Tag: Angela Rayner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on employers offering higher salaries to employees who opt of occupational pension schemes.

Justin Tomlinson

Section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008 prohibits employers from taking any action for the sole or main purpose of inducing a worker to leave a workplace pension scheme.

The Government takes potential inducement by employers very seriously. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for all matters relating to employers’ compliance with their enrolment duties, including investigations into individual cases of potential inducement by employers.

Through automatic enrolment we are delivering a fundamental shift in workplace pension saving that is changing the way that people are enabled to save for retirement. Already 100,668 employers have completed their declaration of compliance with the Regulator, resulting in more than 6 million eligible jobholders being automatically enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme.

The law relating to inducements is an important safeguard for workers and the Regulator has statutory powers of investigation and enforcement it can use in appropriate circumstances. We are working with the Regulator to monitor the number and nature of possible inducement cases as the roll-out of automatic enrolment continues. That will enable us to judge whether the current legislation covering inducement, and the guidance and messaging provided by the Regulator, are operating effectively to protect employees, and whether change may be appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which passenger rail contracts let by (a) his Department, (b) the Scottish Government, (c) the Welsh Government, (d) Transport for London and (e) Merseyrail are (i) franchises, (ii) concessions, (iii) management contracts and (iv) other types of passenger rail contract.

Claire Perry

Under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended), all operational contracts for the supply of passenger rail services are franchises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the distribution of deemed contributions to defined-benefit pension schemes for each (a) income level and (b) age.

Justin Tomlinson

Distributions of deemed contributions to defined-benefit (DB) schemes broken down by income level or age, are not readily available, and have not been previously published as official statistics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of members of master trust pension schemes who are enrolled in schemes subject to the master trust assurance framework.

Justin Tomlinson

Over 90% of the total memberships within master trust schemes are in master trusts that are signed up to the master trust assurance framework.

This is a performance indicator for the Pensions Regulator and the result will be published in their next annual report and accounts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which current rail franchises include break clauses; and what is the purpose of each of those break clauses.

Claire Perry

Older franchise agreements including Chiltern (let in 2002) and Wales & Borders (let in 2003) have continuation reviews at defined points, which could allow the removal of a poorly performing operator. Newer franchise agreements do not have continuation reviews at pre-defined points but the Department has the right under the Franchise Agreement to terminate the franchise in the event of severe and continuing non-compliance with the Agreement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women born between 6 April and 5 December 1953 will be affected by the increase to the state pension age under the provisions of the Pension Act 2011.

Justin Tomlinson

Of the group stated in the question only women born on or after 6 April 1953 are affected by the changes in State Pension age in the 2011 Pensions Act.

The faster increase to 65 under the Pensions Act 2011 affect an estimated 230,000 women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. This figure, rounded to the nearest 10,000, is for Great Britain and is based on DWP calculations using ONS statistics.

During the passage of the Pensions Bill 2011 the Government tabled an amendment so that the maximum delay to State Pension age relative to the previously legislated timetable that any individual faced was 18 months. This amendment affected people born between 6 January 1954 and 5 September 1954. The analysis accompanying this amendment is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182066/pensions-bill-spa-info.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of members of master trust pension schemes.

Justin Tomlinson

The Pensions Regulator publish such estimates in their ‘DC Trust: a presentation of scheme return data’ publication, which can be found at the following link for 2015-16:

http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/doc-library/dc-trust-a-presentation-of-scheme-return-data-2016.aspx

This publication shows that there were 3.9m members in master trust schemes as at 31 December 2015.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on businesses of the UK leaving the EU.

Anna Soubry

The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes Britain’s interests are best served by being part of a reformed European Union, if necessary changes can be agreed. The Government believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what modelling his Department has undertaken on potential transitional arrangements for women born in the period 1951 to 1953 who are affected by accelerated equalisation of the state pension age; and if he will publish the results of any such modelling.

Justin Tomlinson

Of the group stated in the question only women born on or after 6 April 1953 are affected by the changes in State Pension age in the 2011 Pensions Act.

The faster increase to 65 under the Pensions Act 2011 affect an estimated 230,000 women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. This figure, rounded to the nearest 10,000, is for Great Britain and is based on DWP calculations using ONS statistics.

During the passage of the Pensions Bill 2011 the Government tabled an amendment so that the maximum delay to State Pension age relative to the previously legislated timetable that any individual faced was 18 months. This amendment affected people born between 6 January 1954 and 5 September 1954. The analysis accompanying this amendment is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182066/pensions-bill-spa-info.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents were reported involving mobility scooters in 2015.

Andrew Jones

Statistics for 2015 will be published in June 2016.