'THINK' January - February 2025 Edition

Good News, Bad News: Why Is Raising the Minimum Wage a Bad News Story?

Dr Bridget Meehan, Policy & Engagement Officer at Advice NI, looks to rebalance the debate on the impact of Minimum Wage increases in April:
 
In the last budget, the Labour Government announced an increase to the national minimum wage, due to take effect from 1 April 2025. The new rates are as follows: 6.7% increase for individuals aged 21 and over, going from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour; 16.3% increase for individuals aged 18 to 20, going from £8.60 to £10 per hour. Across Britain and NI, this wage hike is set to increase the pay of over 3 million workers. For an eligible full-time worker, this translates into a pay boost worth £1,400 a year, and for full-time 18 to 20-year-old workers, the increase will mean an extra £2,500 per year.
 
While not setting the world on fire, this is surely a good news story. It will mean a £3.9 billion injection of additional cash, at a minimum, into the British economy. In NI, the increase is expected to benefit around 140,000 workers, and this has the potential to bring at least £196m in the economy here. Obviously raising the minimum wage means more income for lower paid workers. But it also means more money for women and younger people specifically, since they are more likely to be in lower paid jobs, and this in turn will have a positive impact on child poverty. And in general, the introduction of the minimum wage has improved the standard of living for thousands of people who care for our children and elderly, who work in farms and shops and other essential jobs. It has also had benefits for the wider economy and proponents argue that higher wages can drive productivity and reduce turnover, leading to a more stable workforce over time.
 
So, all of this is a good news story, right? Well, no. Not if you were seeing any of the mainstream media coverage at the time.
The big story for the media was the bad news of how the increase was going to put pressure on businesses. When wages rise, we were told time and time again, firms will have to balance higher payroll costs with other expenses, leading to tough decisions about hiring, pricing, and investment. We saw numerous interviews with business owners who, predictably, were extremely negative and full of doom and gloom. They had concerns about having to cut back on hiring, reduce hours, lay off staff, or pass costs onto consumers through price increases. Hospitality and retail businesses would be hardest hit. For example, the Global Payroll Association (the industry body for payroll professionals) suggested that businesses might limit pay rises for workers earning more than the minimum wage as they seek to keep costs down, and that the increases would threaten jobs, future investment, and business viability. The pub chain Greene King commented that the rise in the minimum wage was slightly higher than they’d envisaged, and they predicted that pushing more costs onto businesses would lead to job cuts and less investment. In interviews with various small business-owners in the hospitality sector, we heard about how the increases could potentially put them out of business. In contrast, it was nigh on impossible to find interviews with employees who were going to benefit from the pay rises and the difference it would make to them, or much at all that showed how the increases would help the economy.
 
This kind of reporting is not an accident. It is deliberate scaremongering designed to constantly drive home the implicit message that distributing wealth or pushing it downwards is bad, is wrong, is harmful. To the economy. To society. To individuals. Such reporting nearly always happens when a policy comes along which dares to put a little money into the hands of the wider public, whether it be pay increases or spending on public services. Even when the National Minimum Wage was introduced by Labour in 1999, the media issued dire warnings about mass layoffs, higher prices, business closures, economic meltdown. None of that happened – not as a result of the minimum wage, at any rate.
A similar narrative is peddled when it comes to public spending. We are constantly brainwashed into believing that there is no money, the belts must be tightened, cuts will have to be made. While this is a topic for another paper, it’s suffice to say that there is money, it’s just not being directed pushed downwards to public services.
 
It all comes down to ideology. On the one hand, there’s the idea that wealth should be distributed more equally. Opposing that is the idea that wealth should be concentrated among wealthy elites – the small group of people who own corporations and the means of production. Our economic system is deliberately designed to ensure that wealth is pushed upwards to the wealthy elites, and that it is extracted from the ordinary people.
The dominant ideology is, of course, the concentration of wealth among elites. The economic policies of the past 35 years have led to high levels of economic inequality. Real wages for low and middle earners have been declining since the 1990s and now sit at a level on a par with 2005. Wage stagnation worsened following the financial crisis in 2007, so much so that if wages had grown at the same rate as before, the typical UK worker would be around £11,000 better off in terms of their annual pay than they are now.
 
And like a seesaw, while wages have stagnated, the salaries of the highest earners have increased at unprecedented levels, and more and more wealth has been extracted from the ordinary people and pulled upwards. The top 1% of earners have seen their pay grow by 189% since 1975. CEOs can earn as much as 78 times more than the lowest-paid employee. In terms of wealth, the richest 1% have more wealth than the bottom 95% of the world's population put together. By November 2023, the five wealthiest men in the world were $465 billion richer in real terms than they were in 2020, having more than doubled their wealth – an amount that is enough to end global extreme poverty 11 times over.
 
The media does much less reporting on these stories, if any at all. Why doesn’t the media challenge the concentration of wealth or point out how the extraction of wealth from the local economy is putting people out of work, driving up poverty, closing down businesses, starving public services? Why do we never hear them talk about increasing taxes for the rich when the British economy loses between £80 to £120 billion per year to unpaid taxes, much of this in tax avoidance and evasion? No, rather, it’s a small increase in the wages of the lowest paid that is the biggest threat to economic stability. And let’s put it in perspective, a minimum wage is just that: a minimum. No one is getting rich; it’s just allowing people to live with more dignity after working hard in sometimes the most arduous jobs.
 
All that said, it’s worth making a distinction between the small / micro businesses in local economies versus the large corporations that monopolise trade markets. Small businesses are contributing to the local economy while the big corporations extract wealth from our local economies. It should be acknowledged that an increase in the minimum wage will mean extra costs for small businesses and that, not all, but some might struggle with the additional overheads. However, protections can and should be put in place. For example, some small businesses in NI have been protected from the pay increases by having the employment allowance doubled. But the knock-on effect of wage hikes is that they put more money into the economy, which means there more spending, especially in hospitality. So, to use a cliché, what goes round, comes round, in a sense.

However, in the end, the key message from mainstream media is that wealth being pushed down is a bad thing for the economy. Wealth going upwards is rarely mentioned, never mind challenged. We have to turn this narrative around. Instead, we should remember that distributing wealth is always a good thing and not the disaster that the media and others would have us believe.

 

Low-Paid Workers: The Need for Continued Support and the Challenge of Making Work Pay

Dr Lisa Wilson writes:

Northern Ireland has experienced a significant increase in employees earning below two-thirds the median. At the same time, the data shows a significant increase in the proportion earning below the real living wage. This decoupling of trends in the proportion of workers paid below two-thirds the median and the proportion earning below the real living wage emphasises the importance of considering changes in the costs of essential goods and services in policy efforts to make work pay.

The 2024 ASHE data for the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland indicates a mixed situation of progress and ongoing challenges. While the National Living Wage increases have significantly reduced the proportion of low-paid jobs, many workers still earn below the real living wage, especially in sectors like Accommodation and Food Services. This highlights a disconnect between wage growth and the rising costs of living, particularly for essentials like housing and food. Vulnerable groups, such as part-time workers, young people, and women, continue to face high rates of low pay, indicating a need for targeted interventions. The data also reveal a decoupling between the proportion below the real living wage and the proportion below the median and emphasises the importance of considering changes in the costs of essential goods and services.

Nerinstitute

 

The Myth of Unintended Consequences: The Case for the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill

Dr Lisa Wilson’s article: As discussions around the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill gain renewed momentum in the New Year, one term has entered into the lexicon of discussion: unintended consequences. It evokes caution but often without solid evidence to support it.

Employment Rights Bill

 

Living Wage Foundation

Living Wage NI, funded by the Living Wage Foundation and the Department for the Economy, aims to increase awareness of the real living wage and uptake of Living Wage accreditation among employers across NI.

Advice NI, through our work as the regional Independent Advice Network, has a keen awareness of in-work poverty and the need to take a more holistic and upstream approach to tackling it. In 2021, we signed up as a Living Wage employer and encouraged our network to do the same through the publication of our report, It’s the Local Economy Stupid.

Our policy manifesto calls for the adoption of Community Wealth Building as a viable model for addressing poverty as well as climate change. It also advocates for the roll out of the Living Wage in NI to ensure income adequacy.

In 2022, we began discussions with the Living Wage Foundation on how this could become a reality. In order not to lose the momentum of the Living Wage for East Belfast Campaign, the Living Wage Foundation agreed that Advice NI would be their preferred partner in NI and agreed to fund us to provide advocacy on a regional basis.

The Living Wage foundation promotes the Real Living Wage as being good for workers, good for business, and good for society.

It also holds a network of:

• Living Hours Employers who commit to providing security of hours alongside a real Living Wage.
• Living Pensions Employers who help workers build up a pension pot that will provide enough income to meet basic everyday needs in retirement.
• Recognised Service Providers who have committed to always offer a real Living Wage bid alongside every market rate submittal to all prospective and current clients.
• Living Wage Funders who are committing to tackle low pay by encouraging the organisations they support to pay the real Living Wage.

There are now 130 employers in Northern Ireland who have signed up to provide the Real Living Wage, and cover many different sectors, examples include:

• The 3rd sector, such as The Migrant Centre and Fermanagh Rural Community Network
• Academia: Queens University Belfast
• Local Government: Northern Ireland Audit Office; Northern Ireland Executive

Advice NI Living Wage
Living Wage.org

 

NI Assembly Committee for Finance
Inquiry into the Northern Ireland Banking and Financial Services Landscape: Advice NI submission

Excerpt from Dr Bridget Meehan:

Advice NI's interest in your inquiry comes from our direct experience of working with people who are experiencing financial exclusion. We are keen to find practical remedies to that, but we are also looking at the wider financial problems that exist. We are taking the opportunity at your inquiry to demonstrate the wider financial problems created by our being part of the global financial system and how we can try to address those problems. Because of that global financial system, vast amounts of wealth are extracted from local economies, and that comes at the expense of people, the environment and the rural economy. In the North, all the wealth that is generated locally, whether it is from employee salaries, business transactions, public-sector employers, charities, pensions and so on, is deposited in commercial banks. Our wealth enters the global financial system through those commercial banks, and, when that happens, most of that wealth is invested outside the region, not in our region and not for our benefit. Therefore, the priority should really be trying to prevent that wealth leaking out. A core issue is how we get access to our own wealth and how we are able to control it ourselves.
 
Advice NI believes that one way that we can do that is through the creation of a mutual regional bank. That is why we support the Northern Mutual campaign, which was created with the sole purpose of establishing a mutual regional bank in the North. That kind of bank is distinctly different from a commercial bank in its ethos and principles. I have written about that in the paper, so I will not go into any detail now, but I will give a brief overview of the key distinctions.
 
A mutual is owned by its members and is regional, so it can operate only within the region that it is licensed to operate in. It is not driven by profit and is ethical in its lending, especially for small businesses. It focuses on financial inclusion, building trust with its members and being able to make decisions at local levels. A mutual bank offers all the same banking services that you would expect from a modern bank. You get your personal and business current accounts, overdrafts, business loans, debit cards, mortgages, electronic payments and foreign exchange — all of that. You get internet and mobile banking services…..

With a mutual bank, there is also a focus on reintroducing banks into communities, which is of great interest to the inquiry. The idea is to have physical and automated branches. Rather than having flagship buildings that are very costly, those branches could operate out of existing community facilities such as a community centre, a local shop, a local credit union or a local post office.

Therefore, they would not incur the same running costs. The automated branches are a kind of halfway house between a physical branch and online banking. An automated branch will have what looks like a very large ATM in a secure part of a building, and a member will be able to do all their online banking through that…

Regardless of the ethos of a mutual bank, the services that it offers and that whole thing about trying to bring banking services back into communities, having a mutual bank is not just about having those kind of services and more customer choice on the high street. It can have a more profound impact on the region and goes way beyond just offering banking services. With a mutual, you would immediately have positive social and economic impacts. A mutual would give you far more control over your own money. It would allow us to retain the money that is deposited in the bank and use the multiplier effect, which would increase the amount of money many times over. That would then enable us to unlock the potential of billions of locally generated pounds and invest that money in our economy, our infrastructure, climate action and tackling poverty — all the things that we so desperately need to do. It would also give us the resources to protect ourselves from future shocks and challenges that might come up due to the climate crisis or global events, as we have seen with the fluctuations in energy prices and the pandemic. By having our own major regional bank, all those opportunities would be open to us.

NI Assembly

 

Final UC Migration Notices issued to Tax Credits recipients

The final ‘Move to UC’ Migration Notices have been issued by the Department for Communities to people still receiving Tax Credits.

Tax credits will end in April 2025 and recipients must make a Universal Credit (UC) claim if they are to continue to receive financial support. Those still in receipt of Tax Credits who have received a Migration Notice have three months from the date of their letter to make a claim to UC.

People do not need to take action unless they have received a Migration Notice letter from the Department for Communities.

Communities NI

Move to UC Advice NI Information Page: Advice NI Move to UC
Move to UC NIDirect Information Page: NIDirect Move to UC

 

Closing Date To ‘Buy Back’ National Insurance Contributions To Boost State Pension: 5 April 2025

The final ‘Voluntary National Insurance Contributions and the State Pension:

Due to the expiry of transitional arrangements related to the introduction of the New State Pension in 2016, we are seeing an increasing number of queries about whether it is worthwhile buying missing National Insurance contributions.

Part of the driver for this is a piece by Martin Lewis on his ITV show, which encouraged people to investigate whether they could boost their State Pension by making voluntary contributions. See link here

Read Advice NI’s Information Briefing Paper from 2023 here

 

Irish Citizens Who Worked In UK And Returned To Ireland:

Despite Brexit, both Irish and UK citizens living in Ireland can still benefit from NI contributions they made when working in the UK.

Thanks to a temporary concession, Irish people who worked for at least three consecutive years in Britain and paid national insurance (the equivalent of the Irish PRSI) can buy back as many as 18 extra years to their UK pension, instead of the usual six. And by continuing to make voluntary national insurance contributions in the years ahead, some of those former emigrants could claim both a full Irish and full UK state pension in retirement.

The cost of topping up your UK pension depends on whether you have to pay class 2 (non-resident) or class 3 (resident) contributions, with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) determining which category you are in.

The cheapest option for buying national insurance contributions is class 2, which costs about £179 for each pension year. If you are categorised as class 3, you will have to pay £907 to buy each pension year.

For more information and details on how to apply, see here

 

New Public Authorities (Fraud, Error & Recovery) Bill

As part of new legislation set to be introduced in Parliament, benefit cheats could be disqualified from driving for periods of up to two years if they refuse all opportunities to repay the money they owe. 
 
See Query and Written Statement in Parliamentary Questions section of this month’s Think.
 
DWP will be able to apply to the court with the justification to suspend fraudsters from driving, provided the debt is £1,000 or over and frequent requests to repay the debt have been ignored.

DWP will also have the power to recover money directly from bank accounts of those not on benefits or in PAYE employment who owe the Department and refuse to pay up, despite having the means to do so. The Bill will allow DWP to request bank statements to prove these debtors have sufficient funds to fairly repay what they owe. However, DWP will not have direct access to people’s bank accounts.

The government will also bring forward Codes of Practice which will be consulted on during the passage of the Bill to provide further assurance on the safe use of the powers, and we have a clearly defined scope and clear limitations for the use of all the powers including the right to appeal the decision.

The Cabinet Office’s Public Sector Fraud Authority will also be given more powers under the legislation being introduced in Parliament today.

Fraud, Error and Recovery Bill

 

Carers Hope For A Better Future

The role that N.I.’s carers play in propping up a struggling health service and their hopes for a brighter future, was marked at a special event at Stormont…The event is focused on the theme of ‘equality today and tomorrow’ and is accompanied by the launch of a booklet of carers stories that illustrate the scale of challenges carers face in everyday life.

Carers NI is Northern Ireland’s membership organisation for unpaid carers that champions the rights of over 220,000 carers.

The booklet, ‘Caring in Northern Ireland: The reality and hopes of unpaid carers’ offers deep insights into the lives of local carers and the challenges they face. It also highlights a Carers Rights Charter that was developed in 2024.

Carers UK
Carers UK/NI
Carers’ Rights Charter

 

Keep Britain Working Review

The government states: Reversing the increase in economic inactivity linked to ill health and disability is a national priority. Over a third of all working age people (aged 16 to 64) report having a long-term health condition and around a quarter are classed as disabled. Disabled people are nearly 3 times more likely than non-disabled people to be economically inactive. This leads to significant adverse impacts for the people affected, for businesses, and for the economy, including the public finances. 

The Keep Britain Working review will have 2 distinct phases:

The first will be a discovery phase, with the aim of understanding the characteristics and drivers of rising levels of inactivity and ill health, the intersection with skill and qualification level, what employers currently do to help employ, train and retain disabled people and those with health conditions and how employers experience this in practice. This phase will aim to identify what is driving economic inactivity and where there is the greatest potential for employers and government to make a difference.

The discovery phase will be followed by exploring and developing recommendations for practical actions, both for employers and for government, to address this complex problem…. In this second phase, the review is expected to consider recruitment, retention, prevention, early intervention, return to work, and skills – all issues that are included in Get Britain Working, the government’s White Paper published on 26 November 2024.

The discovery phase is expected to conclude in Spring 2025, with the independent review to report and make recommendations in Autumn 2025.

Keep Britain Working ToR

 

Intimidation Victims Will Not Get Housing Points

The Housing Executive will aim to remove intimidation points by the end of the financial year, in April 2025.

Grainia Long, Chief Executive of the Housing Executive said:

“We welcome the Minister’s announcement on the removal intimidation points from the Housing Selection Scheme, following our recommendation. We believe it will enable more appropriate ranking and allocation of social housing for those experiencing violence or risk of violence or domestic abuse - whatever the circumstances….We will now work with the Department for Communities and key stakeholders to take forward a review of the Primary Social Needs section of the Scheme and implement any necessary changes….We would like to reassure applicants who have experienced actual violence or abuse or are at risk of violence or abuse, that they will continue to be assessed and provided with assistance under the Housing Selection Scheme and homelessness legislation.”

NIHE.gov.uk
BBC

 

Safeguarding Updated

Sir Stephen Timms’ letter to Debbie Abrahams, covering the following issues:

• Introducing a trauma-informed approach in Jobcentres
• When does DWP expect to introduce a standardised framework relating to its trauma informed work
• Family member requests to see an IPR
• Appointee system improvements
• Chief Medical Advisor and clinical governance
• Serious Case Panel
• Advanced Customer Support (ACS)
• Universal Credit’s ‘Additional Support Area’

Safeguarding

 

EU Citizens’ Rights – Advice NI Oral Evidence

The Committee for the Executive Office met on Wednesday 12 February 2025, with EU Citizens’ Rights on the Agenda.

Fiona Magee, Deputy CEO of Advice NI, Matt Cole, Policy and Information Officer of Advice NI, and Oleg Danuta, Team Leader at the Migrant Centre NI, provided oral evidence to the Committee. You can watch it here.

 

Local Housing Allowance Rates

New N.I. legislation has been issued to maintain LHA rates at the same levels as 2024/2025 from April 2025.

The Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Costs (Executive Determinations) (Modification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (SR.No.1/2025) will be in force from 31st January 2025.

See NI Assembly Questions section in this month’s Think, for more information.

LHA Rates

 

New Clause 5 - Statutory Sick Pay in Northern Ireland

Removal Of Waiting Period

Employment Rights Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:00 pm on 14 January 2025.

(1) Part 11 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (statutory sick pay) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 147(1) (employer’s liability), for ‘sections 148 to 150’ substitute ‘sections 149 and 150’.
(3) In section 148 (period of incapacity for work)—
(a) omit subsection (1);
(b) in subsection (2), for the words from ‘any’ to ‘is’ substitute ‘a period of one day which is, or of two or more consecutive days each of which is,’.
(4) In section 149(1) (period of entitlement), for ‘second’ substitute ‘first’.
(5) In section 150(1) (qualifying days), for ‘third’ substitute ‘second’.
(6) In section 151 (limitations on entitlement), omit subsection (1).
(7) In section 152(2) (notification of incapacity for work), omit paragraph (b) (and the ‘or’ at the end of paragraph (a)).”

This new clause makes the same provision for Northern Ireland as is made by clause 8 of the Bill for Great Britain. It is intended that this new clause and NC6 be inserted after clause 9.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

Employment Rights Bill

 

Lower earnings limit etc

Employment Rights Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:00 pm on 14 January 2025.

(1) Part 11 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (statutory sick pay) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 153 (rate of payment)—
(a) for subsection (1) substitute—
‘(1) The weekly rate of statutory sick pay that an employer must pay to an employee is the lower of—
(a) £116.75, and
(b) the prescribed percentage of the employee’s normal weekly earnings.’;
(b) in subsection (2)—
(i) omit the ‘and’ at the end of paragraph (a);
(ii) after paragraph (a) insert—
‘(aa) prescribe a percentage, or percentages, for the purposes of subsection (1)(b);’.
(3) In Schedule 11 (circumstances in which periods of entitlement to statutory sick pay do not arise), in paragraph 2, omit paragraph (c) (lower earnings limit).”—

This new clause makes the same provision for Northern Ireland as is made by clause 9 of the Bill for Great Britain.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

Employment Rights Bill

 

Advice NI Briefing On Discretionary Waiver Of WSP Overpayments

Following representations made by the independent advice network about inequalities in the policy on recovery of overpayments, on 30 September 2024 the Department for Communities (DfC) amended its procedures with regard to certain overpayments of Welfare Supplementary Payments (WSPs) to allow affected claimants to make an application for a discretionary waiver where they have grounds to do so.

To support advisers dealing with queries relating to discretionary waiver procedures in these cases, the Advice NI Policy & Information team has published an Information Briefing outlining the social policy context and the process for requesting a waiver in these cases.

Following the change by the Department, WSP overpayments will not be recovered from the landlord immediately. Rather, claimants will be notified that they have 3 months in which to request a discretionary waiver from the Department before recovery is initiated. During that 3-month period DfC will not seek recovery of an overpayment of WSPs from the landlord. Information about the new policy has been added to the relevant page at nidirect.

Overpayments of Welfare Supplementary Payments: Discretionary Waiver

 

Asylum Seekers And Refugees

NiDirect information for people seeking asylum; or with permission to stay as a refugee or stay with humanitarian protection status.

Useful information on these pages includes how to access services such as visa assistance, healthcare, benefits, education and childcare.  There is also help for victims of human trafficking.

Included is a comprehensive list of contacts for a wide variety of organisations, such as Law Centre NI and Migrant Help.

Information and Services for Asylum Seekers and Refugees

 

Advice NI Response: Pensioner Poverty Inquiry

The wide-ranging inquiry will take stock of the impact of pensioner poverty and its potential mitigations, including on health, help with energy costs, and the costs that should be covered by the State Pension and other pension age benefits.

Advice NI Response: Pensioner Poverty Inquiry

 

Advice NI Consultation Responses on Work and Pensions Committee Website

The link below holds Advice NI responses to various government consultations, including Pensioner Poverty; Cost of Living; UC Wait for a First Payment; Health Assessments for Benefits and Welfare Policy in Northern Ireland.

Advice NI Responses Work and Pensions Committee

 

DfC Supports And Advice Services

The Department for Communities has a range of financial supports and advice available which may help.

DfC Supports and Advice Services

 

Law Centre NI Adviser Update: UC Managed Migration for Carers who have LCWRA

Law Centre NI has published a new legal briefing warning advisers that carers with a disability, who have gone through the managed migration process to Universal Credit, can actually be worse off if they are subsequently awarded the Limited Capability for Work Related Activity Component [LCWRA]

This briefing outlines the effect that these circumstances have on the transitional element and provide an overview of how a work capability assessment decision affects the amount of UC paid to a carer with LCWRA.

Advisers should note that this briefing does not apply to ESA claimant who are already assessed as having limited capability for work-related activity before going through the managed migration process.

Law Centre NI UC Carers and LCWRA

 

House of Commons Library Briefings

The following new or updated resources from the House of Commons Library have been published since the last edition of THiNK:

The welfare cap
Constituency data: Universal Credit claimants
Managed migration: Completing Universal Credit rollout
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill 2024-25
Universal Credit information sources
 
Government support for pensioners
Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) increases
Armed Forces Pension Scheme
The communication of State Pension age increases for women born in the 1950s
Public service pensions – response to McCloud
 
Financial support for higher education students
Who is eligible for the RSV vaccine?
Backlogs in the NHS
Registering to vote
Showing ID when voting
Voting whilst living abroad
Customs rules for trade with the EU

 

LCNI: ‘Why Not Ask, Why Not Tell’

The Law Centre NI states:

“The social security system is designed to provide financial support to persons who can demonstrate their entitlement to it. Entitlement to social security benefits is determined through an application process. LCNI has identified multiple instances where digital design problems within the application process are effectively excluding claimants from the benefits they are otherwise entitled to receive.

Two common threads emerge. First, the application process fails to elicit all the information necessary to establish if the claimant meets the conditions of benefit entitlement. Second, claimants are not provided with all relevant information they need to know before submitting a claim.

This short briefing paper outlines the design problems we have encountered in the application process and identifies what action is needed to remedy the issues.”

Law Centre NI

 

NICVA states N.I.'s Voluntary Sector Faces Critical Financial Pressure from NICs Increase

"This NICs increase threatens the very sustainability of Northern Ireland's voluntary sector at a time when our services are needed most. Unlike public sector organisations, we have no protection against these rising costs. Without immediate government intervention, we'll see widespread service reductions, job losses, and diminished support for our most vulnerable communities." – Celine McStravick, NICVA Chief Exec.

Key findings:

• Organisations report inevitable redundancies
• Service reductions will affect, for example, childcare and disability support
• Many organisations will struggle to maintain Living Wage commitments

NICVA calls for:

• The N.I. Executive to reflect increased costs in all future public sector contracts and grants

The voluntary sector employs over 55,000 staff in Northern Ireland, delivering essential services often on behalf of government.

NICVA
article NICVA

Caoimhe Archibald, Sinn Fein stated 13 January 2025:

“The planned increase to employers' National Insurance contributions will prove incredibly challenging for our businesses, our community and voluntary sector and our public-sector employers, including councils.

The British Government have said that additional support will not be provided for voluntary and community sector organisations….

The voluntary and community sector has faced a double blow, as some Members mentioned. Some of those organisations receive Shared Prosperity Fund funding, which will be cut in the next financial year, at the same time as their bills increase. In a recent survey of 68 organisations, NICVA found that 76% expect there to be major financial impacts, with many facing additional annual costs of between £5,000 and £200,000 from April 2025, and one social care provider anticipating costs of between £200,000 and £500,000……

NIC Increase

 

Back To Square One: How Poor Debt Advice Is Pulling People Into Inappropriate IVAs

Citizen’s Advice previous report ‘Set Up To Fail’ exposed how this market is failing people in debt distress. This new report  provides up-to-date evidence on issues in the IVA market, and the impact of inappropriate IVAs. The findings are based on a survey of over 1,000 people who are currently in an IVA or who have been in the last 5 years, including those with terminated, complete or ongoing IVAs. We report on how advice failings are widespread within the IVA market, finding that:

• People are frequently being put forward for unaffordable IVAs
• People are not being told about alternative debt solutions; and
• People are regularly not being told key product information.

Citizens Advice Inappropriate IVAs

Advice NI’s Debt Service can provide advice and information. This includes:

• Free, confidential tailored debt advice
• Budgeting advice
• Solutions to deal with your debt
• Negotiate with creditors on your behalf

Our Debt Service is available in each Council area throughout Northern Ireland, and we offer various methods of getting in contact including online and by phone.

Advice NI Money and Debt advice

 

Found Anything Yet? Exploring The Relationship Between Universal Credit Claimants And Their Work Coaches

Work coaches have a significant role in shaping claimants’ experience of Universal Credit. Their responsibilities range from providing employment support and giving general advice to monitoring compliance with conditionality requirements. While many work coaches seek to provide meaningful support to claimants, they face multiple challenges in achieving this.

Citizens Advice recorded a wide spectrum of claimant experiences. This included empathetic and constructive support; bureaucracy and indifference; and even actively hostile and unproductive interactions.

Citizens Advice Report UC Work Coaches

 

The Welfare Cap

The welfare cap is a limit on the amount that government can spend on certain social security benefits and tax credits.

The Welfare Cap

The welfare cap on specified elements of social security spending is not to be confused with the household benefit cap – introduced in 2013 – which limits total household benefits. This House of Commons Library briefing paper explains how the household benefit cap operates and considers evidence of its impact to date.

The Benefit Cap

 

More Than Money: The Lifelong Wellbeing Impact Of Disability Benefits

This report by ProBono Economics states:

The findings of this report suggest that receiving disability benefits significantly enhances life satisfaction of recipients, potentially reducing their anxiety levels and improving their wellbeing overall….This boost in wellbeing can be expressed in economic terms and translates to an average annual wellbeing improvement valued at £12,300 per person, and a potential £42 billion in annual economic benefits…compared with the annual costs of providing this support, estimated at £28 billion a year for this group, the economic benefits seem to outweigh the costs.

Probonoeconomics

 

Disability Benefits Claimants At Increased Risk Of Hardship As DWP Underpayments Rise

Disability benefits claimants receive an unacceptably poor level of service from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). In this report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warns that the DWP’s understanding of vulnerable customers’ experience is not good enough.. customer service overall also falling short. The report finds that benefit claimants received over £4bn less than they were entitled to in 2023-24. This figure of underpayments has risen from £3.5bn in 2022-23. Underpayment rates are highest for disability benefits, such as PIP and ESA.

PAC News
PAC Report

 

Heritage And Home
 

Investigating Ethnic Inequalities In Housing Affordability

On average, ethnic minority adults live in households that spend a larger share of their income on housing than their White British counterparts…especially.. for Bangladeshi, Black other and Arab adults, (23%, 24% and 26% respectively, compared to 11 per cent). This report explores an ethnic inequality that has been largely under-researched to date: housing affordability.

Resolution Foundation Heritage and Home Report

 

Halifax COLLABORATE

The COLLABORATE programme is open to 2 or more charities coming together to tackle a social issue at a local level.

All collaborating charities must have individual income levels of £500,000 or less.

In line with the priorities of The Halifax Foundation, your charity must support people in greatest need. For example, supporting people living in poverty; those who are unemployed; those with disabilities or mental ill health. (This is not an exhaustive list – other areas of need will be considered.) COLLABORATE is a rolling programme and will close when the budget is reached. The programme is now open for applications however, you must arrange a pre-application meeting prior to completing an application. Contact grants@halifaxfoundationni.org to arrange.

We are delighted to collaborate with NICVA who will deliver group and one to one training for those who wish to avail of this funding. Their next session takes place on Thursday 20th February 2025.

Halifax Foundation NI

 

NICVA Ascend

The NICVA ASCEND Programme aims to build connections with the groups that represent ethnically minoritised people, develop leadership and build capacity to help strengthen their organisations.

ASCEND - Access, Support, Capacity, Empowerment, Network, and Development With funding from Dormant Assets NI through the National Lottery Community Fund’s Access to Resilience Programme, we will provide tailored support to small VCSE (Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise) organisations with annual incomes between £10,000 and £100,000.

Seven organisations will participate each year and support will be delivered through a combination of mentoring, one-to-one coaching, training sessions, and networking events. Areas of focus include leadership development, good governance, fundraising, measuring impact, collaboration, and sustainability. Participating organisations also have access to GrantTracker and review of their governing document. If you are interested in hearing more about this programme please contact Lynda Gould the Project Co-ordinator - lynda.gould@nicva.org

Criteria for organisations to apply for this programme

• Represent ethnically minoritised people in NI
• Have income of £10,000-£100,000 per year
• Committed to fully engaging in the programme – 5 half day bespoke sessions with your organisations and 4 learning events per year
• Committed to using the learning to develop and strengthen your organisation

NICVA

 

Welfare Mitigations Loopholes

AQW 19578/22-27 Mr Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle) 

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) the loopholes that will be closed as part of the recently announced welfare mitigations extension; and (ii) which claimants will benefit from these changes.

The initial design of the Benefit Cap and Social Sector Size Criteria Welfare Supplementary Payment schemes included provisions that could lead to mitigation payments being reduced or stopped completely. This included the amount of a Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payment being restricted to the amount when a person first had their benefit capped (i.e. the mitigation payment could never increase). In addition a Social Sector Size Criteria Welfare Supplementary Payment could cease if someone chose to move property and continued to under-occupy by at least the same number of bedrooms.

On 8 February 2022 the Assembly approved the Welfare Supplementary Payment (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 to remove these provisions from the mitigation schemes until 31 March 2025.

Following completion of the statutory review into the operation of the existing mitigation schemes I have decided that these statutory protections should be continued. This will guarantee that all households in Northern Ireland affected by the Social Sector Size Criteria will receive mitigation payments equivalent to the reduction in their benefit. All families with children will also continue to be protected, in full, from the Benefit Cap. I will introduce legislation in early 2025 to provide for this continued protection.

 

Welfare Mitigations Breakdown for 2025-26

AQW 19577/22-27 Mr Mark Durkan (SDLP - Foyle)

To ask the Minister for Communities for a breakdown of how the £47.3 million allocated for a welfare mitigations package in 2025-26 will be spent.

The £47.3 million welfare mitigations forecast requirement for 2025-26:

Welfare Supplementary Payments	£'M
Social Sector Size Criteria	25.0
UC Contingency Fund	6.2
Benefit Cap	2.5
DLA to PIP – Loss	0.2
DLA to PIP – Reduced Award	0.3
Carers	0.4
Administration & IT Costs	7.5
Independent Advice & Appeals	2.3
Social Supermarkets	2.9
Total	47.3

 

Local Housing Allowance [LHA] Freeze

AQW 19969/22-27 Mrs Ciara Ferguson, (SF - Foyle)

To ask the Minister for Communities (i) for his assessment of the Local Housing Allowance freeze for 2025 and the impact on private renters; and (ii) whether he will lobby the British Government to make the case for an unfreeze and for an increase beyond the current cheapest 30th percentile baseline.

Rents are generally a household’s largest single expense. The increase in Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate from April 2024 therefore assisted many renters with affordability of rent costs and with cost-of-living challenges more generally. Indeed, some households saw an increase in housing support of over 40 percent, which illustrates the scale of the impact that the 2020 freeze had on those living in the private rented sector. With the LHA rates for 2025/26 being frozen at the 2024/25 rates, the burden may once again be felt by low-income households who could face a growing shortfall between housing support and housing costs.

I wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions last year requesting that, going forward, LHA rates maintain pace with increases in private sector rents. I continue to advocate for LHA rates to keep track of the market rents.

 

LHAs and Discretionary Housing Payments [DHPs]

AQW 19969/22-27 Mrs Ciara Ferguson, (SF - Foyle)

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any support available for low-income families that have been impacted by shortfalls in the Local Housing Allowance, to assist them in meeting shortfalls between housing costs paid through benefit and contractual rents.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) provide additional temporary financial assistance with housing costs (rent not rates) for tenants in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) who may face a shortfall in meeting the cost of their contractual rent because some sort of legislative restriction has been applied.

This is normally because the level of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is below the level of contracted rent due. A small number of tenants in the social rented sector can also apply. The scheme as its name intimates is discretionary and is intended to provide temporary assistance to allow tenants some time to find a long-term, affordable and sustainable housing solution.

 

Winter Fuel Payment Issue Date

AQW 19821/22-27 Ms Diane Forsythe (DUP - South Down)

To ask the Minister for Communities when pensioner households should expect to start receiving their £100 winter fuel payments.

I announced on 19th November 2024 that a one-off payment of £100 would be provided to pensioner households in Northern Ireland no longer eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. The department is working at pace to put the necessary arrangements in place for making this payment before the end of March 2025

 

Winter Fuel Payment

AQW 20879/22-27 Ms Claire Sugden (IND - East Londonderry)

To ask the Minister for Communities for his assessment of the impact of the reduction of the Winter Fuel Payment for older people, particularly those already experiencing fuel poverty.

An Equality Impact Assessment public consultation on the changes to the Winter Fuel Payments scheme in winter 2024/25 was launched by the department on 9 December 2024 and runs for 12 weeks until 2nd March 2025.

That consultation seeks the public views on the proposed preliminary recommendations with regards to measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of the policy changes. The department will respond to the public consultation after an analysis of the responses received.

In addition, I have proposed within the current draft Fuel Poverty Strategy consultation, which is also currently open, to analyse the impact of the removal of Winter Fuel Payments on pensioners who are above the threshold for Pension Credit to gain a better understanding of who may be at risk of fuel poverty because of the change.

 

Universal Credit

AQW 19402/22-27 Mr Andy Allen MBE (UUP - East Belfast)

To ask the Minister for Communities (i) for his assessment of the Universal Credit five-week wait; and (ii) whether he has engaged with the Department for Work and Pensions to remove the five-week wait.

Universal Credit (UC) is paid in arrears and entitlement is calculated at the end of an assessment period of one month. This allows for a UC award to be adjusted on a monthly basis to reflect an individual’s circumstances, e.g. earnings, capital, or income from other benefits. Payment is then issued and will be credited to the claimant’s bank account the following week. Consequently, a person has to wait at least five weeks before they receive their first payment. The assessment period and payment structure of UC is integral to the overall design of the benefit. However, help is available for those waiting on their first UC payment:

Universal Credit Contingency Fund

Claimants can apply for a UC Contingency Fund non-repayable grant, which is only available to claimants living in Northern Ireland.

Advance Payment

They can also apply for an Advance Payment, which is up to 100% of their indicative award. Advance payments are repayable and will normally be deducted from the claimant’s UC award. The repayment period can be extended up to 24 months.

Two Week “Run On”

People who move to UC from an existing legacy benefit, including Housing Benefit, may continue to receive their legacy benefit for a period of two weeks after moving to UC. These payments do not need to be paid back and essentially act as a grant to help people with the transition to UC.

I have not had any engagement with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about Universal Credit assessment periods.

 

Unclaimed Social Security Benefits

AQW 20457/22-27 Miss Michelle McIlveen, (DUP - Strangford)

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the amount of unclaimed social security benefits for the last five financial years, broken down by benefit category.

My Department does not produce statistics on the amount of unclaimed social security benefits, other than Pension Credit, and therefore is unable to detail the amount unclaimed for the last five financial years by benefit category.

For Pension Credit, the most recently published statistics were released on 01 September 2022 and provided estimates for the 2019/20 financial year. The analysis estimates that there was £1.1m per week in unclaimed Pension Credit in 2019/20.

The Department is not in a position to update these statistics at present due to data constraints relating to State Pension data. The Department is working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to resolve these issues.

 

PIP Renewals

AQW 20639/22-27 Mr Maurice Bradley (DUP - East Londonderry) 

To ask the Minister for Communities why Personal Independence Payment renewals are sent out so far in advance of the claimant's award ending, which may result in the applicant's medical conditions changing and information being out of date by the time the assessment is carried out.

Personal Independence Payment renewals are issued well in advance of an award of benefit ending to allow adequate time for completion without disrupting payments. This allows my Department to review claims, conduct assessments if needed, and make decisions before the existing award expires.

An applicant can, however, provide further information about a change in their medical condition at any point following completion of their award review form. This will then be considered by the case manager as part of the review process.

 

Benefit Appeals: Average Waiting Times

AQW 20838/22-27 Miss Michelle McIlveen (DUP - Strangford)

To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the average waiting time for a benefit appeal to be heard by the Appeals Service in each of the last five years.
The table below shows a breakdown of the average waiting time for a benefit appeal to be heard by the Appeals Service by financial year. (Records are only available from 10th January 2022 due to an upgrade of the Northern Ireland Appeals Processing System at that time)

 

Financial Year	Average Yearly Waiting Time: Date Received to First Date of Hearing (Weeks)
2020/2021	Not Available
2021/2022*	31.29
2022/2023	30.47
2023/2024	29.60
2024/2025**	25.92

* 10 January 2022 to 31 March 2022
** 01 April 2024 to 31 December 2024

 

Executive Committee Business: The draft Period Products (Department of Health Specified Public Service Bodies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024

Liz Kimmins, Sinn Fein:

I welcome the opportunity to confirm the Health Committee's support for the motion. The Committee considered the policy proposal for the statutory rule (SR) and the statutory rule itself at four of its meetings since June 2024. It invited departmental officials to attend two of those meetings to discuss the regulations. As the Minister has set out, the regulations specify the public bodies that sit within the functions of the Department of Health that must ensure that period products are available, free of charge, to persons on their premises who need to use them.

The Committee supports the naming of the five hospital trusts as the public bodies that will provide free period products for use by patients, staff and visitors. It notes that that will result in the availability of period products on 1,300 premises across 507 health and social care sites…..

The provision of free period products in healthcare settings is particularly important and will ensure that everyone who needs to access what are essential items during their time in hospital can do so. Being in a hospital as a patient or when accompanying a patient is generally a very stressful and anxious time. The provision of such products will hopefully alleviate some of the embarrassment or discomfort of being in a hospital without having adequate protection.

The Committee recognises that the provision of free period products on that scale may present logistical challenges and add financial pressures to already stretched budgets for each of the trusts. The Department advised the Committee of estimated costs of between £200,000 and £300,000 a trust a year, which equates to between £1 million and £1·5 million annually in total. The Department also advised the Committee that no additional funding was available for compliance with the regulations and that the trusts would need to fund the costs from within existing budgets as part of normal operational costs. The Committee notes that the Department will have a better understanding of demand and the cost of operation. It looks forward to receiving an update on the actual cost of delivery when the figures become available.

It would be remiss of me not to point out the Committee's disappointment at how long it has taken to progress the regulations. Despite its best efforts to elicit from the Department the information that the Committee needed in order to understand the impact and implications of the regulations, it took five months before it was provided with that information, including an estimate of the costs and the operational date….

The Health Committee is committed to working in cooperation with the Department. I therefore ask the Minister that his officials support us in progressing future legislation by providing the full information that the Committee requires in a timely way.

In conclusion, the Health Committee looks forward to the regulations' implementation, as we view them as being an important measure for addressing issues to do with period dignity and period poverty. I am happy to confirm that the Health Committee agreed to recommend that the draft Period Products Regulations be approved and made by the Assembly.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/ni/?id=2025-01-20.2.1&s=Social+Policy#g2.6

 

Emergency Fuel Support

AQW 18508
Mr Andy Allen MBE, Ulster Unionist Party

To ask the Minister for Communities to set out the full criteria for the Emergency Fuel Support 2024-25 payment.

The criteria for the one-off Emergency Fuel Payment are as follows:

A payment will be made to pensioner households in Northern Ireland who are not in receipt of Pension Credit or other means tested benefits and are not eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment.

A payment of £100 will be made to a single pensioner living alone, or a payment of £50 will be made to each eligible member of a household (if there is more than one eligible pensioner in a household).

Those who are in residential care throughout the qualifying week, and for the period of less than 12 weeks immediately before the qualifying week, will be eligible for a payment of £100.

Those who are in residential care throughout the qualifying week, and for the period of 12 weeks immediately before the qualifying week, will be eligible for the payment of £50.

A person in prison during the qualifying week will not be eligible for the payment.

There will be no right of appeal.

There will be no application process in most cases.

In cases where those eligible for payments have not received them, eligible pensioners will need to contact a dedicated team within the department and provide the relevant information to prove eligibility. Payments will then be made when eligibility is confirmed.

Payments will be made to those eligible via existing payment channels.

Payments will be made before the end of March 2025.

The eligibility criteria will apply during the same qualifying week as the Winter Fuel Payment. The qualifying week for the 2024 Winter Fuel Payment was Monday 16 September to Sunday 22 September 2024, and the pensioner must have been born on or before September 23, 1958, to be eligible.

A pensioner is ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland; or habitually resident in countries covered by the Withdrawal Agreement; EEA EFTA separation agreement; Swiss citizens’ rights agreement or the Convention on Social Security between the UK and Ireland and able to demonstrate a genuine and sufficient link to the UK.

The payment will not be means tested.

 

UC Contingency Fund

AQW 19839/22-27
Mr Daniel McCrossan, Social Democratic and Labour Party

To ask the Minister for Communities for an update on the renaming and rebranding of the Universal Credit Contingency Fund.

Plans to change the name to “Universal Credit: New Claims Payment” are currently being taken forward by officials within my Department. It is expected that the changes will be rolled out by the end of this financial year.

 

UC Minimum Income Floor and the Self-Employed; Farmers

AQO 1349/22-27

Ms D Armstrong asked the Minister for Communities what steps he is taking to support self-employed individuals, including farmers, impacted by the minimum income floor for universal credit.

Mr Lyons:.. The minimum income floor is broadly a notional amount of earned income that is used to calculate a person’s UC award. It applies to those in gainful self-employment whose business has been running for more than 12 months. It does not apply in all cases; for example, it does not apply to claimants who are in the 12-month start-up period, to those who are not gainfully self-employed or during the first 12 months of moving to UC from legacy benefits.
Universal credit work coaches and case managers provide support to those who are self-employed to make and maintain their claims. The support provided includes information on work allowances, taper rate, the childcare element and my Department’s adviser discretion fund (ADF), which provides a non-repayable grant of up to £1,500 to help unemployed and self-employed people overcome the financial barriers to starting or returning to work.
 
Ms D Armstrong: Thank you for your response. Minister, do you accept that some individuals and farmers rely solely on seasonal work for their income and, as a result, earn less than the minimum income floor? What can the Minister do in such cases to support individuals whose income may fluctuate over a period of time?

Mr Lyons: I am aware of the issue because I have had correspondence from the Member, and from Mrs Erskine as well. I assume that there are many people in Fermanagh and South Tyrone who have been affected. The Member will be aware that this is a result of policy change in the Department for Work and Pensions. In many ways, our hands are tied. I will continue to express concern about this to the Department for Work and Pensions and stand ready to help in whatever way I can. However, we need to recognise that these rules apply across the United Kingdom.

Mrs Erskine: Like the Minister, I know the value of farmers in our rural communities and throughout Northern Ireland. The policies that the Labour Government have put in place are really driving farmers into poverty. It is very simple: no farmers, no food. I would like to know what practical support will come from the Minister's Department and what he can advise farmers to do in relation to the breadline that they are facing.

Mr Lyons: I thank the Member for raising that issue with me as well. She will be aware of the cross-nation approach that is taken with regard to benefits and welfare. However, I want to make sure that we are as helpful as possible, and senior officials have met representatives from the Ulster Farmers' Union and Rural Support to offer them any additional help or support that they can. They certainly remain willing to engage and meet again, if that would be helpful. I am more than happy to link my officials up with the Member and her constituents in any way that might be beneficial as well. I am also happy to work with the Member so that we can increase awareness of the support that is available to claimants.

Mr McGlone: Minister, in the instance of people who are self-employed, such as those in the farming community, the gap of five weeks, which is how long it can take until eligibility is established for universal credit, can be financially very painful. Can you advise of the elements of welfare support that are available in those instances to help people to bridge that five-week gap?

Mr Lyons: Help is available from my Department. I have already raised the issue of the adviser discretion fund and the money that is available there to help those who are unemployed or self-employed. I am happy to share the details directly with the Member. Again, we are largely constrained by the rules that have been set down and put in place by DWP, but where we can give additional support, assistance, guidance and, sometimes, just advice, we will of course do that.

Mr McMurray: Has the Minister considered targeted exemptions or adjustments to the referenced minimum income floor for the self-employed, rural farmers and seasonal workers?

Mr Lyons: It is certainly something that we are happy to raise directly with the Department for Work and Pensions. The Member will be aware that any way in which we deviate from the rules that currently exist comes with administrative and other costs for the Department that can be very hard for us to bear. Certainly, we will continue to raise the issue with DWP and see what additional support it may be able to provide or what adjustments it can make to help in those situations.

NI Assembly

 

PIP Proposed Changes

PIP
Gregory Campbell DUP, East Londonderry

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions her Department has had with representatives of people affected by proposed changes to (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) Work Capability Assessments and (b) the Disability Living Allowance.

Stephen Timms The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

We believe there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work, to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health conditions many people live with today. This government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, and with any reform, including the Health and Disability Green Paper we intend to publish in the Spring, we will consult with disabled people and representative organisations.

Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits, and look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.

About the PIP service specifically: the Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services, to improve people’s experience of applying for PIP. The Programme will transform the entire PIP service, from finding out about benefits through to decisions, eligibility, and payments.

The Programme communicates and engages frequently with disabled people and external stakeholders – including national charities and other organisations that support people with disabilities – about proposed changes. Their opinions and suggestions are taken on board as we test new iterations of the transformed service.

 

PIP and Lung Conditions

UIN 23671
David Chadwick, Liberal Democrat

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are receiving PIP as a result of having a lung condition; and whether breathlessness is taken into account when conducting a PIP assessment.

Sir Stephen Timms, Labour

In October 2024, there were 107,697 claimants with a respiratory diseased who received Personal Independence Payment (PIP). These figures are for England and Wales only and exclude claimants with Special Rules for End of Life. This figure can be found in Stat Xplore in the “PIP cases with Entitlement from 2019” table found here: Stat Xplore.

Entitlement to PIP is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Individuals can be affected in different ways by the same condition and so the outcome of a PIP claim depends very much on individual circumstances. PIP legislation requires decision makers to consider whether individuals can complete each assessment activity “safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period”. These four components are known as the reliability criteria.

When determining whether an activity can be reliably carried out, symptoms such as breathlessness should be considered, as they may indicate that the activity cannot be done to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, or within a reasonable time period. The impact of completing one activity on the ability to complete others must also be considered.

 

Statutory Sick Pay

UIN 23948
Llinos Medi, Plaid Cymru

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the rate of Statutory Sick Pay.

Alison McGovern, Labour

The Government reviews the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) annually as part of the uprating process. We are committed to building our understanding of how our plans to strengthen SSP, announced in our Plan to Make Work Pay, will impact employers and employees alike.

Through the Employment Rights Bill we are removing the Waiting Period so that SSP is payable from the first day of sickness absence, and we are also removing the Lower Earnings Limit which will widen eligibility to the up to 1.3 million employees who are currently not entitled to SSP.

Many employers choose to go further than paying the statutory minimum and provide more financial support to their employees during a sickness absence. Around 60% of all employees eligible to receive such contractual sick pay. Those who need additional financial support while off sick may be able to receive more help through the welfare system such as Universal Credit, depending on their individual circumstances.

 

Safeguarding

UIN 24384
Vikki Slade, Liberal Democrat

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the effectiveness safeguards for people with mental health conditions when engaging with the benefits system.

Sir Stephen Timms, Labour

All customer-facing DWP colleagues are undertaking mandatory mental health awareness training to better support claimants who may present with mental health issues. All colleagues also have access to a wide range of guidance and signposting to help support customers. Where further specialist help is required, DWP has a national network of Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who can provide additional advice and support through the local networks they have built with external partners and organisations.

Additionally, through the national DWP Visiting Service, the department provides additional face-to-face support across all service lines to customers who cannot access DWP services in any other way. A visit can be arranged for a customer if they need extra help to claim benefits, for example because they have complex needs, are disabled, are a vulnerable young person making a claim for the first time, have nobody else to support them or cannot claim benefits in any other way.

 

DLA

DLA query
Pippa Heylings, Liberal Democrat

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department issues to Disability Living Allowance claimants during the wait for their claim to be assessed; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times.

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for Children is the only DLA product that has new claims. There are no longer new claims for DLA Adult, as customers over 16 are invited to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and customers over the state pensions age are invited to claim Attendance Allowance (AA), rather than the DLA 65+.

At present, for Disability Living Allowance for Children, once a claim has been registered a system generated letter is sent to the customer to advise that the claim is being looked at with an approximate time frame, a progress acknowledgement letter may be sent at 7 weeks for new claims if the claim has not had a decision at that point.

Special Rules End of Life claims are dealt with as a priority and the above does not apply as these are expected to be decided within 10 days.

Telephony agents are also kept up to date for any telephony enquiries.

In 2025 plans are in place to add information to an automated text once claims are registered. Work is also being undertaken to add a page to gov.uk

In addition to this, new staff have been recruited and staff redeployed to help meet the increased number of claims and work is also underway to deliver improvements to the customer journey.

 

Universal Credit

UIN 24844
Mary Glindon, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made for the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report entitled Move to Universal Credit Non-claimants (formerly tax credits customers) Research, published on 17 December 2024

Sir Stephen Timms, Labour

Our research with former tax credit customers who did not claim UC found that the majority of respondents did not intend to claim UC in the future and customers were generally making an informed decision. The report did identify potential barriers for some groups claiming UC. DWP sets out the range of support available for making a claim to Universal Credit within the Migration Notice, including independent support through Help to Claim. This support is also available online and has been highlighted through our extensive media campaign. Our published official statistics show that those receiving a DWP legacy benefit or Housing Benefit are claiming at a higher percentage, in line with Discovery claim rates.

 

Carers Allowance

UIN 902516
Mr Joshua Reynolds, Liberal Democrat

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to reform the Carer’s Allowance system.

Sir Stephen Timms, Labour

We have announced the highest ever increase to the Carers Allowance earning limit, started considering the feasibility of a taper instead of the earnings threshold and launched an independent review of Carers Allowance overpayments.

 

Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill; Safeguarding

UIN 26516
Paula Barker, Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill on disabled people in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment.

Andrew Western, Labour

The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill will help the Government to better identify, prevent and deter public sector fraud and error and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer.
Safeguarding vulnerable claimants is always a priority. All the powers included in the Bill include strong safeguards ensuring they are used appropriately and proportionately – including new oversight and reporting mechanisms.

Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill Statement – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

I would like to inform the House that today the Government is taking steps to deliver on its manifesto commitment to safeguard taxpayers’ money through the introduction of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.

This Bill brings forward reforms to help identify, prevent and deter public sector fraud and error, and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer. This Bill is expected to deliver benefits of £1.5bn over the next five years, as scored by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)….

I previously informed the House on 8 October 2024 of the Government’s plans to bring forward legislation that will extend and modernise DWP’s powers to stop fraud in its tracks, recover money lost to fraud and, crucially, help protect claimants who may already be on the edge financially from racking up debt….

Fraud and error in the social security system currently costs the taxpayer around £10bn a year and, since the pandemic, a total of £35bn of taxpayers’ money has been incorrectly paid to those not entitled…..

The DWP measures in this Bill will:

Modernise DWP’s investigation powers to help prove or disprove suspected fraud more quickly. Some of the powers which DWP relies on to investigate fraud are over 20 years old – DWP needs to keep pace with offenders who exploit the social security system and improve our access to information. New independent oversight will review and report on the use of the new investigation powers.

Allow DWP to take greater control in our investigations into serious organised crimes through new powers of entry, search and seizure. New independent inspection and complaints procedures will be included to ensure the appropriate use of these powers.

Bring greater fairness to debt recovery by allowing DWP to recover debts from individuals who can pay money back but have avoided doing so. It will also enable DWP to apply to the court for a Suspended Driving Disqualification Order, to disqualify a debtor from holding a driving licence, where all other attempts at recovery have failed.

Through our Eligibility Verification Measure, require banks and other financial institutions to examine their own data sets to highlight where someone may not be eligible for the benefits that are being paid. This will help us to identify incorrect payments and prevent debts accruing for claimants. DWP’s use of the powers will be overseen by an independent person whose report will be laid before Parliament. The powers will not give DWP access to any claimant’s bank accounts, nor any information on how claimants spend their money. DWP will not share any personal information with banks or other financial institutions and a member of DWP staff will always be involved in any further investigations and decisions.

Update the penalties regime by extending the penalties we can apply for fraud to non-benefit payments (e.g. grants) to ensure there is fairness in dealing with fraud across the social security system.

Introduce new and important safeguards on the face of the Bill, including reporting mechanisms and independent oversight to ensure the powers are used proportionately and effectively. As is the case now, any decision taken about someone’s benefit entitlement will always be made by a human being.

We will ensure that every pound of taxpayers’ money is spent with the same care with which working people spend their own money.

Today I can also confirm that this Bill will now go further to tackle fraud, error and debt across the public sector by also giving the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) within the Cabinet Office powers to investigate and address fraud against the public sector on behalf of other departments and public bodies. These powers are based on similar powers held by other Government departments, specifically HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)…..

The PSFA (within the Cabinet Office) measures in this Bill will:

Give the Cabinet Office information sharing and information gathering powers, that will enable the PSFA to compel the production of information from information holders as part of a fraud investigation.

Allow the PSFA to take control of investigations into public sector fraud at the request of the affected public authority, reducing reliance on the police and ensuring all parts of government have access to the capabilities necessary to tackle fraud.

Improve the government’s ability to recover losses, as a result of fraud or suspected fraud against public authorities, through new debt recovery and enforcement powers. This could be directly from an individual’s earnings or bank accounts to recover fraud-related debt identified through PSFA investigation, or from an application of a penalty on behalf of a public authority.

Written Statement

 

Two Child Benefit Cap

Meg Hillier Chair, Treasury Committee

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of ending the two child benefit cap.

Stephen Timms The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions
No estimates have been published.

While we cannot currently commit to changing the two child policy, tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. This is why the Child Poverty Taskforce will look at all available levers to reduce child poverty, including social security reforms, before publishing a strategy.

Two Child Benefit Cap