Contributions
803 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight both the progress that has been made and the hard work of the voluntary sector, including citizens advice bureaux across the…17 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. The Department for Work and Pensions does not produce data at a constituency level, but I will tell him the answer to his…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationIt is a pleasure to serve under you today, Mr Stringer, and I thank the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for leading today’s debate on behalf of the Petitions…17 Mar 2025HANSARDPensions Triple Lock: North DurhamMy hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the importance of the 4.1% increase in pension credit that will take place in just a few weeks’ time, and I can tell him that about…17 Mar 2025HANSARDPensions Triple Lock: North DurhamOur commitment to the triple lock throughout this Parliament means that spending on the state pension is set to rise by £31 billion a year. Individuals are set to see increases of…17 Mar 2025HANSARDPension Credit UptakeWe have already released significant data on that and, as I say, data was released just weeks ago showing the unparalleled success of the campaign to drive up pension credit…17 Mar 2025HANSARDPension Credit UptakeThe lesson I have learned is from the last Government, who put up pensioner poverty year after year—it increased by 300,000 over the course of the last Government. This Government…17 Mar 2025HANSARDPension Credit UptakeWe are already doing a lot to simplify the process; it now takes 16 minutes on average to complete an online form, and 90% of people apply online or over the phone. However, the…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationI will come to exactly that point shortly. The 2014 research was not properly considered by the ombudsman. The same research is now the subject of live litigation, as my hon.…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationThe fact that people were widely aware that the state pension age was rising is indicative that it was not news to most people, even if they had not got the details on their…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationThe 90% figure refers to the age group that best overlaps with women born in the 1950s, so that is the best available figure from that survey.17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationI will make some progress because I have given the best answer that I can to my hon. Friend’s question. The ombudsman is clear that redress and compensation should normally…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationThe Government have not ignored the ombudsman’s report or its judgment. We have just come to a different conclusion for the detailed reasons— [ Interruption. ] I appreciate that I…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationMy predecessor, who I just mentioned, did meet the ombudsman prior to the decision being announced by the Government. Parliament has been very engaged in this issue, as…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationI thank the hon. Gentleman, but I suspect that was a statement rather than a question. He knows that the Government will not comment on a live litigation. In answer to questions…17 Mar 2025HANSARDInvestment: Newcastle Upon Tyne East and WallsendI have spent far too much of my life talking to the now Energy Secretary, but my hon. Friend is right to highlight the potential of green energy supply chains in her constituency…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right that a higher minimum wage is an important way that we make low-earning workers’ lives better—as is the extension that we announced to sick pay…04 Mar 2025HANSARDInvestment: Newcastle Upon Tyne East and WallsendThis is an important question when, shockingly, household incomes in the north-east hardly grew over the long 14 years of the previous Conservative Government. We need to raise…04 Mar 2025HANSARDIndependent Schools: VAT and Business Rates ReliefIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Lewell-Buck, for this debate secured not by an hon. Member, as is often the case, but by public petitioners, including some who…03 Mar 2025HANSARDIndependent Schools: VAT and Business Rates ReliefI recognise the description of the status quo as the right hon. Gentleman describes it, but I reiterate my view and the Government’s view that a state education is suitable for…03 Mar 2025