Contributions
1,127 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenThe noble Baroness makes a very good point. All I can say at the moment is that the Government do not have any plans to change. However, I will take the point back to the…21 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenMy understanding of the situation is that, where people have died, a payment will be made to their estate to make up for the underpayment. I cannot tell the noble Baroness when…21 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenEven if somebody is divorced, their ex-husband’s contributions to NI will still be taken into account when deciding their pension award. That has always been the case and it will…21 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenThe shortfall or underpayment was identified as a result of a marker on the computer system not working correctly. We put it right and we are doing our best to pay people what…21 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenMy Lords, I have no idea about underpayments to men. In terms of underpayment to women, we are doing an exercise; we are going through the whole system to work out who should have…21 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenI would like to take the opportunity to wish my noble friend a very happy birthday. To answer her question, resolving these errors is a priority for the department. We are…21 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension Underpayments and Arrears for WomenThe department is considering the content of the report, including the recommendations. As is the case for reports such as this, the Government will provide their response to the…21 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersI am pleased to say that the Government have doubled the number of work coaches. They are spending more time with people, finding out in more depth the issues that are stopping…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersLet me go to the point about the publication of the evaluation and so on. We committed to using UC administrative data to look at the impact that a sanction has on an individual.…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersI am afraid that on this occasion I cannot quite agree with everything that the noble Baroness said, or indeed the sentiment in which it was said. That will come as no surprise to…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersThe noble Baroness makes a very good point. The work coaches are well trained and their relationship with employers is gathering momentum. In fact, I heard today that employers…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersBuilding on the answer that I just gave the noble Baroness on the opposite Benches, if a claimant disagrees with their sanction, they can ask for the decision to be reconsidered…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersSanctions apply only if claimants do not comply with their agreed requirements for no good reason. That is not changing at all. If claimants refuse to apply for roles, attend…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersThe decision about the four-week period has been made. I can go back and say that noble Lords would like it to be longer, but that will probably not come as a surprise to the…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersI make it absolutely clear that we are not having tougher sanctions. We are reducing the period for which people can look for usual work, as I said. I went to Hastings jobcentre…03 Feb 2022HANSARDBenefit Sanctions on JobseekersNo assessment has been made. We are not changing the reasons why we may apply a sanction, including refusing to take a job that has been offered, nor the rates applied. As part of…03 Feb 2022HANSARDState Pension AgeThe department launched the second review on state pension age in December 2021. It must be published by May 2023, in accordance with Section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014. The…18 Jan 2022HANSARDUnderpayment of Benefits: CompensationI am not aware of the facts of the underpayment of the widows’ and widowers’ pension, but as I always try to answer in full, I will go back to the department, find out if there is…18 Jan 2022HANSARDState Pension AgeI hope that, during the review, the devolved Administrations will be consulted. I will certainly go back to the department and speak to the Secretary of State to make sure that…18 Jan 2022HANSARDState Pension AgeI will not argue with logic; that would not get me anywhere. On the noble Lord’s point about the state pension age, I know that people are sceptical of government reviews, but I…18 Jan 2022