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1137206

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
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	Television Licences: Peterborough
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 free television licences issued to residents in (a) Peterborough City Council and (b) Peterborough constituency in each of the last three years; and what the total annual value was of those licences.
tabling member constituency	Peterborough
tabling member printed	Ms Lisa Forbes
uin	273836
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The Government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.</p><p> </p><p>This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament. On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.</p><p> </p><p>The table below provides estimates of the costs for providing free TV licences to people aged 75 years and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.</p><p /><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Caseloads (thousands)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Peterborough Local Authority</strong></p></td><td><p>11.0</p></td><td><p>11.3</p></td><td><p>11.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Peterborough constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>7.1</p></td><td><p>7.3</p></td><td><p>7.2</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Expenditure (£m) (Nominal)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Peterborough Local Authority</strong></p></td><td><p>£1.56</p></td><td><p>£1.57</p></td><td><p>£1.62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Peterborough constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>£1.01</p></td><td><p>£1.02</p></td><td><p>£1.03</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 10/07/2019 13:55:21 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4717 label Biography information for Ms Lisa Forbes

1136948

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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	Older People: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that older people receive the financial support they are entitled to.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	273349
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they make a claim for State Pension or report a change in their circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>The DWP uses a wide range of channels including information on <a href="https://gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://gov.uk/</a>, in leaflets and by telephone to communicate information to potential customers about benefits, such as Pension Credit. Anyone wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234 and 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>Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners and there are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming over £5billion but we want to ensure that everyone eligible can claim what they are entitled to. 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>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 organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit and forthcoming changes for couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek it.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, the Government’s commitment to the triple lock has meant that the full basic State Pension is now worth around £1600 a year more (in cash terms) than it was in 2010 and significantly, the majority of people of pension age in receipt of a State Pension or another social security benefit receive their annual winter fuel payment automatically without the need to make a claim.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/07/2019 14:22:38 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1136989

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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	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 take-up of pension credit among people without internet access.
tabling member constituency	Lincoln
tabling member printed	Karen Lee
uin	273486
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners. There are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming Pension Credit worth over £5billion a year. However, the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.</p><p> </p><p>We also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be best placed to understand the local circumstances and needs in the community. For this reason 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>Organisations can use the Pension Credit calculator <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to help people check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, 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>, but also 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>In Lincoln there are just under 3,000 pensioners already claiming Pension Credit. The easiest way to make a claim is by telephone. People can telephone either the Pension Service helpline for general enquiries on 0800 731 0469 or those wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 273489 question first answered 12/07/2019 11:32:15 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4664 label Biography information for Karen Lee

1136990

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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	Pension Credit: Lincoln
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average amount of unclaimed pension credit is per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Lincoln
tabling member printed	Karen Lee
uin	273487
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested on the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed the benefit and the average amount of unclaimed pension credit per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln is not available at constituency level.</p><p> </p><p>Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 273488 question first answered 12/07/2019 13:46:11 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4664 label Biography information for Karen Lee

1136992

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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	Pension Credit: Lincoln
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed that benefit in the constituency of Lincoln in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Lincoln
tabling member printed	Karen Lee
uin	273488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested on the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed the benefit and the average amount of unclaimed pension credit per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln is not available at constituency level.</p><p> </p><p>Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 273487 question first answered 12/07/2019 13:46:11 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4664 label Biography information for Karen Lee

1136993

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
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	Pension Credit: Lincoln
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 engage with local organisations in Lincoln to increase the take-up of pension credit in that city.
tabling member constituency	Lincoln
tabling member printed	Karen Lee
uin	273489
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners. There are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming Pension Credit worth over £5billion a year. However, the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.</p><p> </p><p>We also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be best placed to understand the local circumstances and needs in the community. For this reason 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>Organisations can use the Pension Credit calculator <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to help people check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, 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>, but also 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>In Lincoln there are just under 3,000 pensioners already claiming Pension Credit. The easiest way to make a claim is by telephone. People can telephone either the Pension Service helpline for general enquiries on 0800 731 0469 or those wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 273486 question first answered 12/07/2019 11:32:15 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4664 label Biography information for Karen Lee

1136188

registered interest
date	02/07/2019
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	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 she has made of the increase in impartial pensions guidance usage following the introduction of the Financial Guidance and Claims Act’s provisions for ensuring savers first receive impartial pensions guidance before accessing their pension savings.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Erdington
tabling member printed	Jack Dromey
uin	272167
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Since its creation in January, the Money and Pensions Service has been working with government and pension providers in developing tests to determine how a stronger nudge into taking pensions guidance would work effectively in practice. Prior to its launch this work was progressed by Pension Wise under DWP.</p><p> </p><p>An independent contractor has been appointed to carry out these tests in partnership with a number of pension providers. An evaluation report will be published this financial year, which will form the basis for which option is selected. Until the report has been published, we are unable to make an estimate in relation to an increase in the expected take up of Pension Wise guidance.</p><p> </p><p>The Money and Pensions service continue to provide guidance appointments via Pension Wise, making 205,000 appointments available across their channels this financial year which would be almost three and a half times higher than Pension Wise’s first year of operation. Pension Wise have been successful in increasing demand for appointments year on year across all its channels.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 271427 question first answered 09/07/2019 13:57:40 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	3913 label Biography information for Jack Dromey

1135807

registered interest
date	01/07/2019
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	Workplace Pensions
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 publication of the master trust and GPP defaults report by Corporate Adviser magazine, whether her Department plans to reduce the protection on charges for members of occupational pension schemes used for automatic enrolment.
tabling member constituency	Wallasey
tabling member printed	Ms Angela Eagle
uin	271354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>The DWP have no such plans. The Corporate Adviser report (available on request from <a href="https://corporate-adviser.com/" target="_blank">https://corporate-adviser.com/</a>) showed that the vast majority of pension savers are in schemes are able to invest in a range of diversified assets at prices well below the automatic enrolment charge cap. Therefore I do not intend to reduce member protections.</p><p> </p><p>In my 2017 written statement HCWS249 (<a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-11-16/HCWS249/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-11-16/HCWS249/</a>) I committed to reviewing the level and scope of the charge cap in 2020, alongside the suitability of ‘combination charges’ (where a percentage charge on funds is combined with a charge on contribution or a flat annual fee), to see whether a change is needed to protect members.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 04/07/2019 14:12:02 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1135930

registered interest
date	01/07/2019
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	Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of non-advised pension savers used a face-to-face or telephone appointment with the Pension Wise guidance service when accessing their pension benefits in each of the last four years since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Erdington
tabling member printed	Jack Dromey
uin	271426
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Below are the number of people who have sought guidance from Pension Wise year on year. As well as face-to-face and telephone appointments, since 2017 Pension Wise have also provided digital appointments. Information on the proportions of non-advised pension savers accessing their pension is not available. Over 50s with Defined Contribution pensions are eligible for guidance appointments with Pension Wise. Some of these customers may go on to seek independent financial advice.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Face to Face</p></td><td><p>Telephone</p></td><td><p>Digital</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>40,989</p></td><td><p>19,950</p></td><td><p>NA</p></td><td><p>60,939</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>48,413</p></td><td><p>17,761</p></td><td><p>NA</p></td><td><p>66,174</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>63,185</p></td><td><p>24,289</p></td><td><p>34677</p></td><td><p>122,151</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>90,448</p></td><td><p>39,667</p></td><td><p>37,611</p></td><td><p>167,726</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 09/07/2019 13:51:34 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	3913 label Biography information for Jack Dromey

1135931

registered interest
date	01/07/2019
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	Pensions
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 for pension savers to start benefiting from the provisions of the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 for ensuring that those savers receive impartial pensions guidance before accessing their pension savings.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Erdington
tabling member printed	Jack Dromey
uin	271427
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Since its creation in January, the Money and Pensions Service has been working with government and pension providers in developing tests to determine how a stronger nudge into taking pensions guidance would work effectively in practice. Prior to its launch this work was progressed by Pension Wise under DWP.</p><p> </p><p>An independent contractor has been appointed to carry out these tests in partnership with a number of pension providers. An evaluation report will be published this financial year, which will form the basis for which option is selected. Until the report has been published, we are unable to make an estimate in relation to an increase in the expected take up of Pension Wise guidance.</p><p> </p><p>The Money and Pensions service continue to provide guidance appointments via Pension Wise, making 205,000 appointments available across their channels this financial year which would be almost three and a half times higher than Pension Wise’s first year of operation. Pension Wise have been successful in increasing demand for appointments year on year across all its channels.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 272167 question first answered 09/07/2019 13:57:40 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	3913 label Biography information for Jack Dromey