Contributions
1,153 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportThe initiation of legal proceedings is not a decision for me, and I cannot predict what will happen in future legal proceedings; that is a matter for others. My responsibility is…29 Jan 2026HANSARDJobs GuaranteeEvery young person deserves a fair chance to succeed. When given the right support and opportunities, they will grasp them. But for too long young people have not had access to…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportWe take the role of the ombudsman very seriously. The report was fully and properly considered, but decisions on a compensation scheme of this scale will always, in the end, be…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI am grateful for my hon. Friend’s question, and I understand what he says, but it is also important to consider exactly what is at issue here. Many people are unhappy with the…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s questions. He is right that there has been a forceful and energetic campaign, which has resulted in lots of emails and contact with Members…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportIn November, I informed the House that the Government would make a new decision in response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report into the way changes to the…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI remind the House that by the end of this Parliament, due to our commitment to increase the basic state pension, we will be spending an estimated £30 billion a year more on the…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI am grateful to my west midlands colleague for his question. He talks about disappointment. The shadow Minister could have, in the time allocated to him, promised to take a…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportMy hon. Friend is right to remind the House that we were opposed to the acceleration. We voted against it and opposed many policies of the coalition Government and the Tory…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI have great respect for the right hon. Member. He will have considered some of these issues in government because of his long service as a Treasury Minister. I like the right…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI agree with my hon. Friend that, as I have said, the WASPI women have run an energetic, sustained campaign that has made a big impact on Members. We can see that from the…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportMy hon. Friend is right to say that as the state pension age has gone up, the way people have been affected is influenced by the kind of lives they have led and the toughness of…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportThe hon. Member is certainly right about my allegiance to both Celtic and Bruce Springsteen, but there is no illusion about the position of the Liberal Democrats. He says, with a…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportA decision document relating to the evidence that I have considered has been placed in the Library of the House, which sets all that out together with various surveys, all of…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportAs I say, we accept the finding of maladministration. On the difference earlier communications would have made, particularly to those who knew the least about the increase in…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportIt is right to focus on exactly what this is about and what it is not. We opposed the acceleration of the change to the state pension age. The ombudsman looked at the specific…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportWe are often encouraged to make our statements to Parliament first and that is what I have done. When I announced in November that I was retaking the decision, I made that…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI know that the equalisation of the state pension age has produced quite a lot of opposition. The 2011 decision was too quick; that is why we opposed it at the time. On the issue…29 Jan 2026HANSARD Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO ReportI will defend to the hilt our protection of the state pension, our increase in the state pension of £575 for the new state pension from April and our extra help for poorer…29 Jan 2026HANSARDTopical QuestionsI very much agree that the welfare state should be there to help people to change their circumstances, not just to keep them in their circumstances. I am pleased to report that we…26 Jan 2026