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 previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1354367

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2021
	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	Social Security Benefits: Post Office Card Account
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social security claimants receive their payments into a Post Office Card Account.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
	uin	45865
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2021 answer text <p>As of August 2021 the Department makes payments into less than 350k active Post Office Card Accounts. This is down from 1 million in 2019.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 14/09/2021 15:37:26 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1354368

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2021
	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	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, how many social security claimants have migrated payment of their claims from a Post Office Card Account (POca) to a bank account since the closure of the POca scheme has been announced.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
	uin	45866
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2021 answer text <p>The Department does not hold information on the number of claimants who have migrated from a Post Office card account to a standard account.</p><p> </p><p>The number of active Post Office card accounts has reduced from 1 million in August 2019 to less than 350k in August 2021.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 14/09/2021 15:35:43 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1299290

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2021
	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 assessment she has made of the level of uptake of pension credit.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
	uin	162649
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>The Department assesses levels of take-up of Pension Credit on an annual basis. Latest official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the publication ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2018 to 2019', available at.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The Department continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible. As part of an internal review of communication products, we have identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly. We have also improved the information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying the letters to over 11 million pensioners informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. No assessment has been made of the need for additional measures to increase Pension Credit take-up.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 162650 question first answered 09/03/2021 13:40:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 88227 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1299291

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2021
	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 assessment her Department has made of the need for additional measures to increase pension credit uptake.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
	uin	162650
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>The Department assesses levels of take-up of Pension Credit on an annual basis. Latest official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the publication ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2018 to 2019', available at.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2018-to-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>The Department continues to use available channels to promote Pension Credit and reach potential recipients, and their family and friends. This includes using proactive press activity and planned social media posts to encourage older people to check if they are eligible. As part of an internal review of communication products, we have identified improvements in our Pension Credit messaging at key customer “touchpoints” and are updating the products used to claim Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance accordingly. We have also improved the information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying the letters to over 11 million pensioners informing them about the increase in their State Pension from April. No assessment has been made of the need for additional measures to increase Pension Credit take-up.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman grouped question UIN 162649 question first answered 09/03/2021 13:40:28 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman previous answer version 88228 answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1132823

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	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	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, if she will publish a response to Early Day Motion 2390, Pensions for women born in the 1950s.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
	uin	266154
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The approach of Labour, Conservative and the Coalition governments for the last 24 years since the 1995 pensions Act is the same. This Government’s position on the changes to State Pension age (SPa) remains clear and consistent.</p><p /><p>We have considered the alternative options offered by stakeholders and found there are substantial practical, financial and legal problems to all alternative options offered by stakeholders so far to mitigate the impact on those affected. During the passage of the 2011 Act, the Government listened to the concerns of those affected and subsequently introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion in order to limit the impact on those women who would be most affected by the changes.</p><p> </p><p>In the years after the 1995 legislation, equalisation was frequently reported in the media and debated at length in Parliament. The changes were communicated in a variety of ways, for example with leaflets, extensive advertising campaigns were carried out and later individual letters were posted out. Throughout this period, the Department has also provided individuals with their most up-to-date State Pension age when they have requested a Pension statement. Between April 2000 and the end of April 2019, the Department provided more than 28 million personalised State Pension statements to people who requested them (either online or by telephone or post). We continue to encourage people to request a personalised State Pension Statement as part of our on-going communications.</p><p> </p><p>This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, and any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would be highly dubious as a matter of law. The Government has no plans to publish a response to EDM 2390.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 24/06/2019 16:54:58 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1123144

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2019
	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	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, if he will publish a response to EDM 2296 on providing financial restitution to born in the 1950s women.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
	uin	247728
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>The approach of Labour, Conservative and the Coalition governments for the last 24 years since the 1995 pensions Act is the same. This Government’s position on the changes to State Pension age (SPa) remains clear and consistent.</p><p> </p><p>The legislative changes to women’s SPa address the longstanding inequalities that had previously existed between men and women’s SPa. If State Pension age had not been equalised, women would be spending over 40 per cent of their adult life in retirement and this proportion would be continuing to increase. Even after equalising women's State Pension age with men's, women will spend on average around two years more in receipt of their State Pension because of their longer life expectancy.</p><p> </p><p>The overall trend in the percentage of pensioners living in poverty is a dramatic fall over several decades. We are forecast to spend over £120 billion on benefits for pensioners, including £99 billion on the State Pension (2019/2020). In 2019/20 we are spending £3.1 billion to increase benefit and pension rates for pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>The welfare system continues to provide a safety-net for those experiencing hardship, including that caused by unemployment, disability, and coping with caring responsibilities which affect those unable to work and therefore most in need in the run up to their State Pension age. Women who have had their State Pension age increased have the same eligibility to working age in-work, out-of-work and disability benefits as a man with the same date of birth.</p><p> </p><p>This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, and any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would be highly dubious as a matter of law. The Government does not respond to individual EDMs.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 30/04/2019 12:18:46 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady