Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1179915

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Members: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter from the Hon. Member for West Lancashire dated 5 November 2019 in relation to a constituent's employment and support allowance.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	19789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2020 answer text <p>I can only apologise to the hon. Member for the continued delay in this matter. I can assure her a substantive reply will be posted to her tomorrow.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 27/02/2020 18:05:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1177980

registered interest
date	12/02/2020
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: Poverty
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 Age UK's briefing entitled Poverty in later life, published September 2019, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the rise in pensioner poverty.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	1232
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>As a result of the triple lock, from April 2020 (subject to Parliamentary approval) the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £700 higher than if it had been just up-rated by earnings, since April 2010. From April 2020, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by average earnings. This is the equivalent of over £2,100 per year higher in cash terms for single people, and over £3,200 per year higher in cash terms for couples than it was in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty. There are 100,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than in 2009/10. Rates of material deprivation for pensioners are also at a record low. Since 2009/10 material deprivation for pensioners has fallen from 10% to 7% in 2017/18, and in 2019/20 the Government will spend around £100 billion on the State Pension.</p><p> </p><p>1.6 million people are already claiming around £5.4 billion in Pension Credit. The Government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are entitled. That is why on the 10 February 2020 we launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and encourage those over State Pension age to check whether they are eligible.</p><p> </p><p>To assist customers to prepare for retirement, the Government has introduced a number of initiatives including the launch of the online mid-life MOT page <a href="https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/" target="_blank">https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/</a> which provides guidance on how to obtain the right information to plan for retirement.</p><p> </p><p>The employer led strategy on fuller working lives <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf</a> aims to maximise the labour market opportunities for people to earn and save for longer reducing the risk of poverty once they have retired permanently from the labour market.</p><p> </p><p>We are also committed to enabling more people to save while they are working, so that they can enjoy greater security and independence when they retire. Automatic enrolment into workplace pensions has succeeded in transforming workplace pension saving for millions of today’s workers. Participation in workplace pension saving rose from 55 per cent in 2012 to 87 per cent of eligible employees in 2018, showing the positive impact of the workplace pension reforms.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 25/02/2020 13:41:13 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1177804

registered interest
date	11/02/2020
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 recent steps her Department has taken to increase the uptake of pension credit.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>1.6 Million people are already claiming some £5.4 billion in Pension Credit. The Government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled. That is why from the 10 February we are launching a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and encourage those over State Pension age to check whether they’re eligible. The campaign includes a short, animated video that will be shown in GP waiting rooms and in Post Offices. It will also be shown to Facebook users over State Pension Age and be supported by messaging on social media.</p><p> </p><p>We regularly work with our stakeholders to help spread the key messages from the campaign because we know that often the best ways to reach eligible pensioners is through trusted stakeholders working in the community. The Pension Credit toolkit is being updated with the campaign materials to supplement the resources it already contains for those working with pensioners, such as guides to Pension Credit and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit. The toolkit is designed to help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as provide ideas for encouraging 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 Department for Work and Pensions continues to use a wide range of channels including information on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a>, in leaflets and by telephone to communicate information about benefits including Pension Credit to potential claimants. We target activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or Attendance Allowance or report a change in their circumstances which may mean that they could be eligible for Pension Credit. In addition, the Pension Credit calculator <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> enables potential claimants 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 free phone number 0800 99 1234.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 13/02/2020 14:33:47 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1177805

registered interest
date	11/02/2020
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	Housing Benefit: Older People
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 (a) support older renters and (b) increase the uptake of pension age housing benefit.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2020 answer text <p>The rates of pensioner benefits, including Housing Benefit (HB), tend to be higher than some working-age income-related benefits, as pensioners as a group are likely to be reliant on benefits for a longer period and less able to change their circumstances or improve their income through work.</p><p>Local Authorities are responsible for administering HB and the take up of HB by pensioners is shown to be higher than the take up of Pension Credit.</p><p>The Department publishes an annual report detailing latest available statistics regarding the estimated take-up of HB and other income-related benefits.</p><p>The latest version can be found here: <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><p>The next report containing 2017/18 data will be published in due course.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 17/02/2020 16:51:53 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1172012

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
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: West Lancashire
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 people in West Lancashire constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	5365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving. It has reversed the decline in workplace pension participation seen in the decade prior to its introduction. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates.</p><p> </p><p>I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of December 2019:</p><p> </p><p>In the West Lancashire constituency, since 2012, approximately 16,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,710 employers have met their duties.</p><p> </p><p>Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink:</p><p><a href="https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests" target="_blank">https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 28/01/2020 11:28:58 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1148167

registered interest
date	03/10/2019
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	Access to Work Programme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Access to Work applications were (a) made and (b) successful in (i) England, (ii) Wales and (iii) Scotland in (A) 2016-17, (B) 2017-18 and (B) 2018-19.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	294118
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The information requested about number of applications and length of time between application and receiving support is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>However, in regard to number of successful applications, the published Access to Work statistics include how many applications resulted in provision being approved broken down by financial year and various customer characteristics including region. Please see Table 3 of the Access to Work statistics.</p><p /><p>The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 294119 294120 question first answered 08/10/2019 10:40:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1148168

registered interest
date	03/10/2019
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	Access to Work Programme
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 length of time was for support to provided to successful applications for Access to Work in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland in (i) 2016-17, (ii) 2017-18 and (iii) 2018-19.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	294119
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The information requested about number of applications and length of time between application and receiving support is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>However, in regard to number of successful applications, the published Access to Work statistics include how many applications resulted in provision being approved broken down by financial year and various customer characteristics including region. Please see Table 3 of the Access to Work statistics.</p><p /><p>The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 294118 294120 question first answered 08/10/2019 10:40:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1148169

registered interest
date	03/10/2019
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	Access to Work Programme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the longest time period was for a successful applicant for Access to Work support waited for before that support was put in place in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland in 2018-19.
tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
uin	294120
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The information requested about number of applications and length of time between application and receiving support is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>However, in regard to number of successful applications, the published Access to Work statistics include how many applications resulted in provision being approved broken down by financial year and various customer characteristics including region. Please see Table 3 of the Access to Work statistics.</p><p /><p>The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 294118 294119 question first answered 08/10/2019 10:40:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper