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Hello and welcome to BBC Parliament's live coverage from | :00:08. | :00:15. | |
Westminster. There is an urgent question tabled by the Labour MP on | :00:16. | :00:20. | |
the proposed sale of the European arm of General Motors, which | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
includes Boxall, to Franz's PSA group. After that MPs will be | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
dealing with two bills, the remaining stages of the cultural | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
property armed conflict built and Lords amendment to the high-speed | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
rail bill relating to London and the West Midlands. At half-past four we | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
will go live to Westminster Hall for full coverage of the debate on | :00:44. | :00:45. | |
Donald Trump's state visit to the UK. In the Lords peers are | :00:46. | :01:02. | |
holding the first day of the debate on the legislation for triggering | :01:03. | :01:04. | |
Article 50. You can watch live coverage of the EU notification of | :01:05. | :01:06. | |
withdrawal bill using the red button service. Catch up on all of that | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
tonight. Now it is lied over to the House of commons. Order, order. The | :01:11. | :01:22. | |
Vice Chamberlain of the household. Her Majesty's answer in reply to an | :01:23. | :01:24. | |
address from this house. I have received your humble address | :01:25. | :01:45. | |
asking to appoint Robert Ferrin CBE to the offices of Parliamentary | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
officer. I will comply with your request. | :01:49. | :02:13. | |
Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Work and | :02:14. | :02:21. | |
Pensions, Mr Martin Day. Number one. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will answer | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
questions one and 23 together. Work is the best route out of poverty and | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
the benefit cap has been successful in encouraging people into work. | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
Since its introduction almost 62% of households in Scotland have found | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
work, reduced their housing benefit claim, after having had their | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
benefits capped. Does the Minister agree with paragraph 90 of the | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
fiscal framework which states, the governments have also agreed that | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
the UK Government's benefit cap will be adjusted to accommodate any | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
additional benefit payments introduced by the Scottish | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
Government? Indeed, of course we agree with the fiscal framework | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
since the government drew it up in conjunction with the Scottish | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
Government. Indeed, the Scottish Government already has extensive | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
powers in the benefits area if it wished to introduce them. The fact | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
it does not is a matter for him to take up with his colleagues in the | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
Scottish Government. Writing in the daily record the First Minister of | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
Scotland has commented the Scottish Government have yet to receive | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
confirmation from the UK Government that they will abolish the bedroom | :03:34. | :03:40. | |
tax. With the Secretary of State take this opportunity to guarantee | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
there will be no claw-back of funding when Scotland abolishes the | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
bedroom tax? I can refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
gave his honourable friend. It is for the Scottish Government to take | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
decisions. They have the power to give benefits, to increase benefits, | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
to make supplementary payments if they like beyond the benefits | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
available throughout the UK. Despite having those powers, they failed to | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
exercise those powers and the SNP members come to this has to complain | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
about benefits in Scotland when they have the power to do something about | :04:16. | :04:21. | |
it themselves. Given that I support the government strategy in this | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
area, mac he also accept that those who supported have concerns on what | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
might be happening certainly in the short term for families affected? | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
May I ask him what research he is carrying out to make sure that those | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
who can move into work do move into it and those who cannot I look that | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
sympathetically? The right honourable gentleman makes a | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
characteristically reasonable point. First, those who are put into | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
hardship have the availability of discretionary housing payments which | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
have been extensively used by local authorities throughout the country | :05:03. | :05:05. | |
precisely to avoid the problem that he suggests. Some of the research we | :05:06. | :05:13. | |
have done shows on the other point he makes that households have been | :05:14. | :05:20. | |
capped and 41% more likely to go into work than similar households | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
that are not capped. The policy is successful in encouraging people to | :05:25. | :05:27. | |
get back to work which is the best thing for them in the long run. | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
During the passage of the Scotland Bill UK ministers gave me and others | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
clear assurances that any income derived from new benefits or top ups | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
introduced by the Scottish Government would not be clawed back | :05:43. | :05:45. | |
from claimants through the benefit cap or other forms of means testing. | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
Will the Secretary of State give a cast iron assurance today that this | :05:53. | :05:54. | |
is still the UK Government's position. The UK Government's | :05:55. | :06:02. | |
position has not changed at all, nor has the Scottish Government's | :06:03. | :06:05. | |
permission that they are not prepared to exercise the powers they | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
have got. That is just nonsense, they are working towards a timetable | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
already published. Will the Secretary of State now commit that | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
he, his ministers and officials engage positively with Scottish | :06:21. | :06:24. | |
ministers as they use those new powers to abolish the bedroom tax in | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
Scotland? Both I and my ministers and officials engage positively with | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
the Scottish Government all the time. I go to the meetings and have | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
engaged positively with the Scottish Government on this and all the other | :06:39. | :06:41. | |
important issues we have to discuss in this field. Number two. With | :06:42. | :06:49. | |
permission I will answer questions two and ate together. We have been | :06:50. | :06:56. | |
seeking views on this through the work, health and disability green | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
paper. We are also investing 100 million in trialling employment | :07:01. | :07:13. | |
trials to in. I had right honourable friend for that reply. She agreed | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
that local voluntary groups do invaluable work helping people to be | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
work ready and we must do more to support them? I agree with my | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
honourable friend that voluntary organisations have huge insight and | :07:29. | :07:31. | |
expertise that we can tap into and commend the work of Talk It Out in | :07:32. | :07:40. | |
his constituency. We are recruiting 200 community partners so we can | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
ensure we are reaching all those organisations and benefiting from | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
the huge experience they have. Can the Minister say what consideration | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
has been given to providing tax breaks to employers who hire | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
employees with a certified mental health illness as proposed by the | :08:00. | :08:01. | |
National Autistic Society and others. The honourable gentleman has | :08:02. | :08:08. | |
hit on a theme of the green paper. There is much work going on in this | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
area both for those with mental illness and also those with a | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
learning disability. Just to mention one health trial going on at the | :08:17. | :08:23. | |
moment looking at discounting business rates for employers that | :08:24. | :08:29. | |
have good mental health practice. The government's laudable aspiration | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
to half disability employment gap is meaningless without a date attached | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
to it. Can the Minister tell us what is her latest assessment of how long | :08:39. | :08:46. | |
it will take to half that gap? The target of halving the disability | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
employment gap is at one time both hugely ambitious and also hugely | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
underwhelming. What we should be working to is to ensure that | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
everyone can reach their full potential. What I have asked the | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
department to do, and his office will have been supplied with this, | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
is to look at what is the local need in all of our constituencies? How | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
many people with a learning disability we need do we need can | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
get into work? Those are the numbers we need to focus on, not some | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
arbitrary formula which will change with other factors. The labour | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
market survey will still contain all the measures it has had in the past, | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
but if we are going to crack this, we need to focus everyone locally on | :09:33. | :09:39. | |
those numbers locally. Again I agree with the aim of what the Minister | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
has outlined, but in my constituency office the overwhelming issue, | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
particularly for those with mental health conditions, is the assessment | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
process for personal independence payments which is causing real | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
distress and is causing individuals great worry about their futures and | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
being able to support themselves. I welcome working with local partners | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
because at the moment the system is not working and the sooner this | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
government realises it, the better. I thank the honourable gentleman for | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
his comments. We clearly are looking to reform the work capability | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
assessment on ESA. That does afford us some opportunities to look at the | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
PIP assessment process. There are many improvements going on to that | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
already. But if we can ensure that both the systems are sharing data | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
properly we should be able to reduce the burden on the claimant. What is | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
the government doing to raise awareness of the access to work | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
programme and the support it can offer to employers who want to make | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
reasonable adjustments to employees with disabilities? The access to | :10:51. | :10:57. | |
work scheme is a popular scheme and it is just one scheme that the | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
government provides to give support and financial support to employers. | :11:02. | :11:08. | |
One of the ways we are publicising that is through the disability | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
confidence scheme. We relaunched that last year in autumn and it has | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
now got about 4000 organisations signed up to it and that is one way | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
we can ensure employers really do understand the support that is there | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
for them and what huge talent and inside these people can bring to | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
their workforce. Many people with health problems paid the bedroom | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
tax. Three months ago the government lost three courses in the Supreme | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
Court. How has the department identified those who should not be | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
paying? When will those burdened by this stop having to pay? There is a | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
discretionary fund administered at a local level. Many local authorities | :11:53. | :12:00. | |
have not accessed that funds, but for the vast majority of people and | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
those disabled people, they are exempt from the scheme. If the | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
honourable gentleman has examples, he should write to us and let us | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
know. What is the government doing to draw upon the expertise in | :12:15. | :12:17. | |
charities and other third sector organisations about the best way to | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
support the most in need into the workplace as many charities have a | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
lot of experience in supporting those with mental health conditions? | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
In addition to the community partners we are recruiting, we are | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
also looking at opportunities for where the sector can increase the | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
services it already provides and cried and income from it. One | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
example of that is our one-stop shop have for employers were chatting can | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
be a shop window for many of the organisations that are providing | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
support already for employers and want to do more. Mr Speaker, on | :12:56. | :13:01. | |
hearsay and thick assessments for those with mental illnesses, can she | :13:02. | :13:16. | |
say a bit more -- on EASA and HIC, I have got four Comanche knows of one | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
of them because she has written to me about it where the wrong | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
information has been cut and pasted into the mandatory consideration | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
letter and it is about other people. I would point out only 3% of those | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
decisions overturned. The vast majority of these assessments are | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
good. When you have examples of where that is not happening please | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
never know but one thing I have done to ensure we are getting more timely | :13:42. | :13:47. | |
information about where things are going wrong, where standards are not | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
being maintained, going live in the next few weeks we will have a | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
claimant user rep panel. This will be across the country, it will be on | :13:58. | :14:02. | |
a very large-scale, and we will be able to get more timely information | :14:03. | :14:06. | |
about where things are going wrong. In the meantime, the Honourable Lady | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
must keep flagging issues she finds. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Perhaps the | :14:11. | :14:19. | |
Minister would also talk a bit more about the ESA assessments, with | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
particularly regard to clauses 29 and 35, obviously causing much | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
distress to disabled people? Thank you. We are looking at the | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
assessment process. Already a huge amount has been done to ensure that | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
assessors and also those in power Jobcentre plus network have been | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
trained in order that they can really recognise the needs of those | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
with a mental health condition and Insua what they are doing is fit for | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
purpose. But we do have an opportunity with the green paper on | :14:52. | :14:58. | |
work and health to re-evaluate entirely those assessment processes, | :14:59. | :15:06. | |
primarily for ESA but that will also build some benefit for PIP. People | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
with mental health conditions and daughters and told me of the | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
difficulties they face getting into work when I met with him recently in | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
Bristol. They also told me about the issues with PIP, by capability | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
assessments, sanctions and for those in ESA, support group, their fear | :15:24. | :15:28. | |
that the grief it was are they will be targeted next after cuts to | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
people on ESA in April. However as the government justify cuts, | :15:36. | :15:39. | |
Jobcentre closures and the liberal use of sanctions as helping disabled | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
people into work when there is overwhelming evidence to the | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
contrary? We are doing more for this group of people. That is why despite | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
the honourable lady's calls for me to pull the personalised support | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
package that is coming in April, I will not. The number of young people | :15:57. | :16:06. | |
in work has increased by 235,000 since 2010, and is up 38,000 in the | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
past three months. Nearly nine in ten young people are in education or | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
work and youth and deployment is the lowest it has been since 2005. I | :16:16. | :16:22. | |
warmly welcome the fact that the youth employment jobs are near | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
record levels. Will the Secretary of State join me in welcoming the work | :16:29. | :16:31. | |
of the Dorset young chamber which helps to match individual businesses | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
in and around my constituency with particular schools, and helps to | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
bridge the gap between education and employment? I am very happy to join | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
my honourable friend in welcoming the work of the Dorset young | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
chamber. I have seen how my own local Chamber of Commerce does great | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
work in schools as well. And I know that he, as he is chairman of the | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
APPG free youth unemployment will be pleased to know that in his | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
constituency the youth claimant count has gone down by 74% since | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
2010 and down 7% in the last year alone. In Newcastle central we have | :17:06. | :17:13. | |
more young people claiming benefits this year than last and overall the | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
north-east has the higher standard, great across the country. Too many | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
of our young people have to leave to find good jobs, so when is the | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
minister going to make the northern Powerhouse a reality for the | :17:27. | :17:32. | |
north-east? We are determined to make the Northern Powerhouse a | :17:33. | :17:38. | |
reality. As she says, there are certain areas where use and | :17:39. | :17:40. | |
implement is higher than in other areas but I would hope she will | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
recognise that the use and implement as a whole in her region has in all | :17:47. | :17:49. | |
other regions has come down markedly in recent years. 86% of 16 to | :17:50. | :17:56. | |
24-year-olds are now in full time study or work, which is a record | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
high. The employment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds who have left full-time | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
education is up 0.4% in the last year. A solid route for young people | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
to secure work is through apprenticeships. Can the minted -- | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
Minister Tommy what is being done with his counterpart of the | :18:17. | :18:19. | |
department education to ensure that all of our young people have access | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
to apprenticeships? We work very closely with colleagues in the | :18:25. | :18:26. | |
department education to make sure that the government's commitment to | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
have 3 million new apprentices in this Parliament is met. We are on | :18:31. | :18:37. | |
target for that, and in particular we want to make sure apprentice | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
ships are not only available to young people perhaps leaving school | :18:41. | :18:44. | |
for the first time, but throughout the age range can so we can make a | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
reality of the phrase lifelong learning. Bother the Secretary of | :18:48. | :18:54. | |
State said the area such as mine where youth under climate has risen | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
in the last month? Ashun what would the Secretary of State safest of | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
witty look at working particularly with colleagues in the Northern | :19:03. | :19:05. | |
Powerhouse to make sure that benefits of government investment is | :19:06. | :19:08. | |
shared across the North West and North Wales, has a whole? I am very | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
happy to listen to the right honourable gentleman above the last | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
20 next. One of the purposes he makes of the Northern Powerhouse | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
energy more widely of the government's consultation on the | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
industrial strategy is to make sure that the success of the economy is | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
spread to all regions of this country, and if he has specific | :19:29. | :19:31. | |
points to make about his own region, I am more than happy to talk to him | :19:32. | :19:39. | |
about that. Question before, Mr Speaker. With permission I will | :19:40. | :19:47. | |
answer is questions four and six together. Almost 6.3 million | :19:48. | :19:50. | |
eligible workers have been involved in the workplace pension because of | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
automatic enrolment. This is an unseen revolution. The way people | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
are now saving will lead to more freedom, more choice and more | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
security for the pensioners of tomorrow. I thank my right | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
honourable friend for that answer. Would he agree with me that the one | :20:06. | :20:12. | |
aspect that is quite clear is that many people that would otherwise not | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
save on a private pension will have to save for their future, and also | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
young people who don't save will have a secure future in retirement? | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
I do agree with my honourable friend, particularly his last point | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
about young people, and the ISS has done some research that shows that | :20:33. | :20:35. | |
the dissipation in auto enrolment among those aged 22 to 29 has | :20:36. | :20:44. | |
increased from 28% in 2012 to 85% in 2016. That is a very, very | :20:45. | :20:49. | |
impressive improvement. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Auto enrolment has been | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
hugely successful. There are a number of people still opting out. | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
One of the businesses in my Southampton itching constituency | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
suggest that perhaps 50% of his staff were opting out. What steps is | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
the Secretary of State taking to encourage people to save in a | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
workplace pension for their retirement. I am happy to tell my | :21:11. | :21:18. | |
honourable friend the example he takes is an exception, in when the | :21:19. | :21:21. | |
Turner commission reported and suggested this kind of scheme in | :21:22. | :21:25. | |
2005, it estimated about 25% of people would opt out. The opt out | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
rate at the moment is about 10%, but there is always more to do, as his | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
example suggests. That is why we are conducting a review at the moment to | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
make sure that is even better in the future to work for all kinds of | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
individuals, particularly those in small businesses. The House of | :21:43. | :21:50. | |
Commons is not able to supply me with any evidence that tax reform | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
pensions contributions encourages savings. Can the Secretary of State | :21:55. | :22:02. | |
supply me with such evidence? I can supply the honourable gentleman with | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
the evidence that we have transformed saving over the past few | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
years, and indeed people have often said that young people in particular | :22:10. | :22:12. | |
don't want to save. The facts I have just put before the house suggest | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
that that is no longer the case. I think if the honourable gentleman is | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
advocating taking away all tax relief for pensions, I would be | :22:25. | :22:27. | |
interested in his ideas, and so I'm sure with his own front bench. | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
Government ministers have been very clear on the need for transparency | :22:34. | :22:36. | |
in the pensions industry, including master trusts, dealing with auto | :22:37. | :22:39. | |
enrolment. In his second reading of the speech with a pension schemes, | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
the Secretary of State spoke of it, in the TUC the minister said we have | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
got to get transparency, it is not an option to do nothing. And Lord | :22:49. | :22:51. | |
Freud said we wanted pension scheme members to have sight of all costs | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
and charges. Despite those fine words and all attempts to deliver | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
transparency in the Bill committee, but dismissed by the government, so | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
can the Minister just tell the house what they mean by transparency in | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
the pensions industry? The bill which I note the party opposite | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
didn't vote against at second or third reading, so he can't have | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
objected to it that strongly, actually set up a new system of | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
regulation, particularly of master trust, which deals with not just | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
transparency that deals with a whole range of aspects, which mean that | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
this relatively new form of financial body is now much better | :23:30. | :23:35. | |
regulated than it was before. And I would say I would have thought he | :23:36. | :23:38. | |
would have welcomed it. Actually, he did well commit. LAUGHTER | :23:39. | :23:49. | |
Question seven, sir. The green paper consultation, which concluded on | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
17th Fabregas the range of questions about how we can better support | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
people into employment, and has highlighted learning disabilities as | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
a particular area for further work. We will bring forward shortly | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
schemes to support this group in their ambitions. Thank you, Mr | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
Speaker. Would my honourable friend join me in praising the work of | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
Balenziaga see in Surbiton who provide employment support for | :24:13. | :24:19. | |
people with learning difficulties -- Balance CIC. So that everyone knows | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
what support is available out there. I would be very happy to join my | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
honourable friend in praising the work of Balance CIC. This is a group | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
of individuals that we want to do much more for. We will be bringing | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
forward young person's work experience scheme shortly, we wish | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
to open up apprenticeships but more is needed in this area, and | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
organisations like Balance CIC can help us do that. Mr Speaker, the | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
disabled students allowance has been a great help to students with | :24:52. | :24:54. | |
learning difficulties can such as dyslexia and helping them gain the | :24:55. | :24:57. | |
qualifications they need to enter the world of work. Will the Minister | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
not accept that the ?200 fee is acting as a real deterrent to the | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
uptake of this allowance, and that it is unfairly penalising students | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
who do you need that extra help? We are looking at a range of things to | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
help in particular young people learning with learning disability is | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
and with autism, and young people with mental health conditions. They | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
need to have more options available to them, and they need to have more | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
financial support in some of those areas, so I would be very happy to | :25:28. | :25:31. | |
look at what the honourable lady suggests, if she would like to write | :25:32. | :25:33. | |
me with evidence that it is happening. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
Governments of all persuasions have tried and failed to shift the | :25:39. | :25:42. | |
employability rate of people with learning disabilities from 6%, an | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
absolute waste of the huge vat of talent and enthusiasm that is out | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
there. This is exactly the reason why we brought forward plans to open | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
up apprenticeships to have a special disability printer should scheme. | :25:55. | :25:57. | |
Please would the Minister update the house with where we are with | :25:58. | :26:03. | |
creating those opportunities? I think the honourable gentleman, my | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
honourable friend, for drawing attention to the apprentice ship | :26:07. | :26:09. | |
scheme. We wish to open up the opportunities that such schemes | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
bring to those with learning disabilities, and are making good | :26:15. | :26:16. | |
progress with the Department for Education on that, but I think we | :26:17. | :26:19. | |
need to do other things, as well. When we talk about people with | :26:20. | :26:22. | |
learning disabilities, this is a huge range of individuals, and I | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
think we have not done enough for those who at the highest need end of | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
that spectrum, and I have very shortly we will be of to do more. | :26:31. | :26:40. | |
Question number nine, Mr Speaker. I receive regular representations from | :26:41. | :26:44. | |
disability organisations and honourable members regarding | :26:45. | :26:47. | |
personal independence payments. As I have previously stated, we want to | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
do more to create real-time feedback across the whole of the country, and | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
will shortly be introducing service use panels to feed directly back | :26:58. | :27:00. | |
from claimants on PIP and employment support allowance. | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
Unfortunately I am still receiving complaints from constituents about | :27:07. | :27:14. | |
procedures regarding personal independence payments. Could she | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
tell the House what she is doing to improve the process, reduce delays | :27:19. | :27:22. | |
and support people through what is often a dramatic assessment process? | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
The goal is swift, accurate and admin Lite assessments. Good | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
progress has been made in merry areas. For example, reducing the | :27:33. | :27:38. | |
average time it takes for a claim by more than three quarters from over | :27:39. | :27:43. | |
40 weeks down to ten weeks as of October last year. But there is more | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
to do. One reason why we have set up these service user panels if it is | :27:50. | :27:53. | |
incredibly important that while things may be generally going well, | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
there are certain hotspot areas where they are not and identifying | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
those in real time is critical. But there are many other things in the | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
improvement plan as well. Yet again one of my constituents has been to | :28:09. | :28:11. | |
see me about a PIP assessment that has led to her vehicle being taken | :28:12. | :28:18. | |
away from her. She is currently appealing, but what reassurance | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
could she give me and my constituents that this vehicle that | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
she needs will be returned to her? I would first of all point out there | :28:28. | :28:33. | |
are 70,000 more people in receipt of mutability and making use of that | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
scheme than there were in 2010. But she will know there are improvements | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
we want to make to the scheme and we have been working very closely with | :28:43. | :28:48. | |
that independent organisation. We are now attending their board | :28:49. | :28:52. | |
meetings and are able to work much more strategically. I have spoken at | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
length, so I will not repeat it, but those areas where we wish to see | :28:58. | :29:01. | |
better customer service I had those and we hope to bring forward | :29:02. | :29:07. | |
announcement shortly. Will she make strong representations to the | :29:08. | :29:10. | |
Ministry of Justice that it should reduce the length of time that an | :29:11. | :29:14. | |
successful claimants are having to wait for their tribunal so they can | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
process their claims successfully? We are concerned with all aspects of | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
the claims process, whether it is for ESA or PIP. We want it to be | :29:25. | :29:30. | |
swift and admin light and we have some opportunities that I have | :29:31. | :29:33. | |
already outlined to do both those things. The government announced | :29:34. | :29:41. | |
those with chronic progressive conditions would not be subjected to | :29:42. | :29:45. | |
continual work capability assessments. Can the minister | :29:46. | :29:50. | |
explain why constituents of mine with conditions like MS are | :29:51. | :29:53. | |
continually being called for reassessment? If the honourable lady | :29:54. | :29:59. | |
has cases she wishes me to look at, she must write to me about those | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
cases. We are currently still outlining the criteria for that | :30:05. | :30:09. | |
scheme to be introduced, but as she will know, in the meantime we are | :30:10. | :30:13. | |
not wishing to call people for reassessment who would be in that | :30:14. | :30:17. | |
category. If she has cases like that, she must let me know. Thank | :30:18. | :30:27. | |
you, Mr Speaker. At present 65% of all claimants have their PIP appeal | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
upheld by a tribunal. It should be a source of huge embarrassment to the | :30:34. | :30:38. | |
government that even after the introduction of mandatory | :30:39. | :30:42. | |
reconsideration before appeal the majority of claimants who go to | :30:43. | :30:45. | |
tribunal win their case. How does the Minister justify forcing | :30:46. | :30:50. | |
vulnerable claimants to navigate the complex and gruelling process that | :30:51. | :30:57. | |
the system demands put, often with little or no support? Would she now | :30:58. | :31:01. | |
get a grip and reform this clearly broken system. Can I start by | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
welcoming the honourable lady to her post best to mark she is not | :31:07. | :31:13. | |
correct. It is 6% of the caseload that is overturned, but there are | :31:14. | :31:20. | |
many things we wish to do to ensure this is improved. We have some | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
opportunities that come after the consultation in the green paper and | :31:26. | :31:28. | |
the reforms we want to make to that part of the system to improve and | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
reduce the administrative burden on those also claiming PIP. Western | :31:35. | :31:43. | |
Number ten. Mr Speaker, it is not meaningful to compare against an | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
unchanged tax credit system, but the national living wage helps with | :31:49. | :31:52. | |
childcare and these things all mean people can earn more and a higher | :31:53. | :31:55. | |
income tax allowance means they can keep more of it. A single parent | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
working full-time on Universal Credit will be up to ?3000 worse off | :32:02. | :32:08. | |
than someone in the same situation on tax credits as a result of this | :32:09. | :32:14. | |
government's cuts. Does the Secretary of State accept his cuts | :32:15. | :32:22. | |
are creating an unjustified disparity by people in similar | :32:23. | :32:27. | |
circumstances? Anybody who changes from tax credits to Universal Credit | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
can get transitional protection. Those coming into it with a new | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
claim it is a wholly different system with a completely different | :32:37. | :32:42. | |
set of support, including more support for example on childcare. | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
There are various other reforms that the honourable member refers to | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
which would also benefit. Mr Speaker, with my right honourable | :32:53. | :32:58. | |
friend accept that Universal Credit, which now reaches almost a third of | :32:59. | :33:03. | |
the unemployed people in my constituency, is a much simpler | :33:04. | :33:06. | |
system and is the first major new benefit introduced in my political | :33:07. | :33:10. | |
lifetime which has not resulted in a whole string of correspondence from | :33:11. | :33:17. | |
people in difficulty? It is indeed a dramatic and critical reform for our | :33:18. | :33:22. | |
welfare system. One statistic is that for every 100 people under the | :33:23. | :33:29. | |
old system, there are 113 in Universal Credit. This week DWP | :33:30. | :33:36. | |
informed members of Parliament that our constituents would have to give | :33:37. | :33:40. | |
specific and explicit consent if we were to help them with the full | :33:41. | :33:48. | |
Universal Credit claims. This will significantly inhibit our ability to | :33:49. | :33:52. | |
assist our constituents. Can the Minister reassure the House that | :33:53. | :33:57. | |
measures will be put in place to ensure MPs can support their | :33:58. | :34:02. | |
constituents? We want honourable members to be able to support their | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
constituents. But the system itself is different because the online | :34:08. | :34:11. | |
account allows the user to access that much greater breadth of data. | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
The claimant holds the key to that data and implied consent cannot be | :34:18. | :34:20. | |
assumed, but the claimant can give their assent via the journal. | :34:21. | :34:31. | |
Currently families have to wait at least six weeks to receive Universal | :34:32. | :34:34. | |
Credit after they have made a claim and this is leading to some people | :34:35. | :34:40. | |
being in rent arrears. Research by the Child poverty action group found | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
30% of food bag users were waiting for the outcome of a benefit claim. | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
What urgent action will the government take to cut the delay at | :34:51. | :34:53. | |
the start of Universal Credit claims? Universal Credit is a | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
monthly benefit, but we do have advances available where people | :35:00. | :35:02. | |
cannot make it through to the first payday. Fundamental point is that | :35:03. | :35:08. | |
Universal Credit is helping more people into work and it is helping | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
more people progress in work and that is putting down a better | :35:13. | :35:18. | |
foundation for their future. Many families on tax credits and | :35:19. | :35:22. | |
Universal Credit will lose out when the child limit comes into force in | :35:23. | :35:27. | |
April. There will be a 50% rise in child poverty by 2020 and a key | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
reason will be the impact of tax and benefit changes on families with | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
three or more children. Does the government think some children | :35:39. | :35:43. | |
matter more than others? Mr Speaker, the policy the honourable lady | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
refers to refers to new cases. In terms of relative poverty that is | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
down by 100,000 children since 2010. Number 11. The government is | :35:54. | :36:02. | |
committed to providing free, impartial guidance through pension | :36:03. | :36:06. | |
wise to help people make informed and confident decisions about how | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. I am | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
grateful for the minister's answer. What further steps are his | :36:16. | :36:19. | |
departments taking working with other departments to ensure there | :36:20. | :36:23. | |
are protections in place for those in receipt of their pensions and | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
maybe at risk of falling foul to financial scams their retirement? It | :36:28. | :36:33. | |
is really very important and she can be reassured that a cross government | :36:34. | :36:40. | |
consultation on further measures to tackle pension scams closed recently | :36:41. | :36:44. | |
on the 13th of February and this included a proposal to ban all cold | :36:45. | :36:49. | |
calling in relation to pensions. Once we have considered the | :36:50. | :36:55. | |
responses, we will take action and it will be as soon as possible. | :36:56. | :37:03. | |
Number 13. Mr Speaker, we have been mindful throughout impact on staff | :37:04. | :37:11. | |
and customers and we have consulted and the public and the full quality | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
impact assessment will be carried out. I went to see the regional | :37:16. | :37:22. | |
manager of my Jobcentre last week and she had absolutely no | :37:23. | :37:27. | |
information on the number of ESA or IS claimants that would be affected | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
by the proposed closure. The plans for outreach that would replace the | :37:33. | :37:37. | |
Jobcentre, the amount saved for that closure, the necessary spend an | :37:38. | :37:40. | |
increased capacity at the alternative centre, or projections | :37:41. | :37:47. | |
for football that footfall at the centre. Will the Minister commit to | :37:48. | :37:53. | |
publishing all that information before the decision has been made, | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
but preferably before the end of the consultation period? ESA and IS | :37:59. | :38:04. | |
claimants are not required regularly to attend the Jobcentre in the same | :38:05. | :38:09. | |
way that GSA claimants are. In terms of our reach, we want to look at | :38:10. | :38:15. | |
other opportunities working with partners. The consultation closed on | :38:16. | :38:20. | |
the 28th of February. In terms of the overall approach in Sheffield, | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
it is about consolidating the amount of space and using that space better | :38:26. | :38:31. | |
to provide enhanced services for customers and it raises utilisation | :38:32. | :38:38. | |
in Sheffield from 51% to 59%. In 2010 there were three Jobcentres in | :38:39. | :38:46. | |
my constituency. Just under 3000 people who have to access the | :38:47. | :38:51. | |
Jobcentre in my constituency at least every three weeks is not an | :38:52. | :38:56. | |
insignificant number. Why has his department not carried out a full | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
impact assessment before the closure? The proposals across the | :39:01. | :39:07. | |
city of Liverpool raise the utilisation in the city from 66% to | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
95%. It makes better use of buildings. Movement from one | :39:13. | :39:18. | |
Jobcentre to another is less than three miles and 20 minutes on public | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
transport and it is reasonable to ask people to make that move. Number | :39:24. | :39:29. | |
14. Through the green paper improving lives, the work health and | :39:30. | :39:36. | |
disability green paper, we asked about the barriers preventing | :39:37. | :39:40. | |
employers from recruiting and training people with health | :39:41. | :39:44. | |
conditions. We will shortly bring forward measures to address those | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
barriers. I am grateful to the Minister. I recently held an | :39:50. | :39:53. | |
engagement event in Lowestoft to consider the green paper. The | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
conclusion reached is the disability employment gap is best tackled with | :39:59. | :40:03. | |
bespoke local solutions work out with local employers. Will the | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
Minister give this approach fair and full consideration as she assesses | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
the feedback from the consultation? May I put on record my thanks to him | :40:12. | :40:17. | |
and members from all parties in this house who did hold local | :40:18. | :40:21. | |
consultation events. It was incredibly important and has made | :40:22. | :40:26. | |
this a good consultation, but is vital in establishing and building | :40:27. | :40:31. | |
local networks. These have to be local solutions, not least because | :40:32. | :40:34. | |
health care is commissioned locally and I can give him those assurances | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
that we will bear that in mind as we go forward. The all-party | :40:40. | :40:45. | |
Parliamentary group on modern slavery has heard compelling | :40:46. | :40:47. | |
evidence about how people who have been enslaved in the UK have PTSD | :40:48. | :40:54. | |
and similar serious disabilities as a result. Would the Minister commit | :40:55. | :40:58. | |
to having a meeting with the Minister in the Home Office to look | :40:59. | :41:04. | |
practically at ways in which those victims of exploitation can be | :41:05. | :41:13. | |
enabled to work in companies and to be supported into working? The | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
honourable lady raises an important point. I can give her assurances | :41:19. | :41:24. | |
that both my office and the office of the Minister for employment are | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
working very closely with the Home Office on precisely the group of | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
individuals she mentions, but also on other vulnerable people like | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
refugees as well. I am very happy to raise any points that she wants to | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
make. I am holding a disability confident event in my constituency | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
on April the 28th and the Minister would be welcome to it if she is | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
able to find time in her busy schedule. Can I ask her to look at | :41:53. | :41:59. | |
what incentives can be given to employers to give disabled people a | :42:00. | :42:02. | |
chance to allow themselves to prove themselves to show what they are | :42:03. | :42:06. | |
capable of if they are given that chance in the first place? I thank | :42:07. | :42:12. | |
my honourable friend for holding a disability confident event. We are | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
looking at what further support and incentives we can provide employers. | :42:18. | :42:20. | |
One thing we need to do is to raise the profile of the fact that these | :42:21. | :42:27. | |
individuals have so much to offer any business. We will be holding | :42:28. | :42:33. | |
some events in March in this place for all members of all parties to | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
become disability confident employers themselves and also ask | :42:40. | :42:44. | |
for their assistance in signing up 30 targeted organisations from their | :42:45. | :42:48. | |
own constituencies and I hope all members will take that opportunity. | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
This is very relevant to what we're been saying and ensure the Minister | :42:53. | :42:57. | |
would agree that to change attitudes regarding disability in the | :42:58. | :43:00. | |
workforce we need more businesses to become role models in this area and | :43:01. | :43:05. | |
in Taunton sadly only very few businesses are signed up to the | :43:06. | :43:08. | |
disability awareness register. I would like the Minister to join with | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
the to encourage local businesses to attend a special event I'd Taunton | :43:13. | :43:19. | |
Jobcentre to promote the disability initiative. I thank the honourable | :43:20. | :43:22. | |
lady for what she is already doing in her constituency to promote the | :43:23. | :43:29. | |
scheme. It is very important employer is not only realise the | :43:30. | :43:32. | |
opportunities out there from employing these people but also the | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
support and advice that goes alongside that. The more people that | :43:37. | :43:39. | |
know about it the more we will achieve that goal of ensuring every | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
citizen in this country can reach their full potential. 16, Mr | :43:45. | :43:53. | |
Speaker. Mr Speaker, proposals are in concentration with the public, | :43:54. | :43:58. | |
should they succeed, staff will continue to offer the same support | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
and 70s to customers and will maintain the relationships built up | :44:03. | :44:08. | |
over time. Now that the Glasgow consultation is closed, can you tell | :44:09. | :44:12. | |
us the following. When will the consultation responses be published? | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
When will the equality impact assessment be published? And when | :44:17. | :44:21. | |
will the decision be announced, and on the announcement, we'll he assure | :44:22. | :44:23. | |
the house that it would be slipped out of a press race or a written | :44:24. | :44:26. | |
statement, but he will make it from the dispatch box? The consultation | :44:27. | :44:33. | |
in relation to those job centres in Glasgow has now closed. There are a | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
number of responses that we are currently working through. We will | :44:39. | :44:43. | |
do that within the time frame, and I anticipate making announcements in | :44:44. | :44:45. | |
April. I met the 83 people who work at the | :44:46. | :44:55. | |
Navy house in my constituency, another one which is being scheduled | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
for closure. Could the Minister explain how the closure of this | :45:02. | :45:03. | |
child maintenance back office is going to impact, and how it can | :45:04. | :45:09. | |
possibly be efficient to close an office in one of the most low rent | :45:10. | :45:16. | |
towns in the entire nation? Mr Speaker, the entire estates review | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
comes about at a time when a 20 year PFI contract is coming to an end at | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
the end of March 20 18. And has presented the opportunity indeed the | :45:27. | :45:29. | |
requirement to review the almost entire DWP estate. What we are | :45:30. | :45:33. | |
trying to do is to consolidate into some less space to save some money | :45:34. | :45:37. | |
for the tax payer but also do things more efficiently, in terms of people | :45:38. | :45:42. | |
working particularly in back of house locations, we are trying | :45:43. | :45:44. | |
extremely hard and we don't want people to be made redundant. We are | :45:45. | :45:47. | |
trying to find other opportunities for them elsewhere in the public | :45:48. | :45:57. | |
sector. The UK labour market is the strongest it has been for years. | :45:58. | :46:01. | |
Over the past year, the number of people in employment has increased | :46:02. | :46:05. | |
by 300 and 2000. The implement rate now stands at a new record high of | :46:06. | :46:11. | |
74.6%. The unemployment rate remained at 4.8%, the lowest rate in | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
over ten years. I thank my right honourable friend for that answer, | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
he will agree long-term and deployment is particularly damaging | :46:21. | :46:23. | |
for a young person. Can my right honourable friend the what steps his | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
department is taking the house what steps his department is taking too | :46:28. | :46:29. | |
insular that no young person falls through the cracks. She's right, | :46:30. | :46:34. | |
obviously long-term deployment can significantly damage anyone | :46:35. | :46:36. | |
particularly young people and that is why I welcome the recent | :46:37. | :46:43. | |
employment statistics, which show that 3 million 16 to 24-year-olds | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
are full-time students and another 3 million have left full-time | :46:49. | :46:52. | |
education and working. Together this accounts for 18% of all young people | :46:53. | :46:55. | |
in the UK, the joint highest on record. But there is was more to do, | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
which is why we are introducing the youth obligation from this April, | :47:01. | :47:04. | |
which will ensure that young people are fully supported as they progress | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
into work and indeed well they are at work. Question 20. We are | :47:09. | :47:18. | |
committed to ensuring claimants receive high-quality, objective and | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
fair assessments. The department monitors assessment quality through | :47:24. | :47:27. | |
independent audit, and assessments that are deemed unacceptable | :47:28. | :47:31. | |
returned to the provider for the working. A range of measures | :47:32. | :47:34. | |
including provider improvement plans address performance falling below | :47:35. | :47:42. | |
the expected standards. My constituents Neville Cartwright is | :47:43. | :47:46. | |
living with just one long, following a battle with lung cancer, yet lost | :47:47. | :47:54. | |
as motility -- Mote ability to win his PIP was cut last year. Does the | :47:55. | :48:00. | |
Minister agree an eight-month wait to find other result of an appeal is | :48:01. | :48:05. | |
totally unacceptable? I do agree with the honourable lady, which is | :48:06. | :48:10. | |
why we have been working with Mote ability, trying to work more | :48:11. | :48:13. | |
strategically with them, thrashing through both the issues that I am | :48:14. | :48:20. | |
very aware of appeals, but also on issues like individuals leaving the | :48:21. | :48:26. | |
country. We are trying to reduce the amount of time, but also with the | :48:27. | :48:32. | |
running of the skin which means the precise scenario that the honourable | :48:33. | :48:44. | |
lady outlines the sort happened. Building on success of the new | :48:45. | :48:46. | |
enterprise allowance, eligible to vote the extended to include | :48:47. | :48:54. | |
claimants are already self-employed. There are 40 new businesses in | :48:55. | :48:58. | |
Banbury currently supported by the new enterprise allowance, with about | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
100 more going through the developmental stage. Can the | :49:03. | :49:04. | |
Minister reassurance that this programme is not just to set up new | :49:05. | :49:07. | |
businesses but will also enable them to grow going forward? Yes, those 40 | :49:08. | :49:14. | |
new businesses in Banbury I great example of what the NEA can do and | :49:15. | :49:17. | |
in phase two we are introducing additional features to continue to | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
promote sustained success in self deployment, including extending the | :49:24. | :49:27. | |
men touring period and making sure there is a pre-workshop to the start | :49:28. | :49:33. | |
-- emphasised the understanding of what it is like to be self employed. | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
Today we published our green paper on defined benefit pension schemes. | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
These provide an important source of income is the retirement plans of | :49:43. | :49:46. | |
millions of people. The majority of the nearly 6000 defined benefit | :49:47. | :49:50. | |
pension schemes are run effectively and we are fortunate to have a | :49:51. | :49:53. | |
robust and flexible system and pension protection in the UK. | :49:54. | :49:56. | |
However, it is clear that experiences differ from skin to | :49:57. | :50:00. | |
skin, and some of lawyers are clearly struggling and the system | :50:01. | :50:03. | |
may not be working optimally in all circumstances. The green paper is an | :50:04. | :50:07. | |
opportunity to look at the schemes to ensure the system remains | :50:08. | :50:10. | |
sustainable, while still ensuring members benefits are protected. | :50:11. | :50:19. | |
Further to my honourable friend earlier on on universal credit | :50:20. | :50:23. | |
environments by constituents, the Secretary of State not accept that | :50:24. | :50:26. | |
putting this extra hurdle in his disadvantage and people in a very | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
vulnerable situation? And also flies in the face of information | :50:32. | :50:32. | |
Commissioner guidance on these matters? As my honourable friend the | :50:33. | :50:39. | |
Minister for employment explained, the data is now held in a different | :50:40. | :50:43. | |
way, it is entirely owned by the claimant who can of course and | :50:44. | :50:46. | |
should give any member of Parliament permission to act on their behalf, | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
and permission all of us can do our job on behalf of our constituents, | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
as we traditionally have. Question five, Mr Speaker. Last October the | :50:57. | :51:03. | |
Secretary of State announced that people with severe lifelong | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
conditions would be exempt from reassessments for ESA. This was | :51:09. | :51:10. | |
welcomed by leading charities sector. Can the minister told a | :51:11. | :51:15. | |
house where the motor neurone disease will falls in the | :51:16. | :51:20. | |
exceptions? , first of all praise the work of the all-party Parliament | :51:21. | :51:24. | |
regrouped and the honourable lady's work as its vice-chair. Following | :51:25. | :51:28. | |
the announcement we are working to deliver a set of criteria to switch | :51:29. | :51:30. | |
off reassessments for people with the most severe disabilities and | :51:31. | :51:36. | |
have sought feedback from stakeholders, including many motor | :51:37. | :51:41. | |
neurone disease organisations. They will not be about a specific list of | :51:42. | :51:44. | |
medical conditions, rather it will be based on a number of other | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
factors, particularly how those conditions are impacting people. In | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
April, the government's to child policy will mean that a woman who | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
has a third child after being raped will have to prove this if they are | :52:00. | :52:02. | |
to get child tax support. At the same time, the government is cutting | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
widowed parent's allowance by an average of ?17,000 for each bereaved | :52:07. | :52:13. | |
family. In 2015, this benefited 40,000 children who had lost at | :52:14. | :52:17. | |
least one parent. Will the Secretary of State please think again about | :52:18. | :52:25. | |
these really punitive measures? I don't agree with the honourable lady | :52:26. | :52:29. | |
that the measures are punitive. To take just one of the two she brought | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
up, the bereavement payments, as she knows this is bringing three | :52:34. | :52:37. | |
payments into one. The original system was devised for a world in | :52:38. | :52:44. | |
which women often would not work at all, and so needed lifelong support, | :52:45. | :52:50. | |
rather than the extra support they will be offered after the tragic | :52:51. | :52:53. | |
event that will have happened, and I think she will find that the new | :52:54. | :53:00. | |
system is fairer and more effective at providing support when it is | :53:01. | :53:09. | |
needed. Will the Minister agree it was important to introduce the cap | :53:10. | :53:12. | |
on out of work but if it's to do with the excesses of a system that | :53:13. | :53:16. | |
used to see a single household being given ?100,000 a year in housing | :53:17. | :53:23. | |
benefit? I thank my riverfront that question, she is of course right to | :53:24. | :53:26. | |
point out that the benefit cut is working. It has brought about | :53:27. | :53:29. | |
behavioural change and evaluation of the current cap level has found that | :53:30. | :53:32. | |
capped households are 41% more likely to go into work than similar | :53:33. | :53:39. | |
and capped households. More than that, 38% of those caps if they were | :53:40. | :53:44. | |
doing more to find work. A third were submitting more applications | :53:45. | :53:48. | |
and a fifth underwent more interviews was the new recipients of | :53:49. | :53:52. | |
support who are in the work-related activity group will cease to receive | :53:53. | :53:57. | |
the work-related activity components payment as of this April. Can the | :53:58. | :54:01. | |
Minister tell us exactly what additional support those claimants | :54:02. | :54:05. | |
will receive, since we have only just a short six weeks until they | :54:06. | :54:09. | |
are hit by this change in policy? This won't, although the policy is | :54:10. | :54:15. | |
being introduced in April, it won't start to have an impact on | :54:16. | :54:20. | |
individuals until the summer. But there is a personalised support | :54:21. | :54:23. | |
package, 13 measures, which are outlined in the green paper. But | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
also she will know that we are looking at ways in which we can also | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
reduce an individual's household outgoings that aren't related to | :54:34. | :54:38. | |
finding work. Does the Minister agree with me that we must do all we | :54:39. | :54:43. | |
can to support people with mental health issues, disabilities and | :54:44. | :54:46. | |
learning difficulties into work? But equally as important, we must ensure | :54:47. | :54:55. | |
businesses are equipped to help them stay in employment? I agree, this is | :54:56. | :54:59. | |
about people being able to reach their full potential, and make use | :55:00. | :55:04. | |
of all the benefits that come with having a pay packet, all of those | :55:05. | :55:08. | |
opportunities and choice top employers have a huge role to play | :55:09. | :55:11. | |
and I have been very encouraged by the results of the consultation | :55:12. | :55:15. | |
particularly from employers wanting to do more, and we must Insua they | :55:16. | :55:19. | |
have the tools and expertise to do more. As part of the government's | :55:20. | :55:27. | |
welcome proposals to half the disability employment gap, will the | :55:28. | :55:30. | |
Minister ensure that a work support plan is in place before a disabled | :55:31. | :55:37. | |
person is made a job offer, thus increasing the chances of success, | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
and reduce in the risk of wrongly applied sanctions or accusations | :55:42. | :55:48. | |
that the person doesn't want a job? This consultation really affords us | :55:49. | :55:51. | |
an opportunity to look at a person's haul journey, and generalising, the | :55:52. | :55:58. | |
earlier someone can have a conversation with somebody about | :55:59. | :56:00. | |
their ambitions, about the support they will need in place, the better | :56:01. | :56:06. | |
that journey will be. So I totally agree with the honourable gentleman. | :56:07. | :56:12. | |
I suspect the employment minister may not be aware of the employment | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
of women, young person and children's act 1920, but it is a | :56:17. | :56:19. | |
consent of the heritage Railway Association and others, who have | :56:20. | :56:24. | |
found that young people cannot volunteer in industrial | :56:25. | :56:28. | |
undertakings. We have now written to the Health and Safety Executive but | :56:29. | :56:31. | |
I wonder if the Minister would meet me to have a conversation about | :56:32. | :56:37. | |
this? I would be very happy to meet the Right Honourable lady about this | :56:38. | :56:39. | |
issue. There is a huge amount of work going on to ensure that young | :56:40. | :56:45. | |
people and others as well can make use of all opportunities to expand | :56:46. | :56:52. | |
their horizons and I would be very happy to meet the honourable lady | :56:53. | :56:55. | |
about the specific points she raises. Of the 17,000 sanctions to | :56:56. | :57:02. | |
benefit Clement and Bradford West in the last 6.5 years, how many could | :57:03. | :57:05. | |
have been avoided if the government had the yellow card warning system | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
in place? Why has this not being rolled out nationally following a | :57:11. | :57:14. | |
successful trial in 2016, and when is this government going to do it? | :57:15. | :57:20. | |
We are looking at the trial, the early warning system trial was | :57:21. | :57:27. | |
taking place in Scotland. We are still evaluating that and we'll | :57:28. | :57:31. | |
publish the results shortly. And then we will have to do the | :57:32. | :57:34. | |
evaluation first before we decide what to do next. Last week I | :57:35. | :57:41. | |
attended two excellent business breakfasts, one order announced by | :57:42. | :57:45. | |
the Rockingham Forest hotel and the other by business group. In what | :57:46. | :57:51. | |
ways does the Minister think we can use that experience to help people | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
entering the world of work through mentoring? I think mentoring has an | :57:57. | :58:00. | |
absolutely critical role to play and I would encourage those employees in | :58:01. | :58:05. | |
his constituency to be in touch with the local schools, colleges, and to | :58:06. | :58:13. | |
seek out more opportunities. Would the Minister look at the assessments | :58:14. | :58:17. | |
of people with long-term progress of conditions in light of some of the | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
issues raised by this and in fact with long-term progress of | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
conditions would she look at the removal of the need for continued | :58:29. | :58:31. | |
assessment, by the very nature of people getting worse day by day? The | :58:32. | :58:35. | |
honourable lady makes a very good suggestion. We are looking at this. | :58:36. | :58:41. | |
If we can share data better, not just across our own systems but also | :58:42. | :58:46. | |
with local government and there is a huge amount of administrative burden | :58:47. | :58:51. | |
we can cut down on. Identified the critical difference that makes a | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
recipient of universal credit so much more likely to get into work | :58:57. | :58:59. | |
than someone on jobseeker's allowance? Mr Speaker there are | :59:00. | :59:05. | |
multiple features of universal credit that make that much more | :59:06. | :59:10. | |
likely. The critical thing is to remove the barriers that create | :59:11. | :59:14. | |
differences between being out of work and in work, things like having | :59:15. | :59:17. | |
the rent paid directly to the individual. Also in terms of the | :59:18. | :59:22. | |
support you get in the job centre from the work code and the | :59:23. | :59:25. | |
visibility you have that for XP ever pound you earn, you know how much | :59:26. | :59:32. | |
you will retain. Brixton job centre which serves many of my constituents | :59:33. | :59:35. | |
is situated in one of the most deprived areas of London. How can | :59:36. | :59:40. | |
the Minister justified deciding to close Brixton Jobcentre and dozens | :59:41. | :59:43. | |
of others across the country before any assessment of the impact has | :59:44. | :59:47. | |
been undertaken and without any consultation with the public? Well, | :59:48. | :59:56. | |
Mr Speaker, on the section of the equality act, we did indeed carry | :59:57. | :00:01. | |
out those impact assessments she mentions. She and I have had chance | :00:02. | :00:06. | |
to talk about that specific job centre. We are making sure we have a | :00:07. | :00:10. | |
good spread of Jobcentres across the country accessible to people who | :00:11. | :00:13. | |
need them also utilising space better. Last week I visited a number | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
of factories in my constituency taking on additional employment. | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
With the Secretary of State agree that our long-term economic plan has | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
worked, and those benches opposite that opposed it should now be | :00:29. | :00:34. | |
contrite? And with the Secretary of State also agree it is rather | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
surprising up until two minutes ago there has not been a single Liberal | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
Democrat in the chamber. I'm not remotely surprised. He is not | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
responsible for the presence of Liberal Democrat members. I am | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
grateful for that last piece of advice, Mr Speaker, I would be | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
horrified if I were responsible, particularly for their attendance | :01:00. | :01:03. | |
record. But I am happy to agree completely with my honourable friend | :01:04. | :01:12. | |
about the long-term economic plan. It is a tribute to a successful | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
policy for the past six years. On behalf of my constituents may I ask | :01:20. | :01:25. | |
the Secretary of State to be personally involved in her case. The | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
victim of a house fire when she was 12 weeks old, she has no hands. She | :01:30. | :01:37. | |
has multiple physical problems. In the migration from DLA to pip she | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
could not open the envelope telling her to go to her assessment. On the | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
1st of February all benefits ceased. On the 10th of February her motor | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
ability car was taken away. This cannot be right, please help. If the | :01:51. | :02:01. | |
honourable lady wishes to contact me directly, we will take it up. Does | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
my right honourable friend agreed there is no evidence to suggest we | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
are going to lose the 3 million jobs which we were warned so often would | :02:12. | :02:15. | |
happen if we left the EU, and given the recent announcements of | :02:16. | :02:18. | |
thousands of new jobs being located in this country from the likes of | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
Google and Amazon that this country remains a very attractive place to | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
do business. It's perfectly clear that this country is an extremely | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
attractive place to do business. I'm delighted and a number of big | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
companies particularly in the tech sector and other sectors that have | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
cited to move jobs to this country in recent months. And the government | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
will absolutely do all it can to make sure that this economic success | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
continues. The Jobcentre in my constituency is under threat of | :02:55. | :02:59. | |
closure which has spread alarm and despondency amongst some of the most | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
vulnerable people I represent. The nearest job centre in Walthamstow is | :03:04. | :03:06. | |
more than three miles away which breaks the Minister 's own | :03:07. | :03:09. | |
guidelines. Will he undertake to have a proper impact assessment and | :03:10. | :03:17. | |
publish the results? Of course I will have a look at that. The | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
criteria are that if it is both more than three miles and more than 20 | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
minutes away by public transport that is when the consultation | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
happens. Within that if either of those conditions are met, it is | :03:32. | :03:38. | |
reasonable to ask people. On Friday I went to visit Shipley Jobcentre to | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
hear first-hand the concerns staff have about the closure of Shipley | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
Jobcentre and the concerns they have for their clients. With the Minister | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
agree to meet with me so I can go through their list of concerns and | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
hopefully he can find a way to address them? Of course I am happy | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
to meet my honourable friend as I have met honourable and right | :04:01. | :04:03. | |
honourable members from across the house to discuss. Single sentence | :04:04. | :04:11. | |
questions I hope. I am astonished the Secretary of State separate | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
clause was not punitive but his own government response to the | :04:16. | :04:18. | |
consultation says many respondents found it unacceptable for | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
governments to ask women to relive the audio of rape to make a claim | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
for benefits. Will the government accept this policy is despicable? | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
Identix at that and I do think the honourable lady's description of the | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
exemptions for that clause just don't accord with reality. It's not | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
remotely punitive, it is an entirely sensible and workable system that we | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
are proposing. Mr Speaker, can the Secretary of State tell me what | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
plans he has too reduced the cost of telephone calls to his department | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
which can now cost up to 55p per minute. Obviously I am in constant | :04:59. | :05:11. | |
contact with the Social Security advisory committee. People who fell | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
in the Department always have the opportunity to ask for a call back | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
if they do not wish to continue with the call and wished the departments | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
to make the call. I understand this point of order flows directly from | :05:23. | :05:32. | |
questions. Specifically to call upon the answer given a few moments ago | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
about the work-related, the minister said nobody would be affected by | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
this change before the summer but in fact the DWP website says and we all | :05:43. | :05:45. | |
understood that this change takes effect from April, I wonder if you | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
can invite the Minister to clarify or correct | :05:50. | :05:50. |