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759458

	registered interest
	date	11/09/2017
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will change current regulations so that employers are required to issue annual automatic pension statements.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	9730
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2017 answer text <p>Trustees and providers of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes are required to issue annual statements to members which must include the current value of the pension pot, the amount contributed in the previous year and a projected estimate of what pension income the pot may buy at retirement. We have no plans to require employers to issue such statements.</p><p> </p><p>Employers who sponsor defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are not required to issue annual pension statements, although some sponsors do. However if a statement is requested by a member sponsors of DB schemes are required to issue one within two months.</p><p> </p><p>As defined benefit (DB) pensions normally promise a specific income in relation to salary and length of service, there are minimal annual fluctuations in entitlement. Placing a legal requirement on DB schemes to issue annual statements, particularly where the estimated pension remains unchanged, would place a disproportionate cost burden on defined benefit schemes. We have no plans to require schemes to issue such statements.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 15/09/2017 13:27:01 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1139900

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	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: Fraud
	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 15 July 2019 to Question 275665 on universal credit: fraud, what steps her Department is taking to close a loophole in the online application process which enables people to make an application and claim an advance using another person’s information.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	278345
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2019 answer text <p>The Department takes the prevention of fraud extremely seriously. Part of its strategy includes ensuring Universal Credit transactions are secure, including tackling loopholes fraudsters may seek to exploit, which sadly can target some of our most vulnerable claimants.</p><p>It is, however, important to recognise that the vast majority of advances on Universal Credit are legitimate and ensure those in need of financial support get the help they need during their transition to Universal Credit.</p><p>All claims where fraud may have been committed are investigated. We are committed to the use of penalties such as prosecutions and tough financial penalties, where appropriate, to discourage this fraudulent behaviour. The Department considers all cases on their own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p>Additionally, we have a dedicated team of investigators to address this issue, and are working with Social Media sites to shut down posts which promote this fraud. The Department also operates a policy of explicit consent to help reduce the risk of fraud by ensuring that our claimants’ data is kept safe from unscrupulous organisations and individuals.</p><p>The Department is also raising awareness of this issue through a campaign being run on social media to remind people of the importance of safeguarding their identity. We have also been working to further improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff and guidance has been issued to ensure that staff are aware how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/09/2019 10:48:17 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

839165

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2018
	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	Occupational Money Purchase Schemes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is to present to Parliament, the secondary legislation required to enable Collective Defined Contribution pensions.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	127723
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2018 answer text <p>The Department is engaging with the very limited number of parties interested in delivering Collective Defined Contribution pensions. The Government is considering what, if any legislation would be appropriate and await detailed proposals once the parties have made their position clear. There is currently no timetable for presenting legislation to Parliament. The Department has recently responded to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/02/2018 12:01:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1016310

	registered interest
	date	28/11/2018
	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: Advisory Services
	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 14 November 2018 to Question 191268, on Pensions: Advisory Services, what steps he is taking to encourage those identified in the pension wise service evaluation report for 2016-17 who are not pre-disposed to taking actions that help them make informed decisions on their pensions.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	196692
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>Take up of the Pension Wise guidance service is growing. Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, take up of appointments more than doubled and continues to increase. Pension schemes and providers are required to signpost people to Pension Wise at key contact points. Pension providers are consistently cited by around half of the people who contact Pension Wise as the place they first heard of the service. The Financial Conduct Authority have consulted on changes to these requirements with a view to increasing the take up of Pension Wise guidance.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Wise marketing strategy across TV, Radio, web, Press and Video on Demand, as well as search engine optimisation, aims to get maximum reach amongst the target audience. This has proven to an effective way of both raising awareness of the service and driving take-up of appointments.</p><p> </p><p>Pension Wise is also working with employers nationally and locally to engage with their employees at their place of work. Pension Wise delivery partners also undertake local promotional activities, raising awareness of the service at local events.</p><p> </p><p>The Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 establishes a new Single Financial Guidance Body which will bring together the services currently provided by the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise. The new body will make it easier for people to access information and guidance to help them make effective financial decisions. This Act also set a framework for implementing a stronger final nudge towards Pension Wise at the point people seek to access their pension and we are engaging with providers to find the most effective approach.</p><p> </p><p>The 2016-17 Pension Wise service evaluation report did not specifically identify a group who are not pre-disposed to taking actions that help them make informed decisions on their pensions. It was predominantly a survey of Pension Wise customers, but included a group of non-users, for the purposes of comparison and to help understand why they had not used the service.</p><p> </p><p>The latest Pension Wise service evaluation report has now been published and is available online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-wise-service-evaluation-2017-to-2018-customer-experiences-and-outcomes" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-wise-service-evaluation-2017-to-2018-customer-experiences-and-outcomes</a></p><p> </p><p>Finally, the DWP has just issued a consultation on the Pensions Dashboard, which will specifically assist on the provision of information to all consumers on the issue of pensions and retirement planning.</p><p> </p><p>The dashboard statement can be found here:</p><p><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> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/12/2018 16:28:06 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1006974

