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851619

registered interest
date	28/02/2018
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	Workplace Pensions
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 effect of pensions auto-enrolment on the income of low-paid workers.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
tabling member printed	Ian Murray
uin	130382
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment has been a great success story with nearly 9.3 million workers enrolled into pensions saving. More than 1 million employers have met their automatic enrolment duties.</p><p> </p><p>Pension saving involves a balance between spending needs today versus saving for tomorrow – our system enables people to save and get an employer contribution, in most cases with tax relief too, so as to build retirement provision for their future. And it’s a system that allows people to opt out if they so choose. And importantly, the earnings trigger –currently at £10,000 and which is kept under annual review– is set at a level at which it ‘pays to save’ for individuals.</p><p> </p><p>The largest increase in participation has been among those for whom the policy was developed, including eligible low earners with some 63% of these workers in the private sector earning between £10,000 and £19,999 now saving into a workplace pension.</p><p> </p><p>We want to build on this, and we are increasing the minimum contributions from the current 2% of qualifying earnings to 5% in April 2018 and 8% in April 2019 to improve the level of savings, and in our 2017 Review of automatic enrolment set out our ambition for reforms which together would increase a median earners’ private pension pot size at retirement by over 40 per cent and for lower earners by over 80 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the potential impact on low paid workers; but of the 10 million employees we expect to be newly saving or saving more by April 2018 as a result of automatic enrolment, many will not see a fall in their take home pay because the increase in contributions will be counter-balanced by increases to the personal tax allowance, any pay increases, and the national living wage.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/03/2018 12:40:59 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

851667

registered interest
date	28/02/2018
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	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 discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on ensuring that all people with pre-payment meters who are eligible for the winter fuel payment have that payment applied automatically.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	130430
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>Winter Fuel Payments are cash payments based on age and residence, and are not means tested. Most payments are made automatically between November and December based on information held by my Department; payments can also be claimed via Gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and my Department work with energy companies to deliver discounts to energy bills through the Warm Home Discount Scheme. This provides an annual discount of £140 on the electricity bills of over 2 million low-income households. It is available to households in receipt of certain means-tested benefits whose energy supplier is covered by the Scheme. Households receiving the Guarantee Credit of Pension Credit should receive these discounts on their bills automatically. Those in receipt of other selected benefits may apply for a discount to their energy company. Customers using all payment types, including pre-payment meters, are eligible for the Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/03/2018 15:48:22 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

851668

registered interest
date	28/02/2018
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	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 steps her Department takes to retrospectively pay winter fuel payments to eligible recipients with pre-paid meters who have not had that payment applied by their energy supplier.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	130431
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>Winter Fuel Payments are cash payments based on age and residence, and are not means tested. Most payments are made automatically between November and December based on information held by my Department; payments can also be claimed via Gov.uk.</p><p>In addition, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and my Department work with energy companies to deliver discounts to energy bills through the Warm Home Discount Scheme. This provides an annual discount of £140 on the electricity bills of over 2 million low-income households.</p><p>Customers using all payment types, including pre-payment meters, are eligible for the Scheme. The method of payment depends on the electricity supplier and the type of meter. The money isn’t paid to the customer - it’s a one-off discount on their electricity bill, between September and March. The discount is provided to eligible customers as a payment credited to their electricity account, or as a credit on their electricity key or meter, during the winter.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/03/2018 15:48:38 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

850779

registered interest
date	27/02/2018
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	State Retirement Pensions: West Midlands
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands will not receive the new state pension as a result of failing to meet the National Insurance Contributions threshold.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	130013
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The new State Pension (nSP) was introduced for people reaching State Pension age from 6<sup>th</sup> April 2016 onwards. To qualify, people usually need to have a minimum of ten years on their National Insurance record when they reach State Pension age. Our latest data on the number of qualifying years people have are for the 2015/16 financial year, so we do not yet have any data on the numbers of people reaching State Pension age under the new State Pension with less than 10 years of National Insurance contributions.</p><p> </p><p>Our analysis published in January 2016 forecast that around 2% of women in Great Britain reaching State Pension age by 2020 would have less than 10 qualifying years. Subject to qualification, Pension Credit may be available for people who are not eligible for the new State Pension.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/03/2018 15:47:41 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

851075

registered interest
date	27/02/2018
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	Pensioners: Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of tapering state benefits when an employee retires and has an auto-enrolment pension.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
tabling member printed	Ian Murray
uin	130259
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The new State Pension is not means tested. There are no plans to change this.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/03/2018 15:48:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

849968

registered interest
date	26/02/2018
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	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, how many women in (a) Dwyfor Meirionnydd, (b) Wales and (c) the UK will not receive the new state pension as a result of failing to meet the National Insurance Contributions threshold.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	129536
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2018 answer text <p>The new State Pension (nSP) was introduced for people reaching State Pension age from 6<sup>th</sup> April 2016 onwards. To qualify, people usually need to have a minimum of ten years on their National Insurance record when they reach State Pension age. Our latest data on the number of qualifying years people have are for the 2015/16 financial year, so we do not yet have any data on the numbers of people reaching State Pension age under the new State Pension with less than 10 years of National Insurance contributions.</p><p> </p><p>Our analysis published in January 2016 forecast that around 2% of women in Great Britain reaching State Pension age by 2020 would have less than 10 qualifying years. Subject to qualification, Pension Credit may be available for people who are not eligible for the new State Pension.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/03/2018 14:20:31 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

849981

registered interest
date	26/02/2018
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	Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps she is taking to ensure the accuracy of calculations of the contracted-out pension equivalent in state pension forecasts; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Argyll and Bute
tabling member printed	Brendan O'Hara
uin	129549
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2018 answer text <p>The Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) estimated amount provided with State Pension forecasts is calculated based on the information held on the individual’s NI record at the time the State Pension forecast is produced.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 06/03/2018 13:16:07 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4371 label Biography information for Brendan O'Hara

850181

registered interest
date	26/02/2018
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	State Retirement Pensions: 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, what assessment she has made of the timeliness of state pension payments to UK nationals living abroad whose payments have been outsourced to an American Bank.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	129749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2018 answer text <p>The payment of state pensions to UK nationals has not been outsourced.</p><p> </p><p>Benefit and pension payments are dispersed to overseas customers on their due date in accordance with clearance times stipulated by each countries international clearing house. These can fluctuate between 2 and 11 days, depending on the countries processing regulations.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/03/2018 14:17:20 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

850182

registered interest
date	26/02/2018
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	State Retirement Pensions: 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, whether her Department has outsourced the payment of state pensions for UK nationals who live abroad to a bank based in the United States.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	129750
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2018 answer text <p>The Payment of state pensions to UK nationals has not been outsourced.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions continues to make assessments for all customer benefits. When issuing benefits and pensions to customers overseas, the Department has to use a sponsor bank to facilitate the payments. The Department’s current banking provider for overseas payments is Citibank N.A (London Branch). The Bulk Foreign Exchange Services contract is contracted by HM Revenue &amp; Customs through the office of Government Banking on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions. Benefit and pension payments to overseas countries are forwarded by Citibank to the appropriate country’s clearing service which then disperses them directly to the customer’s chosen bank.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/03/2018 14:11:56 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

847723

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
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	State Retirement Pensions: 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, what assessment she has made of the number of UK pensioners who live overseas who will return to live in the UK due to the lack of uprating to state pensions.
tabling member constituency	Warrington South
tabling member printed	Faisal Rashid
uin	129399
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2018 answer text <p>The decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual. The policy on up-rating UK state pensions overseas is a long-standing policy of successive Governments. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide without regard to nationality to those people who meet the eligibility criteria and are up-rated for recipients resident abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so. HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions publish information on the effect of moving abroad on the State Pension which is available at: www.gov.uk.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/03/2018 15:47:19 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4670 label Biography information for Faisal Rashid