Stephen Timms: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Stephen Timms: On his point about the shared intent, I quoted in my speech what Baroness Buscombe said in the other place on 1 May 2018. She was speaking, I think, for him. She said: “We all want people…to make it the norm to use Pension Wise before accessing their pension.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 1 May 2018; Vol. 790, c. 1995.] Does that remain the Government’s intention?
Stephen Timms: I welcome the debate we have had on this set of new clauses and amendments, and I welcome many of the things that the Minister said. On new clause 1, I am not sure whether he does still stand by what his noble Friend said on his behalf two years ago about the use of Pension Wise becoming “the norm”. If that is still his intention, I have not heard anything this evening to make me think...
Stephen Timms: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Stephen Timms: I rise to speak to new clause 1, together with amendments 2 to 5, and I am grateful to those from my party, the Conservative party and the SNP who have added their names to them. New clause 1 addresses a serious flaw in the implementation of the pension freedoms that George Osborne announced in his Budget speech in 2014 and that were implemented the following year. This is what George Osborne...
Stephen Timms: My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is precisely what new clause 1 is intended to deliver. Monthly data used to be published on the usage of Pension Wise. The Government committed to monthly publication in December 2015 in their response to the Work and Pensions Committee’s report “Pension freedom guidance and advice”, but monthly publication stopped in January 2019. Now the...
Stephen Timms: I am very grateful to the Minister for that assurance, and I look forward to monthly publication resuming. To answer my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle), who I am delighted to see in her place, at the Treasury Committee a couple of weeks ago the chair of the Financial Conduct Authority spoke about defined-contribution pension savers. He said: “This issue about people making...
Stephen Timms: The proposal in new clause 1 is that people should be auto-enrolled into an appointment—that everyone should be given an appointment. That would have the effect, I believe and submit, of very significantly increasing the number of people who access Pension Wise. Pension Wise is a very good service. It is funded by an industry levy. Nine out of 10 of those who use it report high or very high...
Stephen Timms: The great strength of the Pension Wise approach is in providing appointments that deliver guidance to a very large number of people. The issue that the hon. Gentleman talks about will need to be managed in the context of a national service that already exists—one that is helping a significant number already and ought to be helping a lot more. The default should be that people get an...
Stephen Timms: I am grateful for the assurances that the Minister has given. One of the problems is that the responsibility for responding to scams cuts across many different bodies. The court ruling last week that the fraud compensation fund could be used to compensate some pension scam victims is a significant development. The Police Foundation published an important report in September called...
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reduced visitor access on the levels of (a) loneliness and (b) mental ill health of care home residents since the start of the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to designate Anna Chaplains for Older People as key workers for the purposes of visiting residential care homes; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her oral statement of 9 November 2020, Official Report, column 637 on supporting disadvantaged families, whether children in families whose immigration status has the No Recourse to Public Funds condition will be eligible for help if they are (a) born in the UK and (b) born outside the UK.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what method her Department has used to conduct personal independence payment medical assessments since face-to-face assessments were paused in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase the rate of (a) jobseekers' allowance and (b) employment and support allowance in line with the increase in universal credit; and if she will make a statement.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 27 April 2020 to Question 37391 on Repatriation: Coronavirus, how many UK nationals have returned to the UK from India on repatriation flights organised by the Government; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer dated 2 November 2020 to Question 106891, whether he plans to consult externally in working with the Home Office on how immigration status and no recourse to public funds interact with free school meals and other educational entitlements; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer dated 13 October 2020 to Question 907478 on USA: RAF Croughton, what assessment he has made of the US Government's compliance with obligations under Article II of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement in respect of activities at RAF Croughton.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2020 to Question 106889 on State Retirement Pensions, how many people were having deductions and adjustments made to their State Pension payments by her Department to repay claimant debts owed to Government on the most recent date for which that data is available.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to calls by the Association of School and College Leaders that Ofsted inspections should not return until September 2021, what discussions he has had with the Chief Inspector for Ofsted on resuming inspections on state (a) schools, (b) nurseries and (c) colleges.