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804291

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2017
	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: Christmas
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures are being taken to ensure that Universal Credit claimants are paid on time over the Christmas season.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	118498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2017 answer text <p>The Department will advance the timing of all payments for people affected by bank holidays, to make sure they have money over the festive period. This year, we have also added a faster payment contingency function for people who need a Universal Credit advance.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit payments due to be received on 23, 24, 25 &amp; 26 December will be paid no later than 22 December.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit payments due to be received on 30, 31 December &amp; 1 January will receive payment no later than 29 December.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/12/2017 16:11:32 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1359198

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	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	Household Support Fund: Crawley
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what level of funding from the Household Support Fund will initially be received by Crawley Borough Council.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	56260
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is boosting households with £500m funding this winter, with £421m dedicated to the Household Support Fund in England, which will help vulnerable people in England with essential household costs. The funding is being made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England. West Sussex will receive £4,870,362.11. County Councils are expected to work together with District Councils to provide support and to ensure the funding meets its objectives by identifying those most in need.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 25/10/2021 15:12:55 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1484670

	registered interest
	date	29/06/2022
	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	Cost of Living Payments: Crawley
	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 Universal Credit claimants who will receive a cost of living payment in Crawley constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	27575
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2022 answer text <p>Universal Credit claimants who were entitled to at least 1p during assessment periods that ended between 26 April 2022 to 25 May 2022 will be eligible for the £326 Cost of Living Payment.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics on the number of households that had an assessment period which covered the monthly count date and received a Universal Credit payment are available by Westminster parliamentary constituency at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics show the number of households with Universal Credit in payment on 10<sup>th</sup> February 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 07/07/2022 14:51:51 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1147257

	registered interest
	date	30/09/2019
	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 Funds
	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 ensure pension funds consider the impact of climate change when taking investment decisions.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	292199
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that climate change is a defining national and international emergency, and we have introduced three key measures to ensure that pension schemes understand their responsibilities in responding to it.</p><p> </p><p>Firstly, since January 2019 those running single employer occupational pension schemes have been required to establish an effective system of governance including consideration of environmental, social and governance factors related to investment assets in investment decisions.</p><p> </p><p>Secondly, also since January 2019 schemes with 100 or more members must carry out and document a risk assessment of their system of governance including risks relating to climate change, the use of resources and the environment and risks relating to the depreciation of assets as a result of regulatory change (known as transition risk).</p><p> </p><p>Thirdly, as of 1st October, trustees of occupational pension schemes must state their policy on how they take account of the financial risks of climate change when developing their investment strategies. Defined contribution pension schemes are also required to publish their policy online.</p><p> </p><p>As the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion I have spoken extensively about the new requirements and made clear this Government’s expectations of pension schemes.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 07/10/2019 11:42:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1233027

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2020
	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	Pensions: Fraud
	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 potential increase in pension scams since the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	87524
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>Through Project Bloom, DWP works with other government departments, regulators, enforcement agencies and the pensions industry to monitor the evolution of scam typology and respond with a collective and coordinated response. Project Bloom is examining the range of measures that all agencies including providers and financial professionals could take to help prevent scams.</p><p> </p><p>At the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. The group includes DWP, HMT, both the Pensions Regulator and the FCA as well as the Money and Pensions Service and the Pension Ombudsman. This is supported by cross government and regulator gathering, monitoring and evaluating of data in order to develop as complete and robust a picture as possible. At this point the Department doesn’t yet have any robust evidence showing an increase in pension scams activity but will continue to monitor across the industry.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to active monitoring, the Government, working with the regulators and the Money and Pension Service has been communicating with pension savers to alert them to the risk of scams in the current climate. DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media out the warning signs of a scam. A <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">joint statement</a> was issued by The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Money Advice and Pension Service on 7 April pointing to the actions members should seek to take to safeguard against becoming victims of scams. Additional guidance was issued to trustees, and providers from both The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator to support them to produce suitable communications during the Covid-19 outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/09/2020 15:35:38 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1233030

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2020
	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	Pensions: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have contacted Action Fraud on potential pension scams since the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	87526
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government continues to work with Regulators and the Police to prevent scams and this has continued during Covid-19. In the period March – July 2020, 116 reports of pension fraud were received by Action Fraud, compared to 179 for the same period in 2019.</p><p> </p><p>In recognition of the potential impact of Covid-19 on individual’s pensions savings the Department convened a cross-government and regulator group, to closely monitor and respond to any increase in transfers and scams. Regulators, Police and Action Fraud have confirmed that to date no evidence has emerged to demonstrate an increase in either transfers or scams, based on their internal monitoring of the industry. Although this is encouraging Government recognises it needs to continue to monitor and react to the changing environment.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/09/2020 11:08:01 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1233031

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2020
	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	Pensions: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have booked a Pension Wise guidance session since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	87527
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2020 answer text <p>Between March 1<sup>st</sup> and September 9<sup>th</sup> 2020, the number of Pension Wise guidance sessions booked totalled 64,221.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 16/09/2020 12:31:32 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1233033

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2020
	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	Financial Services: Advisory Services
	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 potential merits of implementing a training programme for pension and finance professionals to ensure they can more readily identify scam risks.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	87528
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to working closely with industry, regulators and pension scheme providers to help identify and prevent scams, it is working with Project Bloom, the Pension Regulator led taskforce, to stop scams and co-ordinate action against offenders.</p><p> </p><p>Through Project Bloom, DWP works with other government departments, regulators, enforcement agencies and the pensions industry to monitor the evolution of scam typology and respond with a collective and coordinated response. Project Bloom is examining the range of measures that all agencies including providers and financial professionals could take to help prevent scams.</p><p> </p><p>DWP will consider with Project Bloom, industry and the regulators the feasibility of how a training programme could be developed. This would build on training individual providers already provide for their people.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/09/2020 15:52:40 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1233035

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2020
	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	Pensions: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with HMRC on its investigation of tax rule breaches arising from pension scams.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	87529
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>Tax liabilities relating to unauthorised payments and HMRC’s investigation of tax rules arising from pension scams are the responsibility of HMT. DWP will continue to work closely with HMRC to understand their position and how these may impact the Pensions Schemes Bill and savers.</p><p> </p><p>Government continues to work with regulators and industry to protect consumers and find the best ways of preventing pension scams. HMRC and DWP have held regular discussions relating to the enhanced protection measures in the Pension Scheme Bill 2020.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/09/2020 10:54:22 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1233037

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2020
	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	Pensions: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with (a) pension regulators, (b) pension providers and (c) HMRC on encouraging victims of pensions scams to report that scam.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	87530
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2020 answer text <p>Through Project Bloom, DWP works with other government departments, regulators, enforcement agencies and the pensions industry to monitor the evolution of scam typology and respond with a collective and coordinated response. Project Bloom is examining the range of measures that all agencies including providers and financial professionals could take to help prevent scams.</p><p> </p><p>DWP consistently works with other organisations to raise awareness of pension scams and encourage reporting, including regular campaigns, from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator, conducted through the ScamSmart branding. Alongside promoting what to look out for to recognise a pension scam, the ScamSmart campaigns and website encourage people to report when they think they have been scammed. These messages are proving effective, in the most recent campaign prior to Covid-19, June to September 2019 over 222,000 visited the ScamSmart website to find out how to identify a scam scheme and report a scam.</p><p> </p><p>The Government, working with the regulators and the Money and Pension Service communicates with pension savers to alert them to the risk of scams in the current climate. DWP continues to communicate regularly on social media to set out the warning signs of a scam and has made 18 posts referencing Pension Scams and ScamSmart in total across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in the period March to September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>A <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">joint statement</a> was issued by The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Money Advice and Pension Service on 7 April pointing to the actions members should take to help safeguard against scams. Additional guidance was issued to trustees, and providers from both The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator to support them to produce suitable communications during the Covid-19 outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported by government.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions" target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 17/09/2020 15:48:25 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith