Since the last Work and Pensions oral questions, I am pleased to welcome the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith), and the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (David Rutley) to join our ministerial team. I congratulate the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Will Quince) on moving to his new role, looking after childcare. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) for the great work that he did during his time in the Department; he should be proud of his achievements, including the changes to accessibility of benefits for those with terminal illness, and the national disability strategy.

The hon. Member just shows her effectiveness as a Member of Parliament in responding to her constituent and taking the issue up with us. If there are specific details that she would like to go into, I think the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), will be more than happy to respond. It is right to say that universal credit is not paid to people who are of pension age, but I flag to her some of the issues addressed by my hon. Friend earlier when considering the backlog in paying out pensions.

Well, what can I say? The interests of the British public are best served when the Conservative party is in power and in government. We are seeing a rise in employment. We are seeing a universal credit benefit system that is more generous than the legacy system that was there. We are finally removing a lot of the thresholds that actually prevented people from working more than 16 hours per week. I am proud of not only our policies but our civil servants in delivering an excellent record in trying to make sure that money gets to the people who deserve it the most.

Very evidently, the plan for jobs is working. We are seeing more people on the payrolls than was happening pre-pandemic. I hear what the hon. Gentleman says about some of the skills that may be required. I am conscious that many people who campaigned vigorously to stay in the European Union are still trying to use the excuse of leaving the European Union for why certain sectors are still under-supplied. The reality is that nearly 6 million people registered for the EU settlement scheme and they have an entitlement to live in this country if they so wish. I think there are some aspects of covid that are perhaps hindering people in coming back into the UK who are considering a return to their native countries. Let me say very clearly that we are working on this right across Government. We have the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee. We are encouraging people to consider swapping sectors, as is happening with aspects such as SWAPs—sector-based work academy programmes—for people who are unemployed. There are also the bootcamps for skills and the incentives to take on apprentices that have been given to employers right across the country.

Jobcentres work directly with local employers using programmes such as SWAPs to fill vacancies. Training and work experience opportunities are available, including a guaranteed interview scheme. The Chancellor has announced £1.3 million for new technology to better match claimants and vacancies through a job-matching tool that is currently out to tender.

If the hon. Gentleman writes to me I will try to get a more detailed answer. There is a regular review of all contracts put out by the DWP, and the latest data on Serco was published on 24 September 2021 and is available on the gov.uk website.

My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that the Government will publish the response to the In-Work Progression Commission's report by the end of the year. A new in-work progression programme is supported by almost £100 million announced by the Chancellor.

We have the Low Pay Commission making recommendations. The differential in wages is noted but we see a huge increase in the national living wage since 2010. It will be at 66% of median earnings.

I will provide an update on pensions dashboards. It involves 43,000 pension providers and 22 million private and state pensions coming to devices in 2023.

The hon. Member will be aware that pensions have increased by over £2,000 since 2010. There is also the enhanced take-up of pension credit.

The DWP helps fill vacancies through work coach support, sector-based work academy programmes, and kickstart initiatives. We have doubled the number of work coaches and created a virtual job help platform.

We are committed to ensuring best advice for people. We have reviewed our approach post-pandemic and will provide more details on how we plan to move forward.

We have been working to encourage people who receive benefits requiring immigration status to apply to the EU settlement scheme. The vast majority have done so, and we are taking actions such as sending invitations and supportive officers to help with the process.

No impact assessment was undertaken when the temporary universal credit uplift was removed, as it was not considered necessary.

The reduction of the taper rate from 63% to 55% was part of the original design. The Chancellor agreed that now is a good time for it, recognising labour market opportunities and making work pay better. With £2.5 billion annually being provided, no further change in the taper rate is sought.

The hon. Gentleman seems to have forgotten the PHSO was set up under Labour. The three-stage process is being observed as established by his Blair-Brown government.

We aim for changes as quickly as possible, using a two-stage approach. Universal credit and employment and support allowance will be amended via secondary legislation in April; primary legislation for other benefits will follow parliamentary timetable.