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Order, order. Questions to be Secretary of State for Work and | :00:07. | :00:17. | |
Pensions. Number one, Mr Spdaker. Mr Speaker, I I might just takd this | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
opportunity given the weekend events to say on behalf of myself `nd my | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
other colleague on the other side of the House, we wish a speedy recovery | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
to those who have been injured. . Only took off his almost ond in five | :00:33. | :00:38. | |
households had no work. Manx people had been on benefits brought most of | :00:39. | :00:46. | |
the previous decade. Since 2010 the number of nonworking household has | :00:47. | :00:52. | |
fallen by 6008000. My consthtuency covers the major part of brhghter | :00:53. | :00:59. | |
for us, in 2014 and had the highest percentage of working households in | :01:00. | :01:01. | |
the country. Does my right honourable friend not agree that | :01:02. | :01:05. | |
continuing to encourage households into work is one of the most | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
effective ways of improving the chances of life of everyone in that | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
family? As I say, my honour`ble friend is right that growing up in a | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
working family is crucial. When his government took off his door over | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
2.5 million children growing in work was households. This has fallen by | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
nearly half the billions since 010. By targeting work business, our new | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
life chance measures which we think will make an enormous difference for | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
children's lives... I understand now there are almost no work was | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
households in this county. Then I asked the Secretary of Statd to be a | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
little careful about any of us getting complacent about working. -- | :01:46. | :01:52. | |
worthlessness. Has he seen the new gradation of work were people seized | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
to have good employers and contracts are increasingly pushed into | :01:58. | :02:05. | |
self-employment. I say to bd honourable gentleman, by thd way | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
welcome back, I understand he has had some difficulties with health. | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
Can I say to him he is right if that were the trend in the direction in | :02:15. | :02:18. | |
which we are going. The difference a difference between us and the US. | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
What we see is a vast majorhty of the jobs being created are | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
white-collar jobs and full-time jobs and. That is really important whilst | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
we think being self-employed is excellent. For those whose choose to | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
do it. We are seeing a huge trend in jobs for full pay and full-time | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
The selling point of the government universal credits theme was that it | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
was supposed to increase work incentive. However the reduction in | :02:45. | :02:47. | |
work allows us and universal credit to take effect in April next year | :02:48. | :02:58. | |
will have about 25,000 workhng household... The seats that these | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
changes more actively distance decentralised people into work? I | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
don't. What I do believe is that universal credit is acting `s a huge | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
incentive to go back to work. Even the statistics post over thd weekend | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
show that universal credit leans that people are 8% more likdly to go | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
into work than jobseeker's allowance. I remind her that | :03:19. | :03:20. | |
jobseeker's allowance has bden seen by many in the Western world as one | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
of the most successful that to work benefits. Universal credit performs | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
even better by some considerable degree. He didn't answer thd | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
question about those 35,000 households and transitional relief | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
coming into affect in April 201 . So what does he expect for people who | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
will be thousands of pounds worse off in April? First of all, people | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
are getting back to work. Sdcondly, those who are on universal credit at | :03:50. | :03:52. | |
the moment will be fully supported... All the resources | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
necessary to ensure that thdir situation remains exactly the same | :03:58. | :03:58. | |
as it is today. I wonder if the Minister has seen | :03:59. | :04:10. | |
the figures I have. Can I t`ke them from rhetoric that to reality. It | :04:11. | :04:13. | |
shows that at the same time whilst that has been a rise in employment | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
in the last three months, the number of hours that we have actually | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
worked as a country has fallen. So it is a good thing that unelployment | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
has gone down, but surely wd need to be addressing underemployment | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
particularly when there are 3 million people who say that they are | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
underemployed. I saw that hhs Minister for employment was blogging | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
temporary part-time jobs for people to dress up as Santa Claus over the | :04:38. | :04:40. | |
weekend, but it perhaps would be better if his party spent more time | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
to ensure full-time, permandnt, well-paid work for people. Hear | :04:46. | :04:46. | |
hear! Is a bit rich effort to get up there | :04:47. | :04:54. | |
and start attacking the government's record of getthng more | :04:55. | :04:56. | |
people back to work more people in full-time work, or people in | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
managerial positions. The rdality is will we took over from the | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
government it was a completd collapse in the economy with people | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
lucky to get a job, even lucky to get part-time work. Two thirds of | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
the rise in employment sincd 20 0 has been managerial, professional | :05:12. | :05:17. | |
jobs. And permanent jobs up over 476,000. This is not rhetorhc. These | :05:18. | :05:19. | |
are realities. Hear, hear! Long-term youth unemployment has | :05:20. | :05:29. | |
fallen by over one third ovdr the past year. Our goal is to m`ke sure | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
that all young people are ehther earning our learnings copied we | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
continue to provide extra stpport for young people on benefits... | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
Introducing the new obligathon for 2017. The local government Dnglish | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
dilution bill announced tod`y, can Minister do more to devolve greater | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
control of the work programle two councils and to empower loc`l | :05:51. | :05:58. | |
managers. Will she ensure that DWP work closely with councils on | :05:59. | :06:00. | |
universal support to transform the delivery of services to vulnerable | :06:01. | :06:08. | |
people? I think the honourable gentleman for his comments `nd also | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
for his question. I would lhke to congratulate them for the work he | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
has been doing locally withhn his own community with DWP and with the | :06:16. | :06:23. | |
local government as well. Is right, certainly with the work programme | :06:24. | :06:26. | |
and under the illusion as wdll. We are working with those commtnities | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
and will local authorities `nd job centres and other partners `nd | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
stakeholders to. Those spechalist organisations that can provhde the | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
right kind of support to support employment and get more people back | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
to work. He is right to hold up his error as a good local example. Mr | :06:42. | :06:47. | |
Speaker, does the Minister `gree with me that having young pdople | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
embrace work experience opportunities and encouraging | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
employers to create these... Will bridge the skills gap? My honourable | :06:57. | :07:03. | |
rent though my friend is right. We can never stand still in thhs space | :07:04. | :07:07. | |
when it comes to young people. I mentioned the unique obligation that | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
we will be bringing into thousand 17, but also developing skills and | :07:12. | :07:14. | |
work experience supporting xoung people to traineeships is vhtal She | :07:15. | :07:23. | |
has proved this in our own constituency. As the Ministdr will | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
be aware we are now coming hnto the first area, meaning many people will | :07:29. | :07:34. | |
find jobs on a temporary basis. Last year from October to Decembdr the | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
number of young people at work in my constituency increased around 1 %, | :07:39. | :07:43. | |
then after Christmas a job by 1 %. -- it dropped our 2%. To make sure | :07:44. | :07:51. | |
people are not The honourable lady is right to say this is the time of | :07:52. | :07:54. | |
year where there is more se`sonal employment. In course... Johnson to | :07:55. | :08:11. | |
-- jobs centre will be supporting those who mean to secure longer jobs | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
as well. I find it critical that it is better to be in work and have had | :08:16. | :08:18. | |
the experience than to develop long-term career and implemdnt | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
opportunities afterwards. Mr Speaker, the opening of the new | :08:24. | :08:32. | |
Primark will bring 1000 new jobs to my area. Willie Minister welcomed me | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
and -- join me in welcoming it? I think the honourable friend for the | :08:40. | :08:45. | |
kind invitation. We are onlx getting the new jobs created in our economy | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
through having a secure and sound economy and to our economic plan. | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
And unfortunately employers like Weimar and many other retailers are | :08:54. | :09:00. | |
creating great opportunities for our young people -- Primark. | :09:01. | :09:18. | |
The department is developing new provision to support people with | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
health conditions and disabhlities and of those who are very long-term | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
unemployed. We are currentlx developing the design of a | :09:31. | :09:33. | |
programme, including the conditionality as well as the future | :09:34. | :09:40. | |
of that programme. Mental hdalth charity revealed that 82% of ESA | :09:41. | :09:47. | |
claimants referred to be programme, found it made their mental health | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
state worst. Will be governlent s new health and work programle and | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
the shameful sanctions regile which often leads forward with mental | :09:57. | :10:04. | |
illness is less likely to access work? I'm sure the honourable lady | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
will recognise that over 60$ of those who are individuals... Say | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
that they do want to work as well. That is why we will launch the new | :10:15. | :10:17. | |
work and health programme. Looking at how we can deliver emploxment | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
support, which I am sure thd honourable lady opposite wotld | :10:24. | :10:25. | |
welcome an all members of this house would welcome. Providing vital | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
implement support to those individuals that are furthest away | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
from the labour market but who wants to work and we will do this in | :10:34. | :10:35. | |
conjunction with our stakeholders. And better targeting that community | :10:36. | :10:43. | |
to get them back into work. I would also like to point that in the | :10:44. | :10:46. | |
summer budget additional funding was made available just for this very | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
support for those that are furthest away from the labour market and | :10:52. | :10:53. | |
those with health conditions in particular. Does my right honourable | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
friend agree that it is inctmbent on any person who suggests scr`pping | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
the existing sanctions schele to propose an effective altern`tive | :11:07. | :11:08. | |
because there has to be somd means of ensuring the clients with the | :11:09. | :11:17. | |
roles? -- compliance. And v`luable point here. Did the Mac despite the | :11:18. | :11:23. | |
fact that sections have been in place, even under previous labour | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
governments... It is designdd to support claimants and encourage them | :11:31. | :11:37. | |
back to work. ... These are developed with the claimant as well. | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
In the work programme extra help is being given to job seekers who have | :11:44. | :11:46. | |
been out of work for 12 months. In this new programme it won't be until | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
two years. Is job centre plts going to get extra resources to stpport | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
people who have been out of work were between one and two ye`rs, | :11:55. | :11:58. | |
given that the programme wotld be doing that? I say to the right | :11:59. | :12:01. | |
honourable gentleman, in terms of the new programme, it will be | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
accompanied by structural rdform. That the target support for those | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
individuals that are furthest away from the labour market. But on top | :12:11. | :12:17. | |
of that, as he highlighted `nd emphasised again today, Universal | :12:18. | :12:20. | |
credit in particular will provide the support and engagement to those | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
individuals that are looking for work that are furthest away from the | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
labour market alongside the new work and health programme which of course | :12:28. | :12:30. | |
will integrate services and particularly for those with mental | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
health conditions or health barriers to help them get closer to the | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
labour market. Hear, hear! Shockingly, Mr Speaker, a ntmber of | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
people who have died after being sanctioned were still waiting for | :12:45. | :12:47. | |
the government to publish d`ta on these. We do know, following the | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
recent publication of an ac`demic report, that between 2010-2013, the | :12:52. | :12:57. | |
government's work of abilitx assessment process is there is about | :12:58. | :13:08. | |
950,000 suicide. ... It has been reported" not being able to meet | :13:09. | :13:18. | |
certain performance metrics". When will Secretary of State admht.. | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
These are not fit for purpose and need a complete overhaul? Hdar, | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
hear! Let me remind at the honour`ble lady | :13:27. | :13:30. | |
that it was her parking govdrnment that introduced the work capability | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
assessment, but also let me make the point while she remarks frol her | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
sedentary position in particular is... Let me remind the House, Mr | :13:38. | :13:46. | |
Speaker, that the work capability assessment was introduced bx a | :13:47. | :13:49. | |
previous labour government. We have brought in a number of reforms which | :13:50. | :13:56. | |
she, the honourable lady, whll be aware of the. We are very clear that | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
when it comes to sanctions, they are constantly under review, hence the | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
five reviews we have had made final point is that when it comes to the | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
data that the honourable lady has just presented to the House, she | :14:09. | :14:11. | |
cannot justifiably or credibly extrapolate those figures and apply | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
them to sanctions and the policies of this government because they are | :14:18. | :14:18. | |
completely incorrect. Hear, hear! Mr Speaker, with permission I would | :14:19. | :14:33. | |
like to take questions four and tend to. Johnson does undertake outreach | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
work every day and local colmunities and have been helping peopld with | :14:40. | :14:42. | |
back to work support and advise it at the welcome centre and | :14:43. | :14:48. | |
Manchester. The test is at `n early stage and the department will make | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
the findings public in due course. Despite the fall in unemploxment, | :14:56. | :14:58. | |
many working families across the country will be relying on food | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
banks this Christmas. I want to picture view to Sarah Sidwell and | :15:03. | :15:05. | |
her constituents at the loc`l food bank... But does the staff hn food | :15:06. | :15:12. | |
bank actually acknowledged the symbolic nature of the benefits | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
system which is affecting pdople and shouldn't the Minister think very | :15:17. | :15:20. | |
long and hard about sourcing out the system -- sorting out the sxstem? | :15:21. | :15:26. | |
Hear, hear! Man gently remind the honourable | :15:27. | :15:28. | |
lady that at the request of Sister Rita, we were invited to go to the | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
welcome centre, which also serves other agencies. -- which also has | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
other agencies copy I would like to say that that centre has a job club | :15:42. | :15:48. | |
there. If there is a job cltb, and she is happy with that, why on earth | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
is he objecting to us going there to help people when we have bedn | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
invited to go there? Hear, hear Could the Minister confirm whether | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
or not Lord Prior will be joining in the evaluation of the services at | :16:03. | :16:06. | |
that job centre and food bank? As he will know, Lord Prior has indicated | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
that obesity seems to be a problem rather than property. Did hd confirm | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
whether the evaluation will include an examination of the reasons why | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
sanctions and delays in bendfits are causing problems to those rdceiving | :16:20. | :16:26. | |
food benefits? Hear, hear! There are fewer delays now hn terms | :16:27. | :16:29. | |
of getting benefits then thdre were under the government that the | :16:30. | :16:32. | |
honourable gentleman served. Applications are down compared to | :16:33. | :16:42. | |
nine tenths, -- JSA applications are down as our ESa applications. On a | :16:43. | :16:50. | |
related subject, I wonder if the Minister can envision a futtre where | :16:51. | :16:54. | |
job services and councils are co-located in this country. I'm | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
happy to confirm to my honotrable friend that that is already | :17:00. | :17:06. | |
happening. Thank you Mr Spe`ker In relation to this trial, has the | :17:07. | :17:09. | |
Minister noticed two days rdport in the Western morning used th`t food | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
bank use has dropped to 5%. In Cornwall. Does he agree that this is | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
a sign of economic recovery, giving more people access to securd work? | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
Hear, hear! Gale it is always good to h`ve | :17:24. | :17:25. | |
external endorsement to what the government is doing. It is clear | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
evidence that the government's plan is working. Hear, hear! | :17:31. | :17:38. | |
May I report to the Minister, progress in Birkenhead wherd a | :17:39. | :17:40. | |
benefit advisor has been working in the food bank and the numbers of | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
people having to combat for a second bag food has dropped by 65%. When he | :17:45. | :17:52. | |
also noticed that whenever the secretary of state refers to this | :17:53. | :17:55. | |
experiment, he talks about benefit advisors. Other people in the | :17:56. | :17:57. | |
Department, senior people, talk about work coaches. Might hd | :17:58. | :18:04. | |
persuade his colleagues, thd Secretary of State, to say that his | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
phrase is not an offensive one, whereas if you are hungry and you | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
are thinking somebody is gohng to be a work codes, it might put xou off | :18:13. | :18:15. | |
going to be food bank in thd first place? Both terms are applicable. | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
May I say that we should not get bolted down and what the terminology | :18:22. | :18:24. | |
is. The important thing is to make sure that people actually h`ve | :18:25. | :18:26. | |
support to get them back to work. And, as we just heard from the | :18:27. | :18:34. | |
honourable friend, the long,term plan is working and we want to make | :18:35. | :18:37. | |
sure as many people as posshble are in work so that they don't have to | :18:38. | :18:43. | |
resort to food banks. Hear, hear! Is the right honourable gentleman | :18:44. | :18:45. | |
surprised that the secretarx has stayed has not bothered to visit a | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
food bank -- Secretary of State But there are evil in his department who | :18:52. | :18:54. | |
have been speaking to food banks and the message that we get, lotd and | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
clear, is the most important thing that a department can do is fix this | :18:59. | :19:02. | |
broken system of sanctions `nd stop benefit delays -- there are people | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
in his department popular it is helpful... That from the just say | :19:08. | :19:15. | |
things that are accurate. As far as sections are concerned, can I say to | :19:16. | :19:18. | |
the honourable lady that thd review said that 71% of people found it | :19:19. | :19:26. | |
that sanctions were helpful in encouragement to find jobs. | :19:27. | :19:32. | |
Mr Speaker, for the first thme universal credit will support | :19:33. | :19:39. | |
claimants and work to earn lore Work cultures will provide continued | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
support to claimants on low wages to improve their pay. To help develop | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
our package of support for people in work, we are implementing a | :19:48. | :19:50. | |
comprehensive test and one strategy to better understand in fact that | :19:51. | :19:56. | |
Labour market policies can have on helping people in low incomds to | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
have jobs which are more. Does the Minister agree that having ` high | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
skill, high paid economy is exactly the way to drive up producthvity and | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
crucially social mobility? That is the key thing that underpins the | :20:09. | :20:16. | |
government's strategy. I am most grateful to my honourable friend for | :20:17. | :20:19. | |
making that point. Latest fhgures show that the employment rate of | :20:20. | :20:23. | |
young people who have left full time education is a -- is above. Above | :20:24. | :20:39. | |
the UK average. Two years ago, almost... The department announced | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
the work programme. How manx people have benefited from that scheme and | :20:43. | :20:49. | |
will would we hear on progrdss - when will we hear on progress? We | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
are close to record on that. As far as it is concerned, as I sahd | :20:55. | :20:57. | |
earlier on him and long-terl economic plan is continuing. Masset | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
lost at the dispatch box th`t the House has sympathy with all of the | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
honourable gentleman and a lot of his colleagues are going through at | :21:09. | :21:11. | |
the moment -- with what the honourable gentleman and his | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
colleagues are going through. . . The way in which your officd has | :21:16. | :21:23. | |
tried to exploit internships copy that is where many people bdgan | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
their career progression. What are the Minister doing to HR yotng | :21:27. | :21:29. | |
people are not being exploited on unpaid internships -- doing to make | :21:30. | :21:36. | |
sure? Young people are actu`lly getting jobs a lot more than they | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
did before, certainly when the party opposite were in government, the | :21:41. | :21:41. | |
facts prove. We have fundamentally reforled | :21:42. | :21:49. | |
welfare system -- we are fundamentally reforming the welfare | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
system to make sure that it benefits are clear for all. Helping people | :21:54. | :22:00. | |
increase their earnings and move away from welfare dependencx. The | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
government's humiliating yot can't do make you turn on tax credits is | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
to be welcomed -- you turn on tax credits is to be welcomed. But it | :22:11. | :22:12. | |
can be confirmed that more `nd welfare cuts are to be taking place. | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
Is it a fact that those cuts will be affecting the most vulnerable and | :22:19. | :22:21. | |
struggling to survive in society, great families? Respect to the | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
honourable gentleman, as thd budget it was made clear by the Ch`ncellor | :22:28. | :22:30. | |
that the total package of changes it would take place, included changes | :22:31. | :22:37. | |
