tax and benefit changes announced since May 2010. Available survey data does not allow the Government to robustly assess the combined effects of tax and benefit policy on households with children.</p><p> </p><p>However, this Government has taken unprecedented steps to assess the effects of its policy decisions across the distribution of household income, by publishing analysis of the cumulative effects of the tax and welfare measures announced at each fiscal event since the June Budget 2010. The latest analysis can be found in Chapter 2 of the attached report.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL3231 question first answered 11/12/2014 16:55:04 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

157057

	registered interest
	date	20/11/2014
	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: 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, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2014 to Question 213491, how many representations he has received on the future of the winter fuel allowance claimed by UK citizens living in mainland France on a UK state pension.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Dorset and North Poole
	tabling member printed	Annette Brooke
	uin	215482
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government intends to bring in an eligibility criterion derived from average winter temperatures, with payments going only to eligible people living in EEA countries with cold climates. The regulations establishing Winter Fuel Payments for 2015/16 will include the new eligibility condition. These regulations are made annually under the Social Security Contributions &amp; Benefits Act 1992, and those for winter 2015/16 will be made in the current Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>Since 1 June 2014, we have received two Parliamentary Questions, twenty one items of Ministerial or official correspondence and four Freedom of Information requests relating to the future of Winter Fuel Payments in France. Following the European Court ruling in the Stewart case, Winter Fuel Payments are made to those with a “genuine and sufficient link” to the UK, rather than – as previously – being restricted to those who had previously received a Payment in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 215483 question first answered 25/11/2014 12:14:23 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	1431 label Biography information for Annette Brooke

156493

	registered interest
	date	18/11/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Marriage: Humanism
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish their legislative plans to allow humanist marriages now that the public consultation is closed.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Whitaker
	uin	HL2935
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government is carefully considering the analysis of the responses we have received and the implications for marriage law and practice if a change were to be made to legislation. We plan to publish the Government’s response to the review by 1 January 2015.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 26/11/2014 13:17:08 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
	tabling member	2510 label Biography information for Baroness Whitaker

166087

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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: Fees and Charges
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are measuring the impact of auto-enrolment on fees charged by the investment management industry; and what plans they have to track any changes.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL3145
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government’s Command Paper, ‘Better Workplace Pensions: Further measures for savers’, published in March, set out a range of measures including a cap on charges in default fund arrangements, a ban on inappropriate charges and proposals to introduce minimum governance standards and improve transparency across workplace defined contribution schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Following this, Government launched its consultation on draft regulations on governance and charges in occupational pension schemes in October 2014. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the majority of this legislation will come into force from April 2015, alongside Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules in relation to workplace personal pension schemes where appropriate. From April 2015, the Government intends to introduce a charge cap on the default funds of qualifying schemes, set at 0.75 per cent of funds under management and the first phase of enhanced transparency with trustees and Independent Governance Committees (IGCs) being required to report on costs and charges for the first time.</p><p> </p><p>In 2015 Government will consult on regulations under duties in the Pensions Act 2014 requiring information about transaction costs to be disclosed to members and others, and the publication of costs and charges information. The FCA also intends to consult on amending their own rules to introduce equivalent enhanced transparency provisions for workplace personal pension schemes during 2015. The Government has also set out its plans to review the level of the default fund charge cap, to see if it should be lowered, and also whether it should include some or all of the transaction costs that are ultimately borne by members within a cap. This review will take place in 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Taken together the combined effect of these measures on charges, governance and transparency and the Government’s commitment to a review should ensure that savers are being enrolled into workplace schemes that are well run and in members’ interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:19:52 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

164420

	registered interest
	date	24/11/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Written Questions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for which written questions tabled by the hon. Member for Shipley in 2014, and answered with a promise to write a letter, a letter has (a) been and (b) not been sent.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	215747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Ministry of Justice takes its parliamentary correspondence very seriously, and every attempt is made to answer Parliamentary Questions on time. If this is not possible, Ministers commit to respond by letter once the necessary information has been obtained.</p><p> </p><p>The way this data is collected changed from 4 June 2014. To provide information before that date would incur disproportionate costs. Since 4 June, Ministers committed to respond by letter to questions from the hon. Member for Shipley 28 times.</p><p> </p><p>a) Letters have been sent to answer the following questions: 199722, 199724, 199725, 199726, 202556, 202782, 203440, 204455, 204505, 204641, 204642, 204652, 204653, 204660 and 205007.</p><p> </p><p>b) Letters in response are being prepared for: 204500, 204646, 204681, 211070, 213919, 213927, 213928 (linked to 213927), 213935, 214192, 214193 (linked to 214192), 215016, 215018, and 215019 (linked to 215018). Of these, 9 were committed to since 20 November 2014.</p><p> </p><p>These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 01/12/2014 16:59:03 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

155533

	registered interest
	date	11/11/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: LGBT+ People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what measures his Department has put in place to protect prisoners declaring themselves to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered from homophobic abuse and bullying while in detention.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	214242
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) will not tolerate violence of any kind in prisons and takes any instance extremely seriously. It insists on respectful and decent behaviour from staff, prisoners and others with whom we work. Where discrimination, harassment or bullying, either homophobic or for any other reason occurs, we take prompt and appropriate action. All violence (including bullying, victimisation and harassment), is dealt with quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution.</p><p> </p><p>Current policy contained in Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 64/2011 states that every verbal or physical act of violence must be challenged, and this includes bullying. Any prisoners engaging in violence, intimidation or bullying behaviour will have their privileges reviewed and may be subject to prosecution or disciplinary action.</p><p> </p><p>NOMS is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence with the aim of issuing further guidance to prison staff in early 2015.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 27/11/2014 12:58:07 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott