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1129515

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	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	Occupational Money Purchase Schemes
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to legislate to introduce collective defined contribution schemes by the end of 2019.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hain
	uin	HL16000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>This Government has recently published a response to a Collective Defined Contribution schemes consultation setting out its plans, and has engaged extensively with key stakeholders.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 18/06/2019 15:52:00 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	567 label Biography information for Lord Hain

1129551

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	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	Arcadia Group: Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Ministers or officials have (1) written to, (2) had any meetings with, or (3) communicated in other forms with, Sir Philip Green, Lady Christina Green or the Pensions Regulator in connection with the Arcadia Group Pension Scheme.
	tabling member printed	Lord Myners
	uin	HL16036
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Neither Ministers nor officials have written to, had meetings with, or communicated in other forms with Sir Philip Green or Lady Christina Green.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers and officials have quarterly meetings with the Pensions Regulator, but not specifically concerning Sir Philip Green or the Arcadia Group. This is because the Pensions Regulator is an independent body, and as such the Government cannot intervene or influence its actions. The Regulator also keeps DWP officials informed about its work in monitoring pension schemes.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 18/06/2019 15:51:18 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

1130233

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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	Occupational Money Purchase Schemes
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 5 June (HL15876), whether they intend to legislate to introduce collective defined contribution schemes by the end of 2019.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hain
	uin	HL16094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Noble Lord to my previous responses. The Government will bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/06/2019 15:47:35 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	567 label Biography information for Lord Hain

1130234

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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	Poverty
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last discussed (1) low and insecure incomes, (2) issues emerging from the rollout of Universal Credit, and (3) increased demand for food banks, with representatives of the relevant voluntary agencies; and what was the outcome of those discussions.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL16095
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>Ministers and officials have regular meetings with key stakeholders to discuss a diverse range of issues that fall within the Department’s remit and impact on the lives of claimants. Many of these contacts occur at a local level between Jobcentres and external stakeholders which serve or represent their local communities, and such contacts are not recorded centrally, and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit is designed to react and respond quickly to feedback from our stakeholders and claimants to improve the service we offer; ensuring welfare payments reach those who need them most, and effectively supporting those with insecure or fluctuating incomes. At a national level we meet regularly with stakeholders, partners and third party organisations to discuss Universal Credit and invite views and collaboration, for example, on the design of the processes for moving people onto Universal Credit. This includes identifying and tackling barriers and concerns.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, the Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid within our society.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/06/2019 11:32:43 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1130235

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Repayments
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for modifiying the repayment of Universal Credit advance payments in order to take into account individual circumstances such as debts related to (1) utilities, (2) Council Tax, and (3) previous loans.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL16096
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance, and from October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>The average advance amount for new claims is around £400, which can be repaid over a period of 12 months, at a rate of £33.33 per month. Therefore, in the majority of cases, advance payment recovery is small in comparison to the whole Universal Credit award, with a current average award of £658 per month.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that exceptional circumstances may occur to claimants that were not foreseen when the advance was taken out. Help is available for those struggling to meet the recovery rate once recovery begins and if the claimant is facing unexpected financial hardship they can ask the Department for a deferral of the repayment of any advance they have taken out. The deferral periods are up to 3 months for a new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances advance and up to 6 months for a Budgeting advance.</p><p> </p><p>Where a claimant has a reduction in benefit due to a Fraud Penalty or Conditionally Sanction that equals or exceeds 40% of their Universal Credit standard allowance then no advance repayment will be taken. If there is insufficient Universal Credit in payment due to reductions such as earnings, other income and capital yield to take the full amount of advances repayment, a lesser amount will be taken.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/06/2019 11:35:17 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1130254

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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	Arcadia Group: 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 (1) decisions taken by the trustees of the Arcadia Group Pension Scheme which may have contributed to an aggregate deficit of liabilities over assets of some £700 million, (2) the oversight of the Arcadia Scheme by the Pensions Regulator, and (3) the Pensions Regulator's use of its powers in relation to the Arcadia Scheme.
	tabling member printed	Lord Myners
	uin	HL16115
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government cannot intervene with the decisions taken by trustees of pension schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator is an independent body, and as such the Government cannot comment on any cases dealt with by the Regulator. Due to this, the Government does not have plans to review the oversight exercised over the Arcadia scheme, or the use of powers in relation to the scheme.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/06/2019 15:46:29 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

1130974

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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	Retirement: Health
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of people over the age of 60 that have had to retire as a result of ill-health.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	262373
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department set out its strategy to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027 in the 2017 Command Paper “Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability”. A key element of this is action to help keep people (including older workers) with health conditions in work. We are already investing in testing new interventions to support people, including our Health-Led Trials, and the Government is working to ensure employers and key stakeholders across all sectors adopt and implement the core and enhanced mental health standards set out in <em>Thriving at Work: The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health</em>.</p><p>To support older people falling out of labour market due to health conditions, the Government has extended the right to request flexible working for all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer. Access to flexible working practices, such as flexi-time, compressed hours and remote working, is key to helping older workers stay in the labour market.</p><p> </p><p>We are also exploring further ways to reduce the number of people who leave work each year for health reasons and will consult on measures to encourage and support all employers to play their part. This consultation will also propose ways to improve access to occupational health.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><p> </p><p>In February 2017 Government published an employer-led Strategy <em>Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach</em>, which sets out the importance of Fuller Working Lives for employers and individuals. It also sets out action Government is taking to support older workers to remain in the labour market.</p><p> </p><p><em>Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability</em> published in November 2017 set out an ambitious and comprehensive programme of action to support disabled people and people with long term physical and mental health conditions to get into and stay in work and progress in rewarding careers. This action spans the workplace, health and welfare settings.</p><p> </p><p>Since the launch of the publication, progress has been made in a number of areas including:</p><ul><li>Health Led Trials, the worlds largest trial of Individual Placement and Support, testing whether the internationally proven model to support people with severe mental health conditions to find sustained work can be as effective to those with different conditions.</li><li>More than doubled the number of Employment Advisors in IAPT services, ensuring that more people with mental health problems receive employment support to them get into or remain in work.</li><li>Undertaken a substantial package of activity within the health system itself, both to support healthcare professionals to have effective, appropriate, work conversations with their patients, and are exploring ways to reform the fit note.</li></ul> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/06/2019 16:10:19 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1130982

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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	Universal Credit: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the effect of universal credit on the level of rent arrears owed to Scottish local authorities; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
	uin	262433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has not made an assessment of this nature.</p><p> </p><p>Caution should be exercised when considering any assessment of arrears derived from local authority level data which seeks to compare the legacy and Universal Credit welfare systems. This is because they do not compare groups with the same characteristics; typically, the legacy benefit group have been on benefits for some time, where the arrears may be under long-term management. The Universal Credit group, on the other hand, are often new to benefits, and are likely to have experienced a change in their circumstances – for example, a debt-creating event like losing a job or separation. Any arrears for this group will not have been under management and had time to clear.</p><p> </p><p>The initial analytical work we have carried out with a housing provider suggests that many tenants are arriving on Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears, that their arrears tend to increase prior to making a claim for Universal Credit, and that Universal Credit actually appears to be helping to clear arrears over time. We are currently extending this analysis to include a number of other housing providers. It will be published when completed. Furthermore, according to latest figures in November 2018 about 8 per cent of social rented households were on Universal Credit; therefore, it is difficult to see how a national trend can be attributed to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>We have, however, responded to concerns in this area by putting a number of safeguards in place, such as 100% advances repayable over 12 months, increasing to 16 months in October 2021; a two-week Transition to Universal Credit Housing Payment; a new Help to Claim service to assist people to make their claim more easily; and Managed Payment to Landlord Arrangements, which allow for payments direct to the landlord if the tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments, is unlikely to pay their rent or is in rent arrears equivalent to two months.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, in Scotland, the Department delivers Universal Credit Scottish choices on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing the option of Universal Credit being paid twice a month rather than monthly, and having Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to landlords.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/06/2019 15:28:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney

1131065

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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	Disability: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recent Scope report Now is the Time 2018, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of a cross-departmental approach to support the families of disabled children.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Dorset and North Poole
	tabling member printed	Michael Tomlinson
	uin	262453
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s vision for disabled children and young people is the same as for everyone else – to enable them to fulfil their potential, achieve well in education, and to live happy and fulfilled lives. To support this aim, the Disability and Society Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) was set up last year to drive forward action across Government to tackle the barriers disabled people face to realising their full participation in society. Whilst disability policy is the responsibility of all Departments, by working together we can improve disabled people’s participation, for which we are jointly responsible.</p><p>We are also committed to working with a wide and diverse range of people and organisations to shape and improve government's approach. We announced our new Regional Stakeholder Network in December 2018, which will bring the views of disabled people, local disability organisations, disabled people led organisations, and organisations that represent disabled people closer to government.</p><p>The UK Government has some of the strongest equalities legislation in the world and we will continue to ensure that these rights are protected, just as we will continue to develop policies to tackle the barriers faced by disabled people.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/06/2019 15:51:26 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4497 label Biography information for Michael Tomlinson

1131067

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	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	Disability: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the role of the Minister for Disabled People is in co-ordinating children and families policy across Government.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Dorset and North Poole
	tabling member printed	Michael Tomlinson
	uin	262454
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance leads on policy for children and families within DWP – including the delivery of the Reducing Parental Conflict programme, the Child Maintenance Service, Maternity benefits and the Family Test which was developed to ensure that potential impacts on family relationships and functioning are considered in advice put to Ministers. To strengthen implementation of the Family Test, we are currently working across government with a newly created Family Test Network.</p><p> </p><p>To fulfil this role DWP works with a range of other departments to ensure the policy we deliver for children and families is effective, but it does not coordinate children and families’ policy across government.</p><p> </p><p>Part of the role of the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work is to work across government to encourage development of policies to tackle the barriers disabled people face to realising their full participation in society. Whilst disability policy is the responsibility of all departments, by working together we can improve disabled people’s participation, for which we are jointly responsible.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 18/06/2019 15:50:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4497 label Biography information for Michael Tomlinson