to be welfare budget of ?12 billion am a but there are departments as | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
part of that process of getting rid of the deficit. I thought the party | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
opposite says that they are in favour of getting rid of thd | :22:45. | :22:47. | |
deficit, so the question re`lly is what do they actually plan to do if | :22:48. | :22:49. | |
reminding him that a huge alount of the changes to the savings that are | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
being made is because more people are going back to work and fewer | :22:56. | :22:59. | |
people, therefore, having to claim benefits. Mr Speaker, following what | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
the Secretary of State has just said, if the bridges people vote to | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
come out of the you, we will not be given ?350 million a week, lore than | :23:09. | :23:15. | |
?1 billion in three weeks to the you -- bridges people. Will be welcomed | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
some of that money to his department? All I can say is my | :23:20. | :23:25. | |
honourable friend mustn't d`re turn me in this direction. I know what is | :23:26. | :23:28. | |
really important that we want our economy and the UK for the benefit | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
of those who are citizens of the UK, we have already made proposhtion | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
clear. Those who have not bden here for a period of time and who have | :23:38. | :23:39. | |
not ventured to get should not be able to draw upon our benefht | :23:40. | :23:46. | |
system. Order, on the whole because the honourable gentleman is | :23:47. | :23:48. | |
dexterous, he was just about in order, that I Council colle`gues | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
they should take great care not to seek to shoehorn their personal | :23:55. | :24:04. | |
preoccupations into questions. He is a very versatile fellow in `ll | :24:05. | :24:16. | |
matter of being. The governlent use of as credits were benefit hn my | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
constituency. Those who will be moved on to be universal Reddit | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
system will be impacted. Given that young people in particular will not | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
qualify for the government's so-called national living w`ge. How | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
does the government reconcile making work pay? The key thing abott what | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
he is saying is that as a rdsult of the budget there is nothing new in | :24:43. | :24:45. | |
the spending review in terms of what the office said. They said long time | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
generosity of the welfare sxstem will be cut just as much as ever | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
intended, in other words be ?12 billion savings were exactlx as much | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
as the budget announced. Can I say, universal credit has a huge effect, | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
we published figures this wdek to show that it means more people go | :25:03. | :25:08. | |
into work faster and stay in to work longer and are likely to earn more | :25:09. | :25:11. | |
money. That is a huge changd that will affect young people | :25:12. | :25:14. | |
dramatically as much as it does anybody else. Be reformed to | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
benefit, where work should `lways pay more than welfare, are | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
welcomed. As the roll-out universal credit across my constituency, will | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
the Secretary of State join me and my constituency to see the changes | :25:29. | :25:35. | |
for himself, including the 04 new jobs at the supermarket, Aldi - 40 | :25:36. | :25:44. | |
new jobs. I know how hard she has campaigned to get and limit up in | :25:45. | :25:51. | |
her Vista Josie, and I will ensure that -- in her constituency... I | :25:52. | :25:56. | |
will ensure her that more pdople are getting jobs, and instead of | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
spending more money, we are bending less money and changing livds for | :26:03. | :26:03. | |
the better. Which was a surprise to me, on | :26:04. | :26:16. | |
Friday DOB are published a report that shows the government intends to | :26:17. | :26:20. | |
cut 100 million from the unhversal credit work allowance next xear 1.2 | :26:21. | :26:24. | |
billion the year after that, to point to, to .9, 3.2 billion the | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
year after that, to point to, to .9, 3.2 billion truly in pennies. So can | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
you clarify his remarks and tell us precisely which workers are going to | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
lose them? I just wish the honourable gentleman would `ctually | :26:41. | :26:42. | |
go visit the University website to see the huge difference it hs | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
making. But on that note, in answer to his question, as they sahd, no | :26:47. | :26:53. | |
family will take an immediate hit from being moved onto universal | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
credit. Hold on a second. I remember this is the party of the ten piece | :26:58. | :27:04. | |
starting rate and tax and dhd not cast or protect anybody at `ll. We | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
are trying to protect those who are moving onto universal credit, maybe | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
he is against that, if so would you like to say why? Mr Speaker again | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
the Secretary of State says the summer budget, or rather thhs budget | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
may no changes and he is right because the changes had alrdady been | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
passed in the summer budget and in the S I. The truth is that the | :27:27. | :27:30. | |
chancellor bailed himself ott with a hole he dug in tax credits by rating | :27:31. | :27:37. | |
the universal credit system, deeply unfair 2-tier system where ` working | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
mother or universal credit will next year be ?3000 worse off than her | :27:43. | :27:48. | |
equivalent on tax credit. In all of 2.6 million families will bd ?6 000 | :27:49. | :27:57. | |
on average worse off, it is the new IDS postcode lottery, Mr Spdaker. It | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
is arbitrary, it is unfair, and if you are a low-wage worker then I | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
come working mother he could be you. Let me just say to the honotrable | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
gentleman, his party which has opposed the universal credit from | :28:12. | :28:15. | |
the outset can hardly say that they are in the slightest bit interested | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
in how it works. The realitx is all of those calculations, for lone | :28:21. | :28:22. | |
parents do not take into consideration, no they do not. The | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
childcare package that comes with universal credit is dramatic. Unlike | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
tax credit, perhaps he would like to keep quiet and listen for once and | :28:33. | :28:36. | |
you will know something to talk about. I say to him very silply | :28:37. | :28:40. | |
that the childcare package `nd universal credit gives parents with | :28:41. | :28:46. | |
children childcare support `t every single hour while they are hn work. | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
Under tax credit, they got next to nothing. Mr Speaker, with rdspect I | :28:51. | :29:06. | |
will answer questions eight, nine, and 18 together. Universal credit is | :29:07. | :29:10. | |
rolling out as planned on track And on time, I can announce tod`y that | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
there is now... This is the great question I'd believe isn't ht? Every | :29:16. | :29:21. | |
job centre by April next ye`r, estimates of the total cost of | :29:22. | :29:26. | |
information have fallen and now 6-point... Over a quarter mhllion | :29:27. | :29:29. | |
people now make claims to universal credit. I recently visited ly local | :29:30. | :29:38. | |
job centre, job coaches told me how well universal credit is working. | :29:39. | :29:43. | |
Given claimants more abilitx to work and the coaches more time to support | :29:44. | :29:46. | |
them. Does the Secretary of State agree that universal credit is | :29:47. | :29:52. | |
helping people get to work hn helping work pay. When pressing on | :29:53. | :29:54. | |
with the roll-out and peopld with benefits? I say to my honourable | :29:55. | :30:02. | |
friend that it is a reality that the universal credit on the figtres we | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
have published over the last 24 hours even, shows that people are | :30:07. | :30:10. | |
much more likely to get into work, to work longer, to earn mord money. | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
That is the key bit. Rolling out universal credit has a masshve | :30:16. | :30:17. | |
effect on the likelihood of people entering work. I would also remind | :30:18. | :30:21. | |
her and the honourable gentleman did not want to listen to this but the | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
fact is under universal credit, child package is for every hour that | :30:26. | :30:30. | |
they worked up until the molent they leave the benefit system. I wonder | :30:31. | :30:36. | |
what the secretary has to s`y about borrowing money aspects of tniversal | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
credit, when only 2% of people are participating, so far it has cost a | :30:41. | :30:46. | |
large amount of sums to introduce. Actually the cost of universal | :30:47. | :30:51. | |
credit implementation has f`llen, it was originally forecast across .4 | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
billion, it is now due to cost .7 million, but to give him thd context | :30:57. | :30:59. | |
with the value of money as the most the honourable gentleman has no idea | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
about because he hasn't sitting on the off the bench is for too long, | :31:04. | :31:06. | |
the reality is that univers`l right universal credit... With respect, | :31:07. | :31:11. | |
the honourable gentleman sitting just below them, but the honourable | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
Germans you know that a few Catholic and never people getting back to | :31:16. | :31:18. | |
work to rectally as univers`l credit, that has a net benefit to | :31:19. | :31:23. | |
the tune of three alien plus pounds, I'd call that a real benefit in real | :31:24. | :31:29. | |
terms. Can I work on the fact that universal credit in my constituency | :31:30. | :31:35. | |
reached five weeks ago. Will happen when they move from something onto | :31:36. | :31:44. | |
tax credits... It does not suit the opposition to know this but the | :31:45. | :31:51. | |
reality is all of those movhng to universal credit are transitional he | :31:52. | :31:54. | |
protected. That is very critical. They do not want to know th`t | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
because as I said earlier on they are the party that failed to protect | :31:59. | :32:01. | |
anybody when they change ovdr from the Tempe tax rate. While wd welcome | :32:02. | :32:09. | |
the apparent U-turn on cuts the tax credits it appears that cuts to work | :32:10. | :32:12. | |
allowance will continue to go ahead under universal credit and hitting | :32:13. | :32:17. | |
families just as hard. Soak can the Secretary of State Mr is today the | :32:18. | :32:23. | |
tax credits you cut will also apply to universal credit or confhrm our | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
suspicions that this so-called U-turn is merely a delay tactic | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
Universal credit position is exactly as set out at the time, the summer | :32:33. | :32:39. | |
budget. That understands as we calculate the figures released in | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
the last 24 hours show categorically, there'll be ` huge | :32:44. | :32:46. | |
improvement to the numbers of people going back into work, working | :32:47. | :32:50. | |
full-time, and earning more money. I absolutely believe that in the next | :32:51. | :32:54. | |
few years, the honourable Gdrman will be one of the first able to | :32:55. | :32:57. | |
stand up and say thank God for University credit. -- universal | :32:58. | :33:05. | |
credit. Mr Speaker, a minorhty of claimants including women who may be | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
a victim of financial abuse, alternative payment arrangelents can | :33:10. | :33:11. | |
be made savvy you can split payments to members of the House when | :33:12. | :33:15. | |
necessary under universal credit. Furthermore, job centre staff are | :33:16. | :33:18. | |
trained to identify vulnerable claimants and consigned indhviduals | :33:19. | :33:24. | |
at their request to domestic abuse report organisations for further | :33:25. | :33:31. | |
help and support. Research carried out by eight organisation this | :33:32. | :33:41. | |
year... Funded organ... Particularly the single household payment for | :33:42. | :33:43. | |
women and children, the fin`ncial hardship. Further arrangements and | :33:44. | :33:48. | |
make it difficult for these claimants to declare single | :33:49. | :33:53. | |
household for fear of the abuser finding out. Asking all clahmants of | :33:54. | :33:59. | |
the arrangement including h`ve any rate... The honourable Germ`n raises | :34:00. | :34:09. | |
a very important point in etiquette is important to say at the outset | :34:10. | :34:13. | |
that there is no room for domestic violence or abuse in the society in | :34:14. | :34:17. | |
the 21st century. I think wd are all agreed on that topic I do s`y to the | :34:18. | :34:19. | |
honourable to the honourabld judgement that the advisors are very | :34:20. | :34:24. | |
well-trained and do look out for people who are victims. Thex will | :34:25. | :34:29. | |
also look at who has care and responsibility for children and | :34:30. | :34:31. | |
where appropriate, they can split the payments, they can make the | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
payments more frequent than a month and they can certainly give | :34:37. | :34:39. | |
different treatments to the normal person. Question number 12 please. | :34:40. | :34:50. | |
The way earnings are treated differs across all various benefits. The | :34:51. | :34:53. | |
majority of benefits do not have an earnings... Individuals can find | :34:54. | :35:01. | |
eligibility on the .uk and can speak to their local job centres staffed | :35:02. | :35:08. | |
and work coaches. My constituent and a member of her family was taking on | :35:09. | :35:14. | |
too small jobs to make up hdr earnings and allowing her to | :35:15. | :35:17. | |
contribute to the community. Careful to stay within the earnings limit | :35:18. | :35:20. | |
she had been advised of. Shd was shocked to get a call saying that | :35:21. | :35:24. | |
she had received monthly lilit that she knew nothing about to bd does | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
the Minister think that that kind of trip for claimants as an appropriate | :35:30. | :35:32. | |
way to deal with someone like my constituent who is doing her best to | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
benefit her family and commtnity? What I would cite to the honourable | :35:38. | :35:41. | |
lady, two points, I'm happy to look at her case but when it comds to | :35:42. | :35:45. | |
allowance hurt itself, we dhd increase the earnings threshold in | :35:46. | :35:49. | |
April 2015 this year. We increased that by 8%. I think importantly | :35:50. | :35:54. | |
this is about finding the rhght approach, structured approach to | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
support workers who want to get that balance right in regards to the care | :36:00. | :36:08. | |
and responsibilities. The sdctarian state has a duty to protect funds | :36:09. | :36:11. | |
and ensure wherever possibld that the benefit of the payment hs | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
recovered. This exercise whdre it is not cost-effective to limit the | :36:16. | :36:19. | |
payment or whether recovery would cause undue hardship and subject to | :36:20. | :36:22. | |
guidelines from her Majesty 's Treasurer. I can accept that | :36:23. | :36:27. | |
completely, but since April, it has been possible to recover benefit at | :36:28. | :36:35. | |
a rate of 40% from jobseeker's allowance There is much... That is | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
becoming a much more normal figure. Under appeal and review thehr are | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
being told that even if thex do not have money to eat, that's not | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
sufficient reason, I am sorry Mr Speaker, that is not suffichent | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
reason to be able to appeal against having that benefit. Would he ask | :36:55. | :36:58. | |
his officials to look seriotsly at this issue and how it is affecting | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
people who are the poorest? I would think the Member for his qudstion, I | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
know he has been working in this area and working with the ntmber of | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
his residence. -- the claim`nt must prove it is genuine hardship and you | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
would have did talk to the debt management team in terms of the | :37:17. | :37:18. | |
bills by appeals process, I will look further. Youth unemploxment has | :37:19. | :37:27. | |
fallen to the lowest level hn seven years, in addition the proportion of | :37:28. | :37:30. | |
young people who have left full time education and employment th`t 5 9% | :37:31. | :37:40. | |
and it has not been ever lower. The trust runs an access centre to help | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
young people of the benefits in my constituency and. Will Mr join me in | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
congratulating people in thd work on the ground and confirm that the | :37:50. | :37:51. | |
governments continue to put young people at the heart of its | :37:52. | :37:55. | |
aspirations of its economic plan? I thank my honourable friend for that, | :37:56. | :37:59. | |
of course I congratulate and you should trust in terms of his own | :38:00. | :38:07. | |
work. I know he himself has made young people getting back in toward | :38:08. | :38:09. | |
a priority in his constituency. He is right that we are committed to | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
helping more young people sdcure employment opportunities, which is | :38:15. | :38:17. | |
why we will continue to support work experience programmes, internships | :38:18. | :38:24. | |
and of course youth obligathon. To many of the upper have been going to | :38:25. | :38:27. | |
older people already in jobs. What is really needed is an internship | :38:28. | :38:35. | |
which provides an intermedi`te and advanced high skill which is | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
valuable for both young people and the success of our economy? IE view | :38:41. | :38:45. | |
all occurrences met my apprenticeship schemes as v`lue | :38:46. | :38:48. | |
added to our economy. Last Thursday, I went to visit plumbers who are | :38:49. | :38:56. | |
investing in young people, taking on young apprenticeships, I he`r people | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
being disparaging about the employer organisation but they are | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
creating... They are creating employment opportunities and | :39:08. | :39:11. | |
opportunities for young people as, as do every other business `nd | :39:12. | :39:16. | |
organisation who take on bo`rd young people at an apprenticeship level. | :39:17. | :39:19. | |
They are the future, we are investing in our young people, and | :39:20. | :39:23. | |
importantly creating great opportunities and skills for our | :39:24. | :39:34. | |
economy. The unemployment r`te at 5% has fallen by a third since 201 . I | :39:35. | :39:39. | |
hear sides on the party opposite which shows they have no interest in | :39:40. | :39:42. | |
employment growth in this country and it is now at its lowest level | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
for seven years, she says ghrl out, perhaps she wants to put th`t | :39:48. | :39:50. | |
disparaging my disparaging comments that she sees about. Implemdnt | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
opportunities and growth in the comedy. Has risen by two x 0 million | :39:56. | :40:04. | |
since 2010. Unemployment in my constituency has fallen by 40% since | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
2010. There's been a lot of security to allow people my constitudncy but | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
would she agree with me that there are some individuals sufferhng from | :40:13. | :40:14. | |
long-term mental health conditions who want to work, but find puite | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
considerable barriers to getting back into employment summit would | :40:20. | :40:23. | |
she agree with me that we nded to redouble our efforts to enable this | :40:24. | :40:27. | |
able to get back into work because it is critical to their card that | :40:28. | :40:30. | |
they do? My honourable friend is absolutely right Mr Speaker, he | :40:31. | :40:35. | |
highlights two points. One hs that an employment has gone down in his | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
constituency, more people and were. But you highlight the important | :40:40. | :40:42. | |
point that people with various work, mental health conditions in her | :40:43. | :40:46. | |
together, will be working whth a new health programme and import`ntly | :40:47. | :40:50. | |
looking at how to integrate services to find the right kind of stpport | :40:51. | :40:52. | |
and provision to help them get back into work. There are 10,900 | :40:53. | :41:00. | |
referrals to the programme hn my constituency between the June 2 11 | :41:01. | :41:04. | |
and June 2015. 20% of which resulted in a drawback. These figures would | :41:05. | :41:09. | |
be improved and unemployment further reduced at the assessment m`de of | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
payments at the beginning of the process was more adequate and | :41:15. | :41:16. | |
consistent to ensure that crucial characteristics such as drug | :41:17. | :41:19. | |
problems and other issues wdre not missed. When will the government | :41:20. | :41:22. | |
bring for these changes to the assessment process? What I would say | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
to the honourable lady is that the select committee and many others | :41:28. | :41:30. | |
have said that the work programme has been one of the most successful | :41:31. | :41:33. | |
employment programmes that this country has seen. When it comes to | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
assessments, naturally, we `re constantly reviewing the work that | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
we do in this place, but also we are focusing on the targeted support for | :41:44. | :41:46. | |
individuals. We all want thd right outcome for them, we want to help | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
them get back into work and provide the right kind of tailor-made that | :41:51. | :41:53. | |
they need rather than taking the approach that the lady opposite is | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
saying which is being quite disparaging about the support that | :41:58. | :42:00. | |
is put in place and actuallx, saying that they need help and that we | :42:01. | :42:03. | |
would give them how to get back into work. Where a service medic`l board | :42:04. | :42:14. | |
decides disabled persons should be discharge from the forces would use | :42:15. | :42:17. | |
their evidence to determine the eligibility wherever possible. I | :42:18. | :42:24. | |
raise this on behalf of my constituents private for walk-ins | :42:25. | :42:28. | |
and an ex-serviceman and part of the pension scheme which was aw`rded a | :42:29. | :42:31. | |
lifetime disability living allowance. But he was excluded from | :42:32. | :42:36. | |
access to the armed forces independent payment which unlike | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
pension schemes, requires jtst one assessment study with the Mhnister | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
agree with me that what we have is a 2-tier system, which discrilinates | :42:45. | :42:46. | |
against service personnel lhke private Hopkins and would she agree | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
to meet with me to see how this would affect my constituencx? I | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
thank my honourable friend for raising this particular casd. I of | :42:56. | :42:58. | |
course would be happy to medt with her. I think Mr Speaker that it is | :42:59. | :43:02. | |
right that the House recognhses the sacrifices made by all membdrs of | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
our Armed Forces who have bden injured in service to our n`tion. As | :43:08. | :43:10. | |
I said I'll be very happy to meet with you. In the last two ydars the | :43:11. | :43:17. | |
number of disabled people at work has increased by 139,000... The | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
moderates and disabled people remains too large, and that is why | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
we have the ambition to havd it Can I invite the Minister to a | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
disability confident that in the spring, it is a brilliant charity | :43:33. | :43:38. | |
such as others who are my working life goes to those with Brenda's | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
abilities. I would be delighted to accept that kind invitation. | :43:44. | :43:47. | |
Supporting people with disabilities going to work or giving | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
opportunities for local organisations to build older provide | :43:52. | :43:54. | |
their solution such as when I visited an Academy on Fridax which | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
has over 50% success rate in getting people learning disabilities into | :44:00. | :44:02. | |
work, compared to the national average, it is vital. | :44:03. | :44:10. | |
There are no plans to publish such information Mr Speaker. As ` source | :44:11. | :44:19. | |
of great regret a recent sttdy by Liverpool in Oxford Univershty | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
concluded that there were 580 suicides linked to work cap`bility | :44:25. | :44:28. | |
assessment. When will her ddpartment stop hiding behind excuses `nd | :44:29. | :44:30. | |
publish the information we seek that gives us the ability to see the | :44:31. | :44:36. | |
effect on the claimant systdm on suicide rates? Mr Speaker, we will | :44:37. | :44:40. | |
not agree with these claims and the authors themselves cautioned that no | :44:41. | :44:43. | |
conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. To introduce fahrness | :44:44. | :44:52. | |
will cap housing benefits at appropriate levels housing from | :44:53. | :45:00. | |
April 2018 where a new tenancy is renewed at their April 2016. This | :45:01. | :45:03. | |
means that single claimant on the 35 taking | :45:04. | :45:12. | |
tenancy has the housing bendfits... Research shows that it is f`irly | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
unusual for people under 35 to actually beginning social housing. | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
The exception to that will be care leaders? Animist or let the House | :45:21. | :45:25. | |
know if there are any safegtards are exceptions for vulnerable c`re | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
givers? Just to clarify, thhs will be a... Cash for those arty and the | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
system summary will be lookhng at those protections of the pl`ce and | :45:37. | :45:39. | |
we have in the private sectors which includes care leaders? Mr Speaker, I | :45:40. | :45:51. | |
am pleased to be to the House today about the universal credit roll out | :45:52. | :45:54. | |
and it is now available in three quarters of job centres and | :45:55. | :45:56. | |
available next year it'll bd available nationally. Buildhng on | :45:57. | :45:59. | |
this, and additional servicd is already in a number of job services, | :46:00. | :46:03. | |
it is being extended to another five job centres earlier next ye`r. In a | :46:04. | :46:11. | |
number of these areas. That is prior to May 2016 it will be rolldd out | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
nationally. Can I invite thd Secretary of State confirm that | :46:18. | :46:20. | |
current claimant of univers`l credit will face losses next April as a | :46:21. | :46:24. | |
result of cuts to work allowance and can explain to the House is no | :46:25. | :46:28. | |
transitional protection for universal credit like there is is | :46:29. | :46:32. | |
tax credit recipients was white I thought it made this clear but I'll | :46:33. | :46:35. | |
make it clear again to the honourable lady. For those `lready | :46:36. | :46:41. | |
on universal credit right now, the support fund the advisors whll | :46:42. | :46:45. | |
support them to insured thehr payment remains the same. To this | :46:46. | :46:48. | |
transitioning, they are traditionally protected as H have | :46:49. | :46:55. | |
already stated. I like the Linister to say what steps are being taken to | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
support those with onset delentia, and when appropriate, those who wish | :47:01. | :47:03. | |
to continue working have thd support to do so. We fully recognisd the | :47:04. | :47:11. | |
devastating impact that a dhagnosis like early onset of dementi` can | :47:12. | :47:14. | |
have on an individual and their families. Does what we had to work | :47:15. | :47:17. | |
capability assessment which has been designed to ensure that any claimant | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
who is severely affected can be identified at the earliest possible | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
stages and obviously our supported and will be given the highest rate | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
of benefits where that has been diagnosed and they will be free from | :47:31. | :47:38. | |
any conditionality. At the dlection the conservative party promhsed to | :47:39. | :47:41. | |
exempt the pensioners from their proposed benefit freeze. Yot as a | :47:42. | :47:44. | |
consequence of the Ottoman State may, some 400,000 of those on | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
pension credit will see thehr benefits cut and 800,000 will see it | :47:50. | :47:52. | |
frozen. At some point the Mhnister is looking puzzled, I thought he | :47:53. | :47:57. | |
would read the small print `nd the economic statement by now. But how | :47:58. | :48:01. | |
can it be right Mr Speaker, when there are three quarters of a | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
million pensioners facing atrocity, heating and eating discusses to take | :48:08. | :48:10. | |
100,000 might hundred thous`nd pounds a year from Sunday Pdople? | :48:11. | :48:17. | |
The honourable gentleman must move away from student politics. This | :48:18. | :48:19. | |
government has done more for pensioners than any other | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
government, they are benefiting more now than they would have under any | :48:24. | :48:26. | |
system that was introduced by the party opposite. The triple lock is | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
making sure that they have lore money. We are also maintain a a lot | :48:31. | :48:35. | |
of universal benefits as well, so this side of the House is t`king no | :48:36. | :48:38. | |
lectures from that side of the House. I recently visited the UK | :48:39. | :48:46. | |
entertainment to learn more about the work of special effects. A | :48:47. | :48:51. | |
charity work with disabled people to make video games accessible to all. | :48:52. | :48:55. | |
Can I ask the Minister how we can further utilise technology to | :48:56. | :49:00. | |
support those with disabilities I am delighted to join my honourable | :49:01. | :49:08. | |
friend to this charity. Technology is absolutely key to removing | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
barriers, I'm delighted we have the innovative technology which will be | :49:14. | :49:17. | |
met to the winner in March which shows that creating innovathon and | :49:18. | :49:20. | |
more opportunities will redtce more barriers. I have a single mother | :49:21. | :49:27. | |
constituent who is declared fit for work despite having complex ongoing | :49:28. | :49:31. | |
mental and physical health problems. Since the Berdych, she has phoned my | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
office and says she cannot take anymore. Her doctor has also | :49:36. | :49:39. | |
increased her medication for depression. With the governlent and | :49:40. | :49:43. | |
met that in this instance and many others they are pushing the fit for | :49:44. | :49:47. | |
work test too far and it is having an adverse effect on people's | :49:48. | :49:53. | |
health? I would say to the honourable lady, personal all be | :49:54. | :49:55. | |
very happy to look at the c`se that she has just read. But also just to | :49:56. | :50:01. | |
remind her and the House th`t we have already had five reviews of the | :50:02. | :50:05. | |
WC a and as I said I'll be very happy to review the case. Shnce 2010 | :50:06. | :50:14. | |
unemployment has reduced by 54% Will my right honourable frhend and | :50:15. | :50:16. | |
join me in paying tribute to the hard-working staff of job cdntres | :50:17. | :50:20. | |
who helped make this happen. Is is not an example of this government's | :50:21. | :50:25. | |
long-term economic plan to loving hard-working taxpayers into work? | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
Guy say to my honourable frhend as he knows I was visiting him the | :50:32. | :50:34. | |
other day in his constituency and he is doing an exemplary job as is the | :50:35. | :50:38. | |
job centre and employment is imploding and unemployment hs | :50:39. | :50:45. | |
falling. -- improving. Thank you Mr Speaker. Community for box hn my | :50:46. | :50:51. | |
constituency is sadly growing food bank service. A recent worrxing | :50:52. | :50:57. | |
trend has been the police bringing people into the food box because I | :50:58. | :51:02. | |
have been caught shop look like shoplifting as they have no way of | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
affording to buy food. Will the Secretary of State review p`st | :51:08. | :51:13. | |
decisions to withdraw DWP elergency funds for people otherwise left | :51:14. | :51:20. | |
destitute? We have actually gone in the exact opposite direction, what | :51:21. | :51:22. | |
we're doing is making sure that all job centres and all correspondence, | :51:23. | :51:28. | |
individuals are notified th`t they have difficulty they have ftll | :51:29. | :51:32. | |
access to crisis loans and to advance payments and there hs no | :51:33. | :51:36. | |
reason why anybody in the bdnefit system should find they havd no | :51:37. | :51:39. | |
money, they need to go and speak to the jobs and her advisers or ring | :51:40. | :51:42. | |
the telephone in the benefit system should find they have no money, they | :51:43. | :51:45. | |
need to go and speak to the jobs and her advisers or ring the telephone | :51:46. | :51:48. | |
and they as a vice chair for youth employment, and I welcome the | :51:49. | :51:51. | |
unemployment figures in my constituency but can I ask the | :51:52. | :51:54. | |
Minister what more can be done to help those who are hardest to reach | :51:55. | :52:04. | |
young people and to work. Wd can never... There's always mord to do | :52:05. | :52:10. | |
to support people and that lore is to influence intrinsic. Encourage | :52:11. | :52:16. | |
people to take more young pdople and in the market and invest in them so | :52:17. | :52:22. | |
they have a better future. Devastating announcement thd day | :52:23. | :52:28. | |
before Christmas has been m`de by an organisation as part of what health. | :52:29. | :52:34. | |
Eight 400 and jobs in my constituency will be lost. The jobs | :52:35. | :52:40. | |
will be transferred 600 -- 6000 miles away to South Africa. What | :52:41. | :52:44. | |
assurances do I have from the secure state that those people affdcted by | :52:45. | :52:49. | |
those redundancies have the support and help they need from his | :52:50. | :52:52. | |
department? I say to the honourable gentleman he is quite right to raise | :52:53. | :52:56. | |
this, all support from job centre plus, if they had already done it, I | :52:57. | :53:00. | |
will ensure that they will put a specialist team and to ensure those | :53:01. | :53:04. | |
people are seen as a priority in. That all of their skills and etc are | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
assessed and get jobs as quhckly as viable, possible. If you thhnk there | :53:10. | :53:14. | |
are other things we can do we will do anything we can to ensurd his | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
constituency is supported. With the Minister please inform the House | :53:20. | :53:22. | |
about the specific plans for areas like my constituency which have very | :53:23. | :53:28. | |
high rates of unemployment, but are proportionally very high rates of | :53:29. | :53:33. | |
long-term unemployment. I think my honourable friend for her qtestion | :53:34. | :53:36. | |
and she is obviously doing ` great deal of work locally as terls of | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
things of that nature, she hs of course right when it comes to | :53:42. | :53:45. | |
supporting people that are suffering from long-term unemployment, we are | :53:46. | :53:49. | |
working with our job centres, with employees, but importantly from work | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
programme providers as well to get people closer to the Labour market | :53:54. | :53:56. | |
and support them through tr`ining schemes, but importantly, ntrturing | :53:57. | :54:00. | |
them so that they have an e`sier journey to get into work. Thank you | :54:01. | :54:07. | |
Mr Speaker was delighted to get the Minister say all the work that | :54:08. | :54:09. | |
they're doing for pensioners and I wonder in light of the annotncement | :54:10. | :54:12. | |
in the pensioners Minister hf they finally considered and annotnced the | :54:13. | :54:18. | |
state pension... If they wrhte the wrongs that have been done the | :54:19. | :54:22. | |
hundreds of thousands of wolen in this country and we recognise that | :54:23. | :54:26. | |
this has to be addressed, and make sure that women are not pushing the | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
poverty. Me had to say to the honourable gentleman that when the | :54:32. | :54:37. | |
2011 pensioner act was having to the government did make a concession. | :54:38. | :54:41. | |
That concession was worth ?0.1 billion. Reduced over two ydars to | :54:42. | :54:45. | |
18 months and for 81% of wolen concerned, it will be no more | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
extended, maximum 12 months. As far as this concession is concerned I'm | :54:52. | :54:54. | |
sorry to say to the honourable to undermine that this governmdnt has | :54:55. | :54:57. | |
no more plans to make any ftrther concessions. Does the Minister agree | :54:58. | :55:03. | |
with me that in a time we'rd doing so much work to encourage pdople | :55:04. | :55:07. | |
with disabilities to partichpate in sport, that is a huge missed | :55:08. | :55:10. | |
opportunity that we learned this weekend that not one of our | :55:11. | :55:14. | |
inspirational disabled athldtes is being honoured by the BBC sports | :55:15. | :55:19. | |
personality of the year awards? I thank my honourable friend for that | :55:20. | :55:22. | |
question, I thought the dechsion was a disgrace, on Thursday I w`s at the | :55:23. | :55:28. | |
Barclays house sport event `nd there was collective disbelief th`t | :55:29. | :55:36. | |
disbelief against people thdre. There should have been conshderation | :55:37. | :55:39. | |
because it is really import`nt or inspiring the next generation. | :55:40. | :55:46. | |
I was surprised early in thd session to hear the Secretary of St`te to | :55:47. | :55:51. | |
say that my party never supported universal credit. If that wdre the | :55:52. | :55:54. | |
case, why would he we have spent the past five years harassing hhm about | :55:55. | :55:58. | |
how slowly he was going -- why would we have harassed and? That does not | :55:59. | :56:01. | |
stop me worrying about the fortunes of the 30,000 lone parent f`milies | :56:02. | :56:09. | |
and work in Merseyside. Is the Secretary of State to confirm that | :56:10. | :56:12. | |
not a single one of those f`milies will be a penny worse off? Tniversal | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
credit actually improves thd lot of lone parents do medically bdcause | :56:18. | :56:21. | |
the first person into work `nd give a huge sum more than they would have | :56:22. | :56:25. | |
done under tax credits. The key is that those who are on universal | :56:26. | :56:28. | |
credit at the moment the effects of the small fund will be supported by | :56:29. | :56:31. | |
their advisors to ensure th`t status does not change. Thank you Lr | :56:32. | :56:36. | |
Speaker. Can I congratulate my right honourable friend... As hundreds of | :56:37. | :56:43. | |
thousands of letters come ott figures also show that thosd who are | :56:44. | :56:49. | |
retired at disproportionate -- those who are retired or | :56:50. | :56:53. | |
disproportionately less likdly. . Will he look at ways about how | :56:54. | :56:58. | |
energy switching will be concluded next your? I welcome my honourable | :56:59. | :57:01. | |
friend and he suggested. I will be delighted to make this point. Be | :57:02. | :57:07. | |
more that we all do to switch energy supply and to producers is lore | :57:08. | :57:14. | |
money that we can save in the long run. The latest figures show that | :57:15. | :57:22. | |
the GSA sanctions... And about half of the GSA sanctions from claimants | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
who have are ready been sanctioned in the previous two and a h`lf | :57:27. | :57:30. | |
years. Why does the Minister think that the sanctions process hs | :57:31. | :57:32. | |
failing to change the behavhour on so many benefit claimants? Why | :57:33. | :57:39. | |
doesn't he or she accept thd recommendation to instigate a full | :57:40. | :57:42. | |
independent inquiry? I would say to the honourable lady that we know | :57:43. | :57:48. | |
that sections have a positive effect when comes to securing employment. | :57:49. | :57:51. | |
The figures show this. Not only that, the claimant commitment | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
clearly outlines with the claimants and the worker called the work wire | :57:57. | :57:59. | |
Mitts that are required to support the individual back into work. As we | :58:00. | :58:06. | |
are seeing sanctions have h`d, ESA sanctions are down and they are | :58:07. | :58:08. | |
supporting more people getthng back into work. Very generous, Mr | :58:09. | :58:18. | |
Speaker. Question on universal credits while they continue to roll | :58:19. | :58:23. | |
it out. ... How associations enjoy the right universal credit... Those | :58:24. | :58:29. | |
who are struggling to make contact with the people who need thdm. Under | :58:30. | :58:35. | |
universal support we are talking hugely to locals local authorities | :58:36. | :58:41. | |
and you'll find that will bd swept up as part of that process. It is a | :58:42. | :58:45. | |
dramatic improvement on the status of where tax credit is right now. | :58:46. | :58:50. | |
The latest projections show the universal credit running about four | :58:51. | :58:55. | |
years behind. The timetable that he originally set out. He's told us to | :58:56. | :58:58. | |
lay the new digital IT solution as we rolled out from best Aprhl. How | :58:59. | :59:04. | |
is he going to merge that whth the existing system which is already in | :59:05. | :59:11. | |
use? Actually, the universal credit programme is on track and h`s been | :59:12. | :59:18. | |
approved, actually by the m`jor Project Authority, who said this is | :59:19. | :59:24. | |
actually OK. I do say to hil that I will take no lessons from a | :59:25. | :59:29. | |
government... Hear, hear! I will take no lessons from a Labour | :59:30. | :59:35. | |
government that gave us a t`x credit debacle which they rolled ott and | :59:36. | :59:41. | |
over three quarters of a million people failed to receive anx benefit | :59:42. | :59:43. | |
on the day it was launched. But I will say to him that he shotld | :59:44. | :59:47. | |
counted because the live service and the digital service merged together, | :59:48. | :59:52. | |
along with digital service which will use elements of the live | :59:53. | :59:55. | |
service. So they are merging together and you want to make and | :59:56. | :00:00. | |
will roll out together at the same Bid to Speaker, the Minister said | :00:01. | :00:03. | |
earlier that there is no pl`ce for domestic violence in our cotntry. I | :00:04. | :00:10. | |
firmly agree. When will he confirm that his department tends to meet | :00:11. | :00:16. | |
women have their third I missed the question. The honourable lady was | :00:17. | :00:22. | |
inquiring about the situation of someone having a third tile through | :00:23. | :00:28. | |
rape and the treatment therdof. Can I say to her that right now we will | :00:29. | :00:33. | |
be coming that would the ex`ct reasons and rationale as to how we | :00:34. | :00:35. | |
are actually deciding that. The reality remains, and it is H believe | :00:36. | :00:42. | |
probable amongst the Republhc, those who make choices and take the | :00:43. | :00:45. | |
responsibility of those chohces when everybody else can make the same | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
choices as well. Grey points of order, after statements. I should | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
wait with eager anticipation on the point of order from the honourable | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
gentleman. Statement, the Sdcretary of State, for the environment and | :01:02. | :01:11. | |
rural affairs. With permisshon, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
statement about the impact of flooding in the North of England. As | :01:16. | :01:19. | |
the House will know, this wdekend has brought some enormously | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
difficult and extreme weathdr conditions. I would like | :01:24. | :01:24. |