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to encourage uptake of the Pension Wise guidance service.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	191267
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>Take up of the Pension Wise guidance service is growing with more and more people having appointments. Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, take up of appointments more than doubled and continues to increase.</p><p> </p><p>Pension schemes and providers are required to signpost people to Pension Wise at key contact points. Pension providers are consistently cited by around half of the people who contact Pension Wise as the place they first heard of the service. The FCA have consulted on changes to these requirements with a view to increasing the take up of Pension Wise guidance.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Wise marketing strategy across TV, Radio, web, Press and Video on Demand, as well as search engine optimisation, aims to get maximum reach amongst the target audience. This has proven to an effective way of both raising awareness of the service and driving take-up of appointments.</p><p> </p><p>Pension Wise is also working with employers nationally and locally to engage with their employees at their place of work. Pension Wise delivery partners also undertake local promotional activities, raising awareness of the service at local events.</p><p> </p><p>The Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 establishes a new Single Financial Guidance Body which will bring together the services currently provided by the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise. The new body will make it easier for people to access information and guidance to help them make effective financial decisions. This Act also set a framework for implementing a stronger final nudge towards Pension Wise at the point people seek to access their pension and we are engaging with providers to find the most effective approach.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 20/11/2018 14:56:11 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1143562

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2019
	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 steps her Department is taking to increase the number of eligible pensioners claiming pension credit.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	285190
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2019 answer text <p>It is important to highlight that there are over 1.6 million people already claiming some £5.4 billion in Pension Credit but the Government wants to ensure that <em>all</em> pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.</p><p>On a national basis 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> </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 the Freephone number 0800 99 1234.</p><p> </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> </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> </p><p>Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples 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 06/09/2019 13:13:15 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1141826

	registered interest
	date	24/07/2019
	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: Fraud
	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 22 July 2019 to Question 278344 on universal credit: fraud, what recourse is available to people, particularly vulnerable people, who have benefited financially but who were unaware that a universal credit advance was the source of the money.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	281563
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/09/2019 16:04:02 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1144840

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2019
	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	Money and Pensions: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding was provided to (a) the Money Advice Service, (b) the Pensions Advisory Service and (c) Pension Wise in each of the five years up to and including 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	286627
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/09/2019 16:04:34 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1006977

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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: Advisory Services
	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 Pension Wise guidance service, what information her Department holds on the (a) demographic characteristics of and (b) actions and decisions taken as a result of that guidance being sought by people who have completed a (i) telephone appointment, (ii) face-to-face appointment and (iii) digital journey with that service in the 12 month period ending October 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	191268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>Information on demographic characteristics of Pension Wise Customers and actions and decisions taken as a result of the guidance are published in the Pension Wise Service Evaluation. The latest published report covers 2016/17 and can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/653621/pension-wise-service-evaluation-full-year-findings.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/653621/pension-wise-service-evaluation-full-year-findings.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>The demographic profiles of telephone and face-to-face customers are given and compared in Section 2: Customer profiles (pages 4-9). The steps and decisions taken by Pension Wise appointment customers are covered in Section 7: Steps taken and Section 8: Making a decision (pages 32-42).</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Wise Service Evaluation report for 2017/18 is forthcoming and will be similarly available on GOV.UK once published. The sampling for the annual Service Evaluation surveys is based around appointments delivered in the autumn of each year. As there are few seasonal differences in customer profiles, we would expect the data in the successive reports to reflect the profiles, experiences and outcomes of customers across the financial year that they relate to.</p><p> </p><p>The Service Evaluation for 2018/19, is currently in the field and publication of the report is expected to be in Autumn 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Customers completing the digital journey are not covered by the published research findings or the forthcoming report. We are looking to include this channel in the 2018/19 Pension Wise Service Evaluation survey sampling and reporting.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 20/11/2018 14:57:39 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 85872 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1006972

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2018
	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: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had (a) a telephone appointment, (b) a face to face appointment and (c) completed a digital journey with the Pension Wise guidance service in the 12 month period ending October 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	191266
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2018 answer text <p>In the 12 month period ending 31 October 2018, there were (a) 32,440 telephone appointments, (b) 78,961 face to face appointments and (c) 44,969 digital journey completions.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 20/11/2018 14:18:54 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 85865 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe