Live Work and Pensions Questions House of Commons

of parliament at 11 o'clock this evening. Firstly questions of the

work and pageant secretary Steven Crabbe and his team of ministers.

Hors d'oeuvre. Order. Questions to the victory of state for work and

pensions. Number one. Work coaches in Manchester have been

working with a food bank since October last year. Feedback shows

the service helps signpost support for people to move into work and

navigate the welfare system. I am keen for all job centres to explore

how they work with local initiatives in their communities. My local food

bank in West Cheshire has seen a 6% increase in use in the last 12

months. A disgraceful 13% extra children are committees of the bank

in that period. Can the Minister give as an expert nation as to why

there's been such an increase. Does he believe its welfare benefit cuts

or another explanation? I would say and I'm happy to speak to an further

about this situation, the trust recently found recently that there

be no overall increase in the last 12 months. The average price of food

has fallen by 2.5% over the last 12 months while average wages have gone

up and we continue to spend more than ?80 billion on working age

benefits to support those in need. I visited my food bank in rugby and I

saw advisers not only meeting people's individual needs but also

making a big effort to understand the circumstances of the people who

were there and provide help and support and give direction. Isn't it

entirely right that I should happen? He is absolutely right. I have been

a trustee of a food bag and I know about how they work on the ground

and food banks already effective are those who are partnering with other

organisations like citizens advice, Christians against poverty they

provide support and advice to tackle the underlying causes of why someone

might be at the point of crisis and dependency. The latest Russell trust

data shows a 2% rise in the last year in the banks. Is that growth at

the Minister is proud of? One thing I am proud of and let me take this

issue seriously is we are spending more than ?80 billion on working age

benefits. That's the mark of a decent compassionate society. The

same time we're working hard to the benefit system as I sit to help

those who have most disadvantaged and greatest distance from the

labour market. Give them a better chance of leading fulfilling lives.

May I welcome my right honourable friend to DWP questions. I believe

this is as first-time and I'm sure he'll make a huge impact. He did

when I worked with him. Can I ask him does the require... What'll they

shouting about? Can I ask him, does he recall that when the Labour

government were in power the existence of food banks was more or

less covered up and it's been since the coalition and now this biggest

rage and does come along that we have advertised and helped food

banks for existing and helping those people most in need? It's an

important point being made. I'm not interesting in play the politics of

this. The encouragement and into job centres around the UK is to explore

fully how they work in partnership with local community initiatives so

that together the third sector working with work coaches can

provide the maximum support and advise. In publishing last month,

the figures showing record food bank demand over the last year the trust

will trust said that in some areas food banks are reporting increased

referrals to the delays and arrays in Universal Credit payments. What

steps is he taking to make sure that the introduction of Universal Credit

doesn't drive food bank demand even higher? That's one of the reasons

why were taking such a careful uncontrolled timetables are rolling

out Universal Credit and much more interested in it being rolled out

safety and securely and avoiding the kinds of problems we had under the

last Labour government with tax credits blasting out and people

receiving overpayments and being required to pay back thousands of

pounds to... That what happened. What's the average length of time

that they benefit recipient is making use of a food bank and are we

asking these individuals who successfully away from food banks

what advice they would like to have had when they attended? That's a

very good suggestion from my honourable friend. Peer support and

peer advice is an effective thing that can be provided for those

people making the transition from worklessness into work and using

some of the experiences and insights are people who have had to rely on

food banks analyse is important. Number two. The government set out

our assessment of the impact of the welfare policies in the welfare

reform and work act on the 20th of July 20 15. Similar assistance for

previous changes. People with disabilities and health conditions

or be higher in real terms in 2020 than in 2012. Once Universal Credit

have been fully implemented, so that disabled people will be entitled to

250 pounds less a week with the current system. As the Minister

concerned about young carers? I thank him for is question. I didn't

pick up all the points but they are a number of exemptions in place. We

will continue to review the best way to help young people and this will

be a better benefit for them. Can he give me an update on the progress of

the joint work and health unit which is a very sensible way to join up

parts of the public sector? This is a significant part of our ongoing

work to bring the two main departments together to create

additional opportunities and it will be bringing forward is further

details soon. The fact is that analysis by the House of Commons

library shows that ?1.2 billion worth of support to disabled people

is set to be cut in this Parliament. Is this what the Secretary of State

means about having a new conversation with the sable people?

I challenge back the honourable member on this. In my area spending

will be ?16.6 billion competitor 7p on Velasco meant and overall we

spend nearly 50 billion pounds a year for the benefit for disabled

people and that is rising till 2020. Thank you. I recently met Nick

Gregory and his team at the Grimsby job centre which serves my

constituency. They are doing excellent work in getting disabled

and those with learning difficulties back into work. Can the Minister

enlightened as to what further initiatives are planned? I thank him

for the question and it's great to hear of the fantastic work in the

constituency. I will like to meeting to discuss that further but we

continue the staff across the job centre network, increasing the

number of disability and improvement in our work programme. The

Children's Society and citizens advice report that families of

around 100,000 disabled children who currently receive support through

DLA are set to see that halved under Universal Credit. That will have an

impact on the quality of life and the longer term life chances. With a

new just later the helm, ministers have a jazz to step back from the

Universal Credit to battle. Will they look again at the impact on

disabled children and fairer alternatives? I would challenge her

on that. Universal Credit analysis that you have to take into account

the introduction of the national living wage, extending childcare

support for working parents and decreases the personal tax

allowance. It's more generous for Charles care provisions and support

those who are working for just a few hours and as we seek premises at

that before the hip benefit system which many people benefit from is

more generous is than the old one. The research repeatable

organisations doesn't simply bear that out. The reality is that

disabled children are not the only people that will be losing out under

the Universal Credit. A report by the resolution foundation last week

found that under Universal Credit half a million working families will

be significantly worse off even with tax allowances and an increasing the

minimum wage. The sable people and children and come working families,

are they really do people the Tories want to target to pay for a sturdy

cut and tax cuts for the rich? We are doing more to sport working

households. The proportion of people in relative poverty living in a

family whose disabled has fallen since 2010 with our benefit cap and

freeze announcements. A number of exemptions including those on lots

of benefits, we will also be carers allowance and guardians allowance.

Does the Minister agree with me that disability confident events can be

crucial in this regard? I'm holding my own event in Gorleston to which

the Minister would be more than welcome to attend and with the join

me in encouraging all members from both sides of the house to get

involved? I thank him for that and we had 22 MPs so far who've helped

on disability confident events including a joint one between the

conservative and Labour MP, there's a future coalition for you. This 515

employers who have registered their interest in it. Up 169 is 23rd of

March and over 100 registrations a month. This is all about creating

opportunities for disabled people looking for work. What assessment

has been carried out by the Minister into the 30%... ?30 per week at the

Astor and the impact that will have our measures of deprivation amongst

disabled people? As that was announced there was analysis

published as part of a cumulative distribution analysis including the

impacts of welfare spending, health spending, and its investment but

let's not forget only 1% of those on the SA were coming off that benefit

and that the case of our government, the coalition, the former Labour

government, we've all try to make changes but fundamental reform is

needed and that is what this covenant will deliver.

With permission I will take questions three, 16 and 18 together.

This government continues to run the programme of automatic enrolment to

all eligible workers into workplace pensions. Of those eligible workers,

approximately half are under 40 and the largest increases in pension

membership in 2015 was amongst those aged 22 to 29. Can I welcome that.

Would the Minister consider whether now we have announced the lifetime

ice, that perhaps we should allow younger people to be able to

enrolled in a lifetime ice rather than a pension so they could have a

chance to save for House. May I say to my honourable friend that the

lifetime ice that is something designed to supplement a pension,

but is not a pension as such. The new state pension brings clarity for

workers, with that knowledge, does he not agree he will have a positive

impact on the amount they choose to save into a Private pension during

their lifetime? I most utterly agree with my honourable friend. The

previous state pension system would extremely complex, it was difficult

for people to know how much they would get before they reached state

pension age. The new state pension provides clarity from an early age

from what they could expect. In future, people will know they will

be able to expect over ?8,000 a year from the state. Providing a solid

foundation upon which they can plan their own retirement savings. Having

spent time with charities and high Street banks, I have been surprised

by the low level of financial literacy they report even amongst

people with secondary and tertiary education. What steps is the

government going to take to ensure young people receive the high

quality information and guidance they need, particularly about

pension planning which is something that often feels very long way off

to younger people. He will be aware that in October last year the

department and the... The pensions regulator jointly launched a fresh

communications campaign entitled Don't Ignore The Workplace Pension

to build on the success of the previous campaign. They campaign

included advertising. This is helped raise awareness and guide people

towards further information. It was pleasing to the ministers say that

predictability and clarity are very important in pensions. Will he not

apply those same principles to the 2.6 million women? We have applied

clarity and that is what I have been saying on many occasions and during

because of many debates. The younger generation are more likely to be

self-employed, 15% of the workforce are now some employed and yet only

one third are providing savings into a pension pot. Will he look at the

recommendations from the federation to small business that are calling

for incentives and support. Employed pension provision? The honourable

gentleman raises a good point. We will certainly look at anything that

is put forward but I must emphasise that this government is very keen to

ensure people, whether they are working or whether they are

self-employed, that they all try to think for the future and make for a

better future in terms of their pension. Pension savings have been

undermined by the new lifetime ISA, a new game at -- new gimmick

undermined pension saving. No employee will be better off by

saving into a ISA than they would into workplace pension savings. It

has been forecast that someone saving 4% of their income at 35,000,

would be ?23,000 of. Would he tell the Chancellor to stop these

gimmicks, stop this nonsense. I think the length needs to be

shorter! I am sorry the honourable member takes the hostile flu without

doing any research. May I just point out that with the auto enrolment

scheme, by 2020 there will be between 14 and ?16 billion more in

pension savings than a has-been before. Question four. Since 2010,

long-term youth unemployment has harvest. -- halved. This government

is determined to support young people so they are either earning or

learning when they leave school. Since March 22 that by 2010,... Does

the honourable friend agree that ... He highlights the important role

that training providers give because they are the ones providing

opportunities for young people to get their foot on the employment

ladder and so they can gain experience and skills that employers

are looking for. Minus it to him and other employers is that I hope the

work in partnership with us will encourage this activity. A young

autistic constituent of mine was asked by his DWP work adviser what

he enjoyed doing. He replied that he enjoyed being a DJ as a hobby. His

reward was to have a demand for repayment of ?7,000 in benefits,

accusing him of working while he did the DJ in as a hobby. Is that the

type of understanding approach for autistic people that this minister

likes to see from people working from the DWP? Let me say to the

honourable gentleman, I would be very happy to look at this

particularly case. I would also make the point that work coaches do a

tremendous amount of important work. I had to stand here is highlighting

a particular case and as I said, I would be happy to look at the

details. I would also be happy to provide some advice and guidance. I

was just curious to know on the subject of long-term youth

unemployment, what are work coaches doing to help some of the softer

skills? Work coaches have a range of tools at their disposal but they

work with the individual to look at what kind of skills they may not

have, we have extra adviser time to improve job search skills for

example, author getting onto apprenticeship schemes. To do that,

that means working with providers. The Prime Minister and toddler

regular tell us the EU is good for job prosperity. What would the youth

unemployment rates be in the rest of the EU and can the government find

any learning from those other EU countries? And he will be aware, as

will all manners of the House, that the ongoing economic turmoil in the

Eurozone is really where the European is right now. That serves

as a warning in terms of the employment challenges that they

face. I am delighted to say to the House that the UK is a bright spot

when it comes to employment and that is thanks to the long-term economic

plan of this government. A very well-informed answer, I am bound to

say! Does my right honourable friend agree with me that one way in which

manners of the House can help young people find work is through posting

jobs and apprenticeships fares and does she look forward to the

first-ever jobs and apprenticeship fares in my constituency? Let me

start by commending my honourable friend for hosting the jobs and

apprenticeship there. She is absolutely right and many colleagues

across the House been doing the same. They provide a gateway for

young people looking for work and I think we would all encourage that,

and I would encourage all honourable members to do exactly the same and

bring your employee and is together in your constituency to give young

people the opportunities they are looking for. Number five. The number

of workless households had reached the lowest level since since records

began. This demonstrates that not only is our approach to the economy

work but crucially, more families are benefiting from security and

dignity that work brings. Does he agree with me that too many people

are suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and that is preventing them

from getting back into work? Does he agree that supporting those people

to get drug and alcohol free is essential and will he come and visit

the addiction Centre in my constituency to see how we can

transform lives, get people free of addiction and get them back into

work? Is probably aware I visited the centre in Newcastle underlined

two weeks ago and saw a group of addicts and recovery making that

difficult journey back into work and the role of voluntary work, work

placements, with the end goal of achieving a paid job at the end of

it, that is what motivates many of them. For them, the dream is to get

into paid work and these centres are absolutely crucial. With the

Secretary of State except that even in areas where there is lower areas

of unemployment and they have been recently, there are still areas with

persistent high levels of unemployment. Would he agree to work

with Labour's newly elected Welsh Assembly to look at award in my

constituency with high levels of unemployment work policies have

helped reduce that and that was rewarded with a good outcome last

Thursday. I have a good track record of working with the Welsh

government, regardless of who is in power. Regarding the important point

about entrenched poverty, it is right we look at this. We will be

shortly launching a life chances strategy addressing complex

underlying factors that lead to persistent pockets of entrenched

poverty in the kind of what he describes. Question number six.

There are now 9.6 million workers at 50 and over in the UK, and increases

of 1.3 million in the last five years. The government is doing a lot

to support older workers including the removal of the default

retirement age and in people's choice as to when they retire. The

fact the Leader of the Opposition and myself both have a vested

interest in the future of older workers, will my right honourable

friend join me in welcoming the fact that those who are unemployed has

fallen by 37% in Southend and would she ensure we continue with policies

to secure that downward trend? I thank my honourable friend for his

comments. He is absolutely right and I know in his own constituency we

are seeing unemployment rates plummet very substantially. Of

course, this is about how we are focusing and committing to

delivering first-class support for all age groups. Statistics published

last month so that more than six and a thousand people in their 50s and

60s are supported into work by the tax credit system. Cani Minister

tell the House how many of those 600,000 will be eligible to receive

in work support and Universal Credit? The honourable gentleman

will know, as we have discussed, that Universal Credit is a simple

benefit that provides much more targeted support to support people

into work but also securing long-term job outcomes as well. When

it comes to older workers, as I have just said to be House, we are

committed to delivering the first-class support for people of

all ages in addition to older workers as well to make sure that we

work closely with them to secure employment for the long run. On the

basis of that answer, it would seem the Minister has a good those grasp

of numbers as the schools minister has of words! Let me assist, perhaps

as she read the resolution foundation reported would help. The

answer is that one third of working families on tax credits would be

eligible for any support under Universal Credit, 200,000. Another

200,000 will lose ?2000 a year. Cani Minister tell the House why it is

that this government is so intent on attacking older people in work? --

can the Minister. The honourable gentleman is talking about older

workers and working families. We need to look at Universal Credit

within the context of the supported provides. He'll so mention is a

resolution foundation report which failed to take on board various

factors such as childcare support for working families and the ongoing

support that Universal Credit and our work coaches provided to working

families. The development of the work and

health programme design is well underway including engagement with a

wide range of stakeholders, the department has commenced the

commercial process of the information notice for potential

providers on the 20th of April. A constituent mimes volunteering last

year at Green futures and that is directed related to his degree

subject while it is applied for work. The job centre put him on the

community work placement scheme saying that a voluntary placement

would be better than them friends through them. This private company

paid by the job centre arranged a unpaid arrangement that he was

already working for. Does the Minister agree that this incompetent

should not be repeated under the new scheme? I'll be happy to look into

that example. I think she highlights some clear practices that need to

change going forward. I should say when it comes to the working health

programme of course that'll be designed to support claimants with

health issues who have been unemployed what at least two years

but I will be happy to look at the case she raises. My friend knows

that one of the key challenges in supporting autistic people into work

is ensuring that we can identify what works and there is very little

data and work outcomes for autistic adults. Eugene shortly that the new

working health programme records whether someone on the programme is

on the autism spectrum so that we can actually track whether or not

this programme has been successful for this very important group? She

raises some very important points. I would like to assure her that in

designing the provision we are working both at the local level in

terms of harnessing expertise but also engaging in a wide range of

stakeholders as well and by doing that we will take on important

lessons from the work part programme in the past but at the same time at

how can achieve those sustained long-term outcomes. Number eight.

With permission I'll and search this with question 20. Last month we

deduce the new simpler state pension as part of wider package of pension

reforms. The coronation of the state pension with automatic enrolment,

the triple lock, giving people power of their pension pot will ensure

that pensioners male and female would have greater protection and

security and choice in retirement. Protection is all very well but

introducing the new state pension in 2016 means that 350,000 women born

between 1951 and 1953 will retire on the old system just before the

proposals come into force whereas a man born in same day will retire

slightly later but receive a pension under the new arrangements. Will the

Minister heed calls to end these inequalities gotcha Mark I would say

that we debated and voted on these changes last Parliament, we debated

them at enormous length. A decision was taken by the last Parliament and

is part of that a concession above ?1.1 billion is introduced to limit

the impact of the rising state pension age and those women most

affected and let's be clear, there is no party in this chamber who has

a clear and inherent proposal for unwinding those changes made his

1995 and equalising the state pension age. I have no plans to

bring forward a further concession. I listen very carefully to what the

Minister said at state pension equal as a has left 500,000 women born

between 1953 and 1955 much worse off with some facing a financial loss of

up to ?30,000. When will this government take responsibility for

the severe financial impact on these women and in the interest of justice

do the decent thing, relent and put in place transitional arrangements?

The last Parliament we were very clear about the reasons why these

changes were taking place will stop it was to address the long-term

serious fiscal impact of increasing life expectancy and nations all

round the world are having to take exactly the same kind of decisions.

Let's be clear, unwinding those sessions would involve people of

working age, younger people, having to bear an even greater share of the

burden of getting this country back living within its means so we do

take a broader perspective here than she and the SNP are. Two weeks ago,

the Lake of front bench held constructive talks with the coal

founders. We'll work together to find a fair solution to the

injustice they and hundreds of thousands of have faced from the

government state pension reforms which might honourable friend the

site shadows sector of state previously. He too has said he will

meet with them however he has also said there are no plans to change

policy. Why is the Secretary of State going into that meeting with a

closed mind and by doing so isn't he just repeating the mistakes of his

predecessor? I would say to the honourable lady and members of the

opposition that there is a question here of responsible opposition. If

you know clear plan, costed, which the Labour policies were not, then

they are simply playing along those women, pretending that they only

position to unwind those changes when they said there and they know

full well they have no serious proposal for doing that. Number

nine. The department said where the climate and the professions, skills

of the health providers that can be used to carry out assessments. We

expect the high standards from the contractors and that measure their

performance in several targets including quarterly and customer

experience. In Neath they have recorded huge inaccuracies between

the information they provide against personal independence payments

descriptors. The conclusion drawn by capita staff which causes great

stress for people already in difficult circumstances. Can the

ministers stay what is the bombers is doing to make sure that cap the

staff are trained to make the broker time and care so they are as

accurate and fair as possible. All health professionals must be

registered practitioners, met the requirements of trailing competence

and use their expertise and disability provide advice on

people's levels of functional ability and impact on day-to-day

lives and there are a team of experts to provide support and we

were greatly with a wide range of stakeholders to advise and further

improvements. The Minister will be aware of the recent Public Accounts

Committee report on the process of contracting out disability

assessment. Would he agree with the recommendation that suggests

publishing regular performance data, it would make sure it was conducted

personally? That committee did some valuable work in that area and that

was part of wide we have the extensive review and the performance

and management within it and that was carried out by Doctor Paul Gray.

The Minister 's response to my honourable friend and letters

following the shocking revelations of last month as batches programme

and the personal independence payments was complacent to say the

least. I asked the minister once again given the evidence not just

from the dispatches programme but already mentioned from the Public

Accounts Committee in March, also from the National Audit Office in

January, all raising concerns about the quality of assessments. Well

Knowl View be investigating this including reviewing the contract? I

gave a crystal clear conferences response and I'm sorry she was

somewhat distracted. It is crystal clear that the individual in that

film who acted disgracefully has rightly been removed and we are

having weekly reviews of the progress in terms of training,

policies and we have a zero tolerance of this behaviour. Number

ten. Working with autism alliance UK we

are training a network of over 1000 autism leads in jobs on the plus and

developing an autism passport to record condition details and

reasonable adjustments. In addition access the work has a hidden

impairment specialist team to better support people including those on

the autistic spectrum. With the Minister wake up and shake up his

apartment because autistic people have a great deal of talent that

goes wasted in this country? Only 15% of children and the autism scale

end up working at a full-time job. Isn't it about time we took this

seriously? I am and men of the newly formed autism commission, we will

help you on a cross-party basis. That wake up to the potential that

is unexploited. I thank him. He has a formidable track record doing work

in this area. We have the think autism strategy, with working with

the leading organisations and only two weeks ago I attended a very

constructive table with the autistic Society with a real focus on getting

more employers offer opportunities to take advantage of the huge wealth

of talent that these individuals offer. Does the Minister think that

the closure of employee factories three years ago helped with autism

and other disabilities to find work? The independent review stated that

that was a move that need to be done and our specialist employment

training programme we'll be offering twice as many job outcomes which is

what we need to do as part of our commitment to halve the disability

employment gap. Following the success of national autism awareness

week, month, it was welcome to see that the government have announced a

task force to explore access to apprenticeships for those with

learning disabilities. Ill be led by the honourable member for Blackpool

North. I will be aware that it isn't a formal consultation period but the

British Association for supported employment had been asked to provide

evidence to the dust force. Does the Minister agree with me that as many

people and organisations as possible should feed into the work of this

task force to ensure that everyone has access to a life changing

apprenticeship? I'm keen to listen for any experiences from different

organisations as possible. This is important for myself and I'm happy

to meet her if she would like to. Question 11. With permission I will

answer questions 11, 12 Tom and 19, 21 and 22 together. Women affected

by changes made in 2011 face a maximum increase in state pension

age of 18 months rather than two years. As a result of a government

concession. They will retire and the new state pension which will be more

generous for many than the previous system. No further transitional

arrangements are planned. Can I ask the secretary of state whether he

will look again at these transitional arrangements and also

have a look and see whether or not the cost of this could be offset by

some adjustment in the budget? I say to him that the secure state has

made it clear earlier on in his questions that he has no intention

of revisiting this issue. Why is the Minister not use the opportunity of

a majority Conservative governments to put right the wrongs of the last

government impacting some 4290 women in my constituency by introducing

proper transitional arrangements or is this just compassionate

conservatism in action? I would say to the lady that Gerry and the

debates that took place in 2011 Gerry second reading these Secretary

of State for pensions said that they would go away and consider and

reflect. They did that. At report stage they made a concession worth

?1.1 billion and they reduced the time frame from two years to 18

months. Transitional arraignments were put in place, they were under

substantial cost notwithstanding the very tough economic climate of the

time. Recent years in this house the Minister for business said that

people were working for at the 30 years and paying in the pension fund

with the expectation they'd have money to live on at a period in

their life. The lady went on to state that there is an increasingly

good case to make for the right thing to be done by people. Given

the sudden change in the age of retirement for women, can I ask how

the government can justify these this rank hypocrisy from one

minister to another? Will he bring fairness for those women in his new

role? He has an opportunity to show that he will consider things fairly

and support the Minister for business. I think the honourable

lady from the context of question was delivering the charge of

inconsistency between ministers. She went accusing Minister behaving to

another. If the reference work the government as a collective, that

will be another way... Render it orderly. I am grateful to the member

for Bolsover for proffering advice from a sedentary position. With

permission I will take the reference to from one minister to another

slightly broadly and remind the on-board lady that's when the

pensions act of 1995 was passed. After that there was 13 years of

Labour governments during which there was a succession of sector of

state for work and pensions as well as pension ministers and they did

absolutely nothing to try to change the system that she and her

colleagues are now seeking to change.

While ministers do nothing, my constituents and other people are

suffering. One of my constituents said, I feel anxious and stressed

how I will manage without an income in what has been for my generation,

the expected retirement age. It is six months since we had our first

debate on this. Will the Minister and Secretary of State commit that

civil servants will assist with costing the various options for

transitional and arrangements that have been put forward? May I just

say that while she is asking for costing, a cost was incurred during

the debate of 2011 and that cost was ?1.1 billion. There is no intention

of revisiting this issue again. Does the Minister accept there were

significant failures in his department to communicate the change

in pension age and does he think it is despicable that someone in only

found out about the changes months before they were to retire? A survey

done by the Department for Work and Pensions, a small percentage of

women thought the pension age was still 60. May I also say, in terms

of notification, in 1995, people could ask for an estimate as to when

they were likely to retire and in 2011, over 5 million people received

notification, received a letter to the address that HM RC had informing

them of the changes. With an all-party group on the WASPI

campaign being set up later this week, will be Secretary of State

confirm he is willing to meet a cross-party group of MPs and some

members of the WASPI campaign to discuss this further and open up

some good can in occasion? I know my right honourable friend the

Secretary of State is more than happy to meet the all-party group.

As far as meeting the man of the campaign, I know he has met some in

his constituency. -- meeting members. Number 13. Last year access

to work supported record numbers of young disabled people into work. DWP

have supported the shadowing of job opportunities for young disabled

people. Cani Minister update the House on what action has been taken

to help these people into work, specifically through

apprenticeships. Following my visit to foxes in Bridgewater where they

have a staggering 45% of their young people getting into stable

employment, I recognise a vocational pathway is important for young

disabled people, and therefore myself any Minister for skills will

work with the member to launch an initiative to help young disabled

people into work. We will also look for opportunities and

apprenticeships for people with autism.

My constituents has had her motor ability car taken off her, will be

Minister be willing to meet her to discuss this issue that affects her

and other people across the country? Those that aren't successful during

appeal are able to keep the car for a further seven weeks and have ?2000

in cash to buy a similar car or Mapleton it of arrangements. The

universe credit is transforming lives. Anyone been moved to

Universal Credit will receive transitional protection so they are

not cash losers. A single parent working full-time on universal

credit will be up to ?3000 works off than someone on tax credits. How

many single parents working full time doing the right thing does the

Secretary of State feel these will affect? People who are being moved

from a tax credit to Universal Credit will have transitional

protections in place. He is making the mistake that so many of his

colleagues have made in trying to compare full sleeve the situation

that existed previously under tax credits, when there was no national

living wage, there was no level of childcare support, there was be

higher rate of personal allowance. We are transforming the landscape of

support for people on lower incomes. We are running late but we will find

time for one more. Number 17. The department has a range of quality

measures to drive improvements in accuracy of decision-making and we

are committed to getting our decisions right and there will

always be more opportunities to learn where decisions have been

overturned on appeal and wheat feedback on every single case.

Latest figures show that 75% of PIP appeal is heard by courts and

tribunals service were decided in favour of the appellant in Coventry.

These figures clearly demonstrate the flawed and Coney and nature of

the original refusal decision made by DWP. Cani Minister assure that

improvements will be made to the decision-making process to increase

accuracy and prevent more vulnerable people to be forced to go to the

appeals process needlessly? Two points I would make, firstly, the

Department has a range of quality measures to drive improvements in

the accuracy of decision-making. I understand from I honourable friend,

only 2% of PIP claims are changed. That is on the basis of new evidence

being submitted. Topical questions. As part of our reforms, we are

improving help on offer for people to keep track of their previous

workplace pension pots. Our new online pensions tracing service goes

live is today. This will make it simpler and quicker to reunite

people with information about their pension pots in a matter of seconds

rather than days. I welcome that, but what more can he do, can we do,

to enable people how much they are likely to receive from the pension

pots when they find them? That is exactly the reason why so many of

our reforms are designed to make things simple and less confusing for

people. Everyone has been able to get a personalised state pension

statement based on the new rules and there is a mail online service which

offers a quick and accessible way for people to access information

about their state pension. I welcome the Secretary of State for his first

DWP questions. He has started by trying hard to strike a different

tone to his predecessor. Can I ask him, what does he think the human

impact will be of his plans to cut ?1.2 billion away from disabled

people throughout this next Parliament? What does he think the

impact is for the 500,000 people who are set to lose ?1500 a year in ESA.

I thank the honourable gentleman for the kind words he started with. Your

beastly wasn't listening to the earlier questions on this subject

because throughout this Parliament, we will be spending more than at the

beginning of the Parliament on supporting disabled people, around

?50 billion supporting disabled people. Far more than has ever been

spent under the previous Labour government. The Secretary of State

seems to have forgotten it is -- in his first speech he said behind

those statistics are human beings and disabled people will be

disappointed that want more today, he hid behind statistics. They will

be disappointed he won't reverse the ESA cuts, others will be

disappointed by his refusal to address the concerns of women born

in the 1950s. Could the Secretary of State tell us in what way is he

different to his predecessor? I would say to the honourable

gentleman that we are a government that has helped deliver the changes

that have seen a huge fall in workless households, nearly half a

million more children growing up in a home seeing a mum or dad going out

to work. There is no reason to change policies which are changing

things will be better for those who have the least in our society. Last

week I had the honour of attending the National Young enterprise

challenge final were two students from my local school in my

constituency received an award for turning ?10 into a staggering profit

of ?3289. Does my honourable friend agreed that such initiatives could

help ensure young people acquire valuable skills for the future. I

wholeheartedly agree with my noble friend. I think he has highlighted

not only the entropy and not -- entrepreneurial spirit of those

young people and also brings it back to what we are doing in our own

government. Almost 14,000 people have lost

access to their motor ability vehicles causing people to lose jobs

and independence. Why is the Secretary of State punishing people

in this way? There are 22,000 more people accessing the moat ability

scheme since PIP was introduced and that is not something I recognise.

The business case for Universal Credit, identifies savings of ?80

million a week after implementation. These come both from IT simply

vacation but also removal of barriers to getting back into work

quickly. Could the Secretary of State confirm there is a folk is not

just on delivering technology but also ensuring benefits will be

delivered when the time comes. I have made a number of changes to the

way the roll-out of Universal Credit is being overseen to stressing the

importance of having a careful and controlled roll-out. The one outcome

that matters but everyone is that everyone gets their benefits paid on

time and correctly and our approach is making sure that happens. The

resolution foundation has calculated Universal Credit could leave 2.5

million families worse off by more than ?3000 a year. Does the Minister

agree with me that Universal Credit is abjectly failing to provide

incentives to work and lift families out of Lope as we were told was that

intention. -- low pay. As I said previously, go to your local job

centre plus, go and sit with the teams of work coaches who were

rolling out Universal Credit and you will see the enthusiasm and

motivation as they see Universal Credit transforming peoples lives

for the better. In anticipation of the government White Paper on

disability, will my honourable friend embrace Leonard Cheshire's

change 100 programme which allows disabled graduates to gain paid

employment with major employers? This is an example of some fantastic

initiatives. I worked closely with Leonard Cheshire. This is exactly

the type of programme that would hate our future plans to help

disabled people access work. -- that would help our future plans. I was

astounded to find out that the department only has to pay due

regard to the quality aspects of decisions and then it was up to them

whether or not they had to publish that analysis. Does the Secretary of

State not agree with me that in the spirit of transparency, equality

analyses must be published and made publicly available? We also have the

independent reviews which were the previous one was carried out by

Doctor Paul Gray and we will be looking to do a further one. Under

PIP 22% of claimants access the higher rate of benefit. A

constituent of mine has multiple sclerosis and for the past nine

years acting on advice from the council, she has used her DLA award

to pay the mortgage on the family's adapted bungalow. She has now been

informed that with PIP she will not be allowed to do this and she and

her family risk losing their home. This could have a devastating impact

on many families right around the country. Could the Secretary of

State look into the matter and ensure that this does not happen?

We have been regularly updating the guidance for local authorities to

help individuals like this. The Government intends to replace the

current statutory child poverty measures with new measures of life

chances. Researchers at the London school of economics have responded

to the Government consultation on child poverty measurement and found

99% of respondents believe the income and approbation should be

included. Does the Minister agree or disagree? Look, what we are focused

on more than any other previous Government is tackling the

underlying causes of poverty. And one of the colleagues talked about

entrenched poverty earlier. If we will tackle about, we need a

coherent, in life chances shattered that focuses on the underlying

causes and some of the measures and indicators that attract those. He is

not Minister be told, but there was a quick change of air. I thought I

was getting one minister and got another. Rugby was on the first

group of job centres to introduce Universal Credit for single people

and is now introducing it to families. Will the minister join me

in paying tribute to the staff there for their hard work and flexibility

in implementing this important strange. I thank my honourable

friend. He is correct, the staff there did a wonderful job and bars

have stuffed all of the country in rolling out Universal Credit and are

achieving important things. They are waiting to long. There are a couple

more Irish to accommodate at the least. The latest analysis shows

that the young people referred to in question three earlier in the

proceedings stand to lose between 13 and ?20,000 over the duration of

their retirement as a direct result of Government policy. Can the

minister explain how that contributes to intergenerational

fairness? The whole purpose of the system is to make sure people can

supplement the state pension and at the moment, what we have is 10

million people eligible for auto enrolment and we expect that 9

million of them will take up that offer and of those, they will end up

saving and in many cases saving more than they do at present. Is the

secretary at both state aware that he himself will be assessed and how

far is he willing to stand up to the Chancellor against cuts which hit

the most vulnerable? His predecessor was not willing to do so until the

last moment. Does he have more courage and guts than his

predecessor? I think the honourable gentleman is wrong Sir focus on

division between Treasury and DWP. When you have won its beams --

spends between a cause and a third of taxpayers money, you need to make

sure your department is working to achieve things we want to as a

Government. She was forced to struggle at 25

metres from the reception area to an assessment room for PIP. She was

classified as being able to walk more than 25 metres. Can he convince

her that was a fair and judged assessments? Two things, first of

all, any claim on to our difficulty attending an assessment can request

a face to face assessment in their own home. With regard to whether how

fast somebody can travel in an assessments, it has to not just be

about 20 meters, it's about can it be done safely, repeatedly, to

unacceptable standard and a reasonable time period. If the

claimant is unhappy, they can ask for a monetary consideration or

independent appeal. One of my constituents who worked 16 hours a

week as a carer for a disabled relative has discovered that because

of the living wage, she no longer qualifies for carers allowance,

leaving her with a substantial shortfall. Why is this Government is

forcing down thousands of others into this desperate situation? We as

the Government spent ?2.3 billion a year supporting the invaluable work

that carers do in this country. The issue of the National Living Wage

and the impact on that is something I will always be reviewed. 140,000

pensioners who paid into occupational pension schemes

including a male constituency have been historically than an injustice

by the full amount they are entitled to. I wonder whether the new

Secretary of State will represent those pensioners and discuss their

concerns. I have met with the action group on previous occasions. We

continue to look at these issues and high-profile cases, looking for the

support of the pension protection fund. It costs the UK some ?8

billion through physical inactivity. I had an excellent meeting with his

predecessor before he decided to leave the job. Could I also have a

meeting to discuss this with him? I would be very happy to meet. The

Secretary of State has reportedly set to read Jews the benefits come

out of ?6,000 per year. Who does he think will miss out most? Private

landlords, with out-of-control rents will just accept five and a month or

does he think children who who have no control over their lives to

suffer yet again? The changes to the benefit cab have already been

legislated and passed by this Parliament. I would urge her to look

at the earlier changes will benefit cab which have had positive outcomes

in terms of encouraging and supporting people into work. Order,

order. Will members wishing to take their seats please, to the table. --

please come to the table.