The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government has not yet implemented its policy to increase the Pension Protection Fund compensation cap for service over 20 years; and when he plans to implement that policy.
Justin Tomlinson
I refer the hon.Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to 24981
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23225, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward changes to secondary legislation that are necessary to implement the relevant provisions of the Pensions Act 2014.
Justin Tomlinson
Work on the changes needed to secondary legislation in relation to the Pension Protection Fund long service cap has begun. I am not, at this stage, able to say when these changes will be brought forward.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of carer’s allowance where the person cared for is a stroke survivor.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the New Enterprise Allowance in achieving its aims.
Priti Patel
Latest statistics show that 80,830 new businesses have been set up with the support of the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA).
A survey of NEA recipients was published in January 2016 and found that of businesses that had started trading following receipt of NEA support, four in five were still trading giving a sustainability rate of 80%. Of these, over nine in ten had been trading for over 12 months.
This report was published on 28 January and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-enterprise-allowance-survey.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34466, for what reason a save function is only available as part of the universal credit full service.
Priti Patel
The ‘save and return’ functionality is available in the Universal Credit Full Service because the Full Service has all the security features necessary to safeguard the claimant’s data, by confirming the identity of the returning user.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2016 to Question 33647, whether he plans to continue the Fit for Work programme for the full length of the contract.
Justin Tomlinson
In England and Wales, the Fit fir Work contract was awarded on the 25th July 2014 for a period of 5 years. DWP continues to undertake contract management with the supplier. In Scotland, the service is delivered via an agency agreement with the Scottish Government, made in November 2015 and reviewed annually.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the efficiency of the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies in (a) identifying pensioners as they become eligible for payments and (b) ensuring that payments are processed and triggered for payment on the due date.
Justin Tomlinson
Departmental preparations for the reform of non-departmental public bodies take account of the Checklist for Departments published by the Cabinet Office, which includes advice on pensions.
In the past five years, the Department has reformed three bodies which employed staff.
In two cases, staff pensions were provided by the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has established procedures in place for identifying pensioners as they become eligible, and ensuring that payments are processed on time:
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 31 July 2012 and employed 7,652 full time equivalent staff, all of whom were civil servants;
The Independent Living Fund legally closed on 30 June 2015, however a small residual team of 15 staff was retained until 30 September to deal with any residual closure issues. It had previously employed 99.5 full time equivalent staff.
In April 2015, the Remploy business was sold to a new company outside Government control. The majority of its employees transferred to that company and left the Remploy Pension Scheme at the time. The pension scheme continues to be managed by its trustees and the scheme administrators, who remain responsible for identifying pensioners and ensuring they are paid appropriately once they become eligible. At 1 January 2016, the Remploy Pension Scheme had approximately 18,000 members, of whom over 9,500 were deferred members and thus potential future pensioners. From 1 April 2016, my Department is now the Principal Employer for this scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of future pensioners who will be eligible for payments by the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies.
Justin Tomlinson
Departmental preparations for the reform of non-departmental public bodies take account of the Checklist for Departments published by the Cabinet Office, which includes advice on pensions.
In the past five years, the Department has reformed three bodies which employed staff.
In two cases, staff pensions were provided by the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has established procedures in place for identifying pensioners as they become eligible, and ensuring that payments are processed on time:
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 31 July 2012 and employed 7,652 full time equivalent staff, all of whom were civil servants;
The Independent Living Fund legally closed on 30 June 2015, however a small residual team of 15 staff was retained until 30 September to deal with any residual closure issues. It had previously employed 99.5 full time equivalent staff.
In April 2015, the Remploy business was sold to a new company outside Government control. The majority of its employees transferred to that company and left the Remploy Pension Scheme at the time. The pension scheme continues to be managed by its trustees and the scheme administrators, who remain responsible for identifying pensioners and ensuring they are paid appropriately once they become eligible. At 1 January 2016, the Remploy Pension Scheme had approximately 18,000 members, of whom over 9,500 were deferred members and thus potential future pensioners. From 1 April 2016, my Department is now the Principal Employer for this scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Leader of the House whether time will be made in the Parliamentary timetable for a full debate on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Report 2015.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
My Noble Friend the Government Chief Whip does not expect to be able to facilitate a full debate on the report before the end of this session, but from the start of the new session, the usual mechanisms – which include balloted debates, Thursday debates, and questions for short debate – will be available to secure a debate on the Report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that they fulfil the pledge in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Report 2015 to continue to look at every available option to ensure accountability” for the crimes committed by Daesh.”
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We continue to look at every option to ensure accountability. In the meantime we are supporting the gathering and preservation of evidence that could in future be used in a court to hold Daesh to account.
The UK co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council resolution of September 2014 mandating investigation of Daesh abuses in Iraq. Working with international partners, we are doing everything we can to assist in the gathering and preservation of evidence that could in future be used by judicial bodies to make a judgement on this matter. It is vital that this is done now, before evidence is lost or destroyed.