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174950

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
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	Japan Tobacco: Ballymena
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support an application to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in respect of job losses in Northern Ireland following the decision of Japanese Tobacco International to close its manufacturing plant in Ballymena.
tabling member printed	Lord Empey
uin	HL4329
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text <p>The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) Regulations set out strict criteria and eligibility for potential applicants. It is questionable whether the redundancy situation in this case meets EGF eligibility.</p><p> </p><p>The Department of Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland, through its Redundancy Service, offers tailor-made and wide ranging packages of support measures such as those that would be funded through EGF.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government wishes to see real budgetary restraint in the EU in order to avoid unaffordable high costs to the UK. Any successful EGF application would count as a receipt to the UK and would therefore lead to a reduction in the abatement.</p><p> </p><p>Pursuing domestic schemes, such as the Northern Ireland Redundancy Service, would therefore represent better value for money.</p><p> </p><p>Nevertheless, if any bid that were to come forward to my Department, met the criteria and represented value for money, it would receive full consideration.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 02/02/2015 13:04:20 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4216 label Biography information for Lord Empey

173571

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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	Winter Fuel Payment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many recipients of the Winter Fuel Payment are higher rate taxpayers.
tabling member printed	Lord Tyler
uin	HL4131
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments<sup>1</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.</p><p> </p><p>Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue<sup>2</sup>.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.</p><p>The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.</p><p>The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.</p><p> </p><p>2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.</p><p>This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4132 HL4133 question first answered 26/01/2015 12:13:04 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	225 label Biography information for Lord Tyler

173572

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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	Winter Fuel Payment: Repayments
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, and if so how, recipients of the Winter Fuel Payment may return their payment to the Treasury.
tabling member printed	Lord Tyler
uin	HL4132
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments<sup>1</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.</p><p> </p><p>Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue<sup>2</sup>.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.</p><p>The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.</p><p>The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.</p><p> </p><p>2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.</p><p>This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4131 HL4133 question first answered 26/01/2015 12:13:04 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	225 label Biography information for Lord Tyler

173573

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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	Winter Fuel Payment
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 revenues which would be realised by applying income tax to Winter Fuel Payments.
tabling member printed	Lord Tyler
uin	HL4133
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments<sup>1</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.</p><p> </p><p>Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue<sup>2</sup>.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.</p><p>The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.</p><p>The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.</p><p> </p><p>2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.</p><p>This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4131 HL4132 question first answered 26/01/2015 12:13:05 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	225 label Biography information for Lord Tyler

173598

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the charges, fees and commissions paid by consumers in relation to private pensions are transparent.
tabling member printed	Lord McFall of Alcluith
uin	HL4158
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The Government is committed to improving the transparency of costs and charges in workplace pension schemes. The Government’s Command Papers ‘Better Workplace Pensions: Further measures for savers’ and ‘Better Workplace Pensions: Putting savers interests first’ published in March and October 2014 set out a range of measures including a cap on charges in default fund arrangements, a ban on inappropriate charges and proposals to introduce minimum governance standards and improve transparency across workplace defined contribution schemes.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has recently consulted on draft legislation which, subject to parliamentary approval, will introduce new requirements on trustees to improve the transparency of costs and charges in occupational schemes from April 2015. Under these new requirements, trustees will be required to annually report on costs and charges for the first time. Similar rules are to be introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority to require the newly formed Independent Governance Committees to report on costs and charges in workplace personal pension schemes.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Later this year we will consult on ways to build on this first phase of enhanced transparency, to meet our duties under the Pensions Act 2014 requiring information about transaction costs to be disclosed to members of workplace pension schemes, and the publication of costs and charges information. The FCA also intends to consult on amending its rules to with a view to introducing equivalent enhanced transparency provisions for workplace personal pension schemes during 2015.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 20/01/2015 15:03:14 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith

173599

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to promote (1) increased competition, and (2) the levying of fair fees and commissions, in the private pensions industry.
tabling member printed	Lord McFall of Alcluith
uin	HL4159
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The Government and regulators have introduced a package of measures, including establishing Independent Governance Committees to improve governance in contract based pension schemes, improved governance standards for trust based schemes and the introduction of a 0.75 per cent cap on charges in the default funds of schemes used for automatic enrolment. Subject to Parliamentary approval, these changes will come into effect from April.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also banning a number of charges which are no longer appropriate in the context of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions. From April 2015, we will extend the existing ban on consultancy charging to all contract-based schemes used for automatic enrolment. Likewise, adviser commission and Active Member Discounts, which penalise those who stop contributing or leave their employer and move jobs, will be banned in all schemes used for automatic enrolment from April 2016. We are also introducing measures to improve transparency throughout the value chain in the workplace pensions market and expect that this will lead to increased competition on costs and charges to the benefit of the consumer.</p><p> </p><p>The recent pensions flexibility reforms are also an opportunity for the retirement income industry to develop new products that meet the evolving needs of consumers. The new flexibility will help consumers choosing to select an annuity or another option to access their pension savings to get a better deal in a more competitive market place. The shape of the market will now be driven by the choices consumers make, placing power back into the hands of savers.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, as of the end of December, over 5.1 million workers have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. This is having a significant impact on the private pensions market and by 2020, we estimate that automatic enrolment will have generated an additional £8 to £12 billion a year in workplace pension saving. The growth in this market is supporting strong competition between providers and schemes.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 20/01/2015 15:58:49 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith

170968

registered interest
date	17/12/2014
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	Temporary Accommodation: Greater London
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to uprate the Housing Benefit Subsidy regime for temporary accommodation to address any difficulties experienced by London boroughs in procuring accommodation for statutorily homeless households at or below 90 per cent of the 2011 rate of Local Housing Allowance.
tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
uin	HL3875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>There are no current plans to uprate the Local Housing Allowance rate applicable to Temporary Accommodation in Housing Benefit.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 18/12/2014 16:10:53 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

169666

registered interest
date	11/12/2014
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the proportion of people whose defined contribution pension fund is in the ranges (1) £0 to £5,000, (2) £5,000 to £10,000, (3) £10,000 to £15,000, (4) £15,000 to £20,000, (5) £20,000 to £25,000, (6) £25,000 to £30,000, (7) £30,000 to £35,000, (8) £35,000 to £40,000, (9) £40,000 to £45,000, (10) £45,000 to £50,000, and (11) over £50,000.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL3653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Estimates of defined contribution wealth in the accumulation phase have been made by DWP using the Wealth and Assets survey (WAS). The analysis excludes individuals with zero DC wealth and includes all adults aged 16 and over.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1: Distribution of individuals with wealth in DC pensions not yet in payment, 2010/12</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>DC Wealth in Accumulation phase</p></td><td><p>% of individuals</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £0 and £4,999</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £5,000 and £9,999</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £10,000 and £14,999</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £15,000 and £19,999</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £20,000 and £24,999</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £25,000 and £29,999</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £30,000 and £34,999</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £35,000 and £39,999</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £40,000 and £44,999</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>between £45,000 and £49,999</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>greater than £50,000</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: DWP analysis of ONS WAS data from 2010-12 (Wave 3)</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 17/12/2014 17:40:23 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

168858

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
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	Care Homes: Electrical Safety
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 he has made of the adequacy of legislation covering electrical safety in care homes.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Jim Fitzpatrick
uin	217956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>All health and safety legislation was subject to independent review by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt in 2011. As part of the review, Professor Löfstedt was also asked to review comments received through the Government’s Red Tape Challenge on health and safety regulation. There was no specific comment on the adequacy of legislation covering electrical safety in care homes received from either review.</p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 16/12/2014 12:16:33 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
tabling member	197 label Biography information for Jim Fitzpatrick

169041

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
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	Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultants, (b) temporary staff and (c) contingent labour in each of the last five years; how many people have been so employed; what the length of contract of each such person was; and what equivalent civil service salary band each was on.
tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
uin	217787
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p><strong>Spend on consultants, temporary staff and contingent labour over the last 5 years: </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2009/10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011/12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Consultants</strong></p></td><td><p>£27,554,654</p></td><td><p>£11,267,277</p></td><td><p>£6,507,648</p></td><td><p>£12,650,325</p></td><td><p>£11,662,269</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Temporary Staff*</strong></p></td><td><p>£22,179,497</p></td><td><p>£2,448,477</p></td><td><p>£1,272,341</p></td><td><p>£19,038,479</p></td><td><p>£6,710,259</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Contingent Labour</strong></p></td><td><p>£63,155,793</p></td><td><p>£30,277,388</p></td><td><p>£10,913,144</p></td><td><p>£14,459,590</p></td><td><p>£12,995,091</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>*Temporary Staff includes Casuals and Fixed Term Appointments employed for less than 12 months only.</p><p> </p><p>Spend on consultancy, contingent labour and temporary staff reduced in 2011/12 as the Cabinet Office Spend Controls introduced by the coalition government in May 2010 took effect. Whilst these controls are still being applied spend in these areas has since increased in response to the need for specialist external support to meet the demands of DWP major change programmes such as UC and PIP, and in response to business needs for temporary staff mainly in Operations.</p><p> </p><p>All requests for the recruitment of temporary staff are subject to recruitment freeze dispensations and are subject to Ministerial approval.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Number of consultants, temporary staff and contingent labour employed, length of contract and equivalent civil service salary:</strong></p><p> </p><p>Consultants:</p><p> </p><p>Consultants are not engaged on an individual basis. Consultancy services are delivered by a consultancy company which deploys resource according to the requirements of the engagement. Extracting data on the length of engagement of each consultant would be at disproportionate cost. Consultants do not have an equivalent civil service salary band.</p><p> </p><p>Temporary Staff:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band A/AA</strong></p></td><td><p>169</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band B/AO</strong></p></td><td><p>2,333</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>360</p></td><td><p>993</p></td><td><p>247</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band C/EO</strong></p></td><td><p>922</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>61</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band D/HEO</strong></p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band E/SEO</strong></p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band F/G7</strong></p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Band G/G6</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>SCS</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Other/Not Known</strong></p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p>3,454</p></td><td><p>83</p></td><td><p>371</p></td><td><p>1,071</p></td><td><p>254</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The above figures are for temporary staff engaged for less than 12 months only. No further breakdown of the length of engagement is available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>As at </strong><strong>31 March 2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Contingent Labour</strong></p></td><td><p>760</p></td><td><p>138</p></td><td><p>81</p></td><td><p>121</p></td><td><p>85</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>We are unable to extract data on the length of engagement of each contingent labour worker or the equivalent civil service salary band as this would be at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 16/12/2014 13:46:25 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell