Contributions
803 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDIndependent Schools: VAT and Business Rates ReliefI thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I might be a bit more sympathetic to Conservative Members focusing on this change if I saw them supporting any of the revenue…03 Mar 2025HANSARDPension Credit Applications and Awards: February 2025The latest statistical release on pension credit applications and awards was published today. It includes data on the number of weekly pension credit applications received and…27 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersIt is a pleasure to serve under you, Dame Siobhain, in a debate on such an important topic. We owe thanks to the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) for securing…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersThank you, Dame Siobhain. Supporting pensioners in the 2020s is about more than opposing every tough choice that the Government have to make. It means directly raising pensioner…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersNo. The hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East rightly says that society will be judged on how it treats its pensioners, particularly with regard to the NHS, but in…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersThat argument is made a lot. All I would say is that all of us should want all pensioners to receive the benefits they are entitled to and to drive pension credit take-up. We are…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersThe hon. Member raises an important point. Attendance allowance would entitle a pensioner to extra income to pay for extra costs, including heating if required, but it would also…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersWe will be maintaining the triple lock throughout this Parliament, as promised in our manifesto. In April, the basic and new state pensions will increase by 4.1% and 12 million…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersNo. That is why this Government are investing £22 billion in the English NHS this year and next, with consequentials for the Welsh and Scottish Governments. The hon. Member for…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersI want to make a bit progress, and then I will take some more interventions. I will be updating Members later this month on the impact of the campaign so far. The hon. Member for…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersThe right hon. Member is absolutely right to raise the case of those who might need support to complete the form. That is why one of the elements of the campaign we have run this…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersIt is the average.12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for PensionersI am loath to do this, but the honest answer is no—it is far too small a reduction. Absolutely poverty should be falling every year, very significantly. We should really only need…12 Feb 2025HANSARDWork and PensionsThis Government have run the biggest ever take-up campaign on pension credit, which is worth around £4,200 a year on average to those eligible.10 Feb 2025HANSARDWork and PensionsThis Government have run the biggest ever take-up campaign on pension credit, which is worth around £400 on average to those eligible. [ Official Report , 3 February 2025; Vol.…10 Feb 2025HANSARDPension Credit Take-upI am sure that all Members, on both sides of the House, are providing support to their constituents—pensioners, those of working age and children—to ensure they can cope following…03 Feb 2025HANSARDPension Credit Take-upIt is important that we keep driving up the take-up of pension credit, but that is not the only support available to pensioners: everyone will see the state pension rise by over…03 Feb 2025HANSARDPension Credit Take-upIt is important that 1.5 million pensioners will receive the winter fuel payments this winter. The statistics my hon. Friend refers to relate to previous years, before the recent…03 Feb 2025HANSARDPension Credit Take-upIn recent months, the Department has run the biggest ever pension credit take-up campaign, across TV, radio and online. Some 150,000 pension credit claims were made in the 16…03 Feb 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Member for raising that case and I would be happy to meet her to go into a bit more detail. That is exactly why we make sure the pension credit threshold rises in…03 Feb 2025