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1077098

registered interest
date	25/02/2019
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: British Nationals Abroad
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 impact of a no-deal Brexit on UK pension claimants living in EU countries.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL14018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2019 answer text <p>As the Government set out in its Policy Paper ‘Citizens’ Rights – EU citizens in the UK and UK Nationals in the EU’ we wish to secure continued reciprocal arrangements covering the up-rating of State Pensions even in the event of a no deal exit. UK State Pensions will be uprated, as they are currently, for those recipients living in EU countries for 2019/2020.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 08/03/2019 13:43:54 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1064623

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
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: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help reduce levels of child poverty in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL13942
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2019 answer text <p>There is clear evidence that work offers the best opportunity for families to move out of poverty and towards financial independence. Children in workless households are around 5 times more likely to be in poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. 62% of children living in a workless couple family are in relative poverty (before housing costs) compared with only 3% where both adults work full-time.</p><p>This is why we are continuing to undertake the most ambitious reform to the welfare system in decades – so that it supports people to find and to stay in work. Nationally, there are now over 3.5 million more people in work. Universal Credit is at the heart of these reforms. It is designed to promote full-time work and employment for partners where possible, through smoother incentives to increase hours.</p><p>Working parents on UC can have up to 85% of their childcare costs reimbursed – worth up to £1,108 per month for someone with two or more children. We have also introduced additional flexibility on support for up front childcare costs, increased work allowances, and doubled free childcare available to working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours per week.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 27/02/2019 15:58:26 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

997097

registered interest
date	29/10/2018
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
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 claim by the Centre for Social Justice in its report, A Social Housing Strategy, published on 27 October, that the cost of housing benefit will treble to more than £70 billion a year by 2050.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL11101
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2018 answer text <p>In their 2018 Fiscal Sustainability Report, the Office for Budget Responsibility projected that relative to the size of the UK economy, spending on Housing Benefit in 2050/51 will be very similar to current levels, at 1.2% of GDP.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 05/11/2018 12:36:15 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

967547

registered interest
date	04/09/2018
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: Small Businesses
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises that have set up an auto-enrolment pension scheme have done so correctly, and (2) safeguard workers against pension contribution errors made by their employers.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL10030
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment has been a great success, with over 9.8 million employees enrolled and more than 1.3 million employers having met their duties to date.</p><p>The Department and The Pensions Regulator remain committed to enabling small and micro employers to comply with automatic enrolment by making the experience as straightforward as possible for this group.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this work, the Regulator launched an interactive step-by-step guide. This simplified guide to meeting automatic enrolment duties is designed to meet the specific needs of employers who may not have pensions experience, including those with just one or two staff. The guide includes an online tool so that employers can easily find out what they will need to do to comply and when. Using the online tool also means employers will receive tailored communications relevant to their circumstances. The step-by-step guide to automatic enrolment can be found on their website.</p><p> </p><p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate compliance framework. This is administered by The Pensions Regulator, and includes detailed regulatory guidance about how to comply with the law. An employer is required to select a qualifying pension scheme; enrol qualifying staff into that scheme, and deduct any contributions payable under automatic enrolment.</p><p>Employers are also required to pay those contributions across to their chosen pension provider by a set deadline. Although the deadlines for contribution payments vary, depending on the type of scheme being used, there is an overall legal deadline of the twenty-second day of the following month; which aligns with the HMRC deadline for paying tax and National Insurance.</p><p>Qualifying pension schemes for automatic enrolment are subject to the same regulatory framework as all trust-based workplace pension schemes, also overseen by The Pensions Regulator. The Regulator has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions; provide information to help members check their contributions; and report material payment failures to the Regulator.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 11/09/2018 15:44:53 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

947127

registered interest
date	23/07/2018
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their plans to address payment errors and delays for people attempting to claim Universal Credit.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL9817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>Around 80 per cent of new claims are paid in full and on time. In many cases, where full payment is not made on time by the end of the first assessment period, this is as a result of unresolved issues such as: some claimants have not signed their Claimant Commitment or passed identity checks, and the others have outstanding verification issues, such as for housing and self-employed earnings. Whilst their verification is on-going, many of these claimants receive a part payment for those elements of the claim that have been resolved. Within five weeks of the payment due date, 95 per cent of claims are paid in full.</p><p>DWP continues to monitor payment timeliness and we have made changes to improve payment timeliness. For example, we have built processes into the system to make it easier and quicker for people to verify information such as their housing costs.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are available to provide financial support until the first payment and these can now be repaid over a course of 12 months and can consist of up to 100 per cent of the indicative monthly award. We have also abolished waiting days and now provide 2 weeks of housing support to claimants moving to Universal Credit from Housing Benefit.</p><p> </p><p>If a claim has been delayed due to error, DWP can also consider awarding an ex-gratia payment, as set out in the guide of Financial Redress for Maladministration, available on gov.uk, and which is attached.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 31/07/2018 13:50:40 question first ministerially corrected 31/07/2018 14:41:10 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe attachment 1 file name HL9817 Financial Redress for Maladministration FR.PDF title Financial Redress for Maladministration previous answer version 72633 answering member printed Baroness Buscombe answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

944434

registered interest
date	18/07/2018
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 Workers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to (1) encourage more people over 50 years old to participate in the work place, and (2) increase training and skills opportunities available for this age group.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL9669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The number of workers aged 50 and over currently in employment is at a record high of 10.1 million - an increase of 1.4 million over the last 5 years and an increase of 2.2 million over the last 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>The Equality Act 2010, already provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer or an employment service provider such as a recruitment agency, to discriminate against an older employee or job applicant because of their age, and this applies both where the employer is making arrangements to fill a job, and in respect of anything done during the course of a person’s employment. DWP continues to work with businesses and stakeholder organisations to support older workers to remain in and return to work and challenge outdated perceptions about older workers.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to the labour market and in Feb 2017, published a new strategy ‘Fuller Working Lives: A Partnership Approach’. The Strategy is led by employers, but also sets out the case for action by individuals, and the role of Government in supporting older workers to remain in and return to work. The Strategy and supporting evidence base are available on the gov.uk website. Additionally, the Government announced a National Retraining Scheme in the Autumn Budget 2017 - an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult learning and retraining. The National Retraining Scheme will give individuals the skills they need to progress in work, redirect their careers and secure the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future, focusing on those individuals and places who need it most.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL9614 question first answered 31/07/2018 12:11:40 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

943401

registered interest
date	17/07/2018
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 Workers: Discrimination
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to address age discrimination in the workplace and to ensure that older workers remain competitive.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL9614
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2018 answer text <p>The number of workers aged 50 and over currently in employment is at a record high of 10.1 million - an increase of 1.4 million over the last 5 years and an increase of 2.2 million over the last 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>The Equality Act 2010, already provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer or an employment service provider such as a recruitment agency, to discriminate against an older employee or job applicant because of their age, and this applies both where the employer is making arrangements to fill a job, and in respect of anything done during the course of a person’s employment. DWP continues to work with businesses and stakeholder organisations to support older workers to remain in and return to work and challenge outdated perceptions about older workers.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to the labour market and in Feb 2017, published a new strategy ‘Fuller Working Lives: A Partnership Approach’. The Strategy is led by employers, but also sets out the case for action by individuals, and the role of Government in supporting older workers to remain in and return to work. The Strategy and supporting evidence base are available on the gov.uk website. Additionally, the Government announced a National Retraining Scheme in the Autumn Budget 2017 - an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult learning and retraining. The National Retraining Scheme will give individuals the skills they need to progress in work, redirect their careers and secure the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future, focusing on those individuals and places who need it most.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe grouped question UIN HL9669 question first answered 31/07/2018 12:11:40 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

904287

registered interest
date	14/05/2018
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	Employment: Disability
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are they taking to promote a more inclusive work environment for people with disabilities and increase their participation in the workforce.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL7861
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2018 answer text <p>Our Disability Confident scheme aims to help and encourage more employers to become good employers of disabled people. Nearly 6,000 employers have already signed up to Disability Confident.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work provides support of up to £57, 200 per annum in addition to any other benefits that disabled claimants may be entitled to, so that they can stay in work and progress to senior levels, while having their support needs met.</p><p> </p><p>As set out in the recent Command Paper, <em>Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability</em>, we want to work in partnership with employers to help them draw fully on the talents of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions and build workplaces that promote the health and wellbeing of their workforce. We are taking a number of steps to do this, including improving advice and support for employers and exploring how to achieve the right balance of incentives and expectations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 23/05/2018 12:20:07 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

897109

registered interest
date	02/05/2018
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to support those businesses that will find it difficult to manage the increase in minimum contributions for automatic enrolment pensions for their staff.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL7533
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2018 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment was introduced to address the fact that millions of people were not saving enough for their retirement, and with the aim of making saving for later life normal for most people in work. It has been a great success with over 9.5 million workers enrolled into pension saving and more than 1.1 million employers having met their duties to date. Reforms on this scale represent significant change, and we particularly recognise the crucial role that employers of all sizes are playing in delivering them.</p><p> </p><p>The independent Making Automatic Enrolment Work review in 2010 specifically considered the impact of the policy on employers and changes to reduce burdens were implement in the Pensions Act 2011.</p><p><br>The planned increases to the statutory minimum contributions - known as <em>phasing</em> - were built into the automatic enrolment reforms from the start. The initial minimum employer contribution of 1 per cent increased to 2 per cent in April 2018. An employer is free to pay more than the minimum at any time, and many are already doing so. There has been a long lead in time to enable employers and individuals to prepare for these increases, with support and communications from the Pensions Regulator and DWP. The increased contributions were scheduled to coincide with changes to take home pay which normally take place at the start of the tax year, to help minimise the administrative burden for employers.</p><p><br>Government is closely monitoring the impact of the increases on both employers and individuals to inform our approach to supporting the second planned increase in contributions from April 2019.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 09/05/2018 13:29:00 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

895221

registered interest
date	01/05/2018
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: Self-employed
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to address the decline in the proportion of self-employed people who are actively saving into a pension.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL7481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2018 answer text <p>We are working to deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to improve pension participation and retirement outcomes amongst self-employed people. In December 2017, we published a review of automatic enrolment (AE), <em>Maintaining the Momentum,</em> setting out our position on the self-employed and retirement saving.</p><p>The self-employed represent a highly diverse group of around 15 per cent of the workforce amongst whom pension coverage varies significantly. The December Review recognised that while a significant proportion of the 4.8 million self-employed individuals in the UK have good levels of saving and preparation for later life, there are significant numbers of self-employed people are under saving, or at risk of under saving for retirement.</p><p>We are investigating the most effective ways to address this, learning from the principles and successful roll-out of AE to appropriately target interventions and understand what works, and we are utilising pensions’ industry expertise. DWP and HMT held a recent innovation event with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), exploring how technology and existing financial products could be part of the solution to enabling self-employed people to build retirement savings for their later life.</p><p> </p><p>Government will continue to test and develop targeted interventions for the self-employed before setting out our proposals to implement workable solutions at scale.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 09/05/2018 13:27:51 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick