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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

1130843

	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	Arcadia Group: Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Pensions Regulator has allowed the owners of Arcadia Group to phase their contribution to address that company’s pension deficit over a period of time instead of a single up-front payment; whether the Pensions Regulator is using financial advisers to determine whether Arcadia’s business plan will eventually cover the deficit; and if so, who are those advisers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Myners
	uin	HL16210
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The pensions framework established by Parliament in the Pensions Act 2004 sets out that ongoing employers may address the funding of their scheme deficits over a reasonable period of time. This responsibility falls on the company rather than its owners, other than where The Pensions Regulator has used its anti-avoidance powers. This approach of spreading funding of deficits was established to balance the needs of schemes with those of their sponsoring employers.</p><p> </p><p>The Arcadia trustees and the Arcadia group took an approach which was similar to many other schemes and employers in establishing recovery plans to address their schemes’ deficits over a number of years. In response to a request to vary those recovery plan payments, made in conjunction with the Arcadia Group’s Company Voluntary Arrangements proposals, The Pensions Regulator, working alongside the trustees and the Pension Protection Fund, has negotiated robustly to secure an enhanced package of support for the pension schemes in connection with a successful Company Voluntary Arrangement, worth significantly more than would be received if the Company Voluntary Arrangement is not successful and Arcadia Group Ltd becomes insolvent. This represents appropriate protection, in challenging circumstances, and is equitable in the context of the wider Company Voluntary Arrangements process.</p><p> </p><p>In assessing the turnaround plan presented by Arcadia, The Pensions Regulator has been informed by the analysis carried out by professional advisers to the trustees. The Pensions Regulator has considerable expertise in restructuring situations and this includes people in its regulatory teams with a background working in big chartered accountancy firms and restructuring operations in banks.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 24/06/2019 11:44:23 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

1131049

	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	Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints submitted to his Department by (a) hon. Members and (b) people in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	tabling member printed	Justin Madders
	uin	262405
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not available in the format requested and doing so could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service and can be found on Gov.uk</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not collect data about the parliamentary constituency for complaints received from members of the public. Numbers of complaints can be found at</p><p>(<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/complaints-about-the-department-for-work-and-pensions" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/complaints-about-the-department-for-work-and-pensions</a>)</p><p> </p><p>The number of complaints about DWP benefits from April 2018 to March 2019, where the Department’s management information indicated that there was an honourable Member interest, are as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Tier 1 (Resolution)</p></td><td><p>6,310</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tier 2 (Review)</p></td><td><p>51</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>These figures include complaints escalated across 2018/2019.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 21/06/2019 13:43:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1131211

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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	Workplace Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to publish its joint review with Her Majesty’s Treasury on survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Bury North
	tabling member printed	James Frith
	uin	263238
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Review on survivor benefits provided a wealth of important information. Since then the Supreme Court judgement in <em>Walker</em> has changed the landscape of survivor benefits. The Government is assessing the detailed implications of the Review in the context of this important judgement and will respond in due course.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 19/06/2019 14:13:32 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4637 label Biography information for James Frith

1131245

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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	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 19 June 2019 to Question 260559 on universal credit, what assessment she has made of the average length of time taken to repay in full advance payments made under universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	263065
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants have the ability to make the decision for themselves on the time period for repayment. Most claimants (around 85%) choose to repay their advance over a 12-month period, with others repaying in a shorter timeframe.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 19/06/2019 17:00:48 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123347 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1131288

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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	Department for Work and Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on advertising in the last 12 months; and what proportion of that spend was on advertising for universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Stalybridge and Hyde
	tabling member printed	Jonathan Reynolds
	uin	263149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>We are the biggest Government Department providing support on a daily basis to around 22 million citizens. We have a responsibility to raise awareness of the benefits people may be entitled to and ensure they have the information they need when it comes to making a claim.</p><p> </p><p>The Department also has a responsibility to ensure claimants do not miss out on their full entitlements and to encourage people to make their claim as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p>We use advertising to communicate to our claimants. Total advertising spend across the Department in the 12 months from April 2018 to March 2019 was £17,351,663 of which the Universal Credit Opening Up Work campaign accounted for £4,600,209. We can commit to publishing an update 2019/20 advertising spend at the end of July.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 19/06/2019 16:52:56 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4119 label Biography information for Jonathan Reynolds

1131301

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	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	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 estimate she has made of the number of additional claims that will be made for pension credit following the limiting of free TV licences to people aged over 75 claiming that benefit.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
	tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
	uin	263077
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>The BBC made its announcement about future eligibility of free TV licences on Monday 10 June. It is too early for an assessment of the potential impact on additional Pension Credit claims to be made. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits, including pension credit at general Great Britain level can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication. <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 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 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>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 0800 99 1234.</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>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>Most recently we have provided to relevant organisations a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the recent changes for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 25/06/2019 13:34:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 123349 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan