Live Work and Pensions Questions House of Commons

teachers and a review of services for children. Join me, Christina

Cooper, for a round-up of the day in both Houses of Parliament at 11pm.

First, questions to the House and pensions secretary Damian Green and

his team of ministers. Order, order, questions to the

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of Mr Gerald Jones. Where

is the fella? Not here? Mr petered out. -- Peter Dowd. Number two. The

Government supports those who aspire to be their own boss. There are

nearly 800,000 more self-employed people in the UK labour market since

2010 and 129,000 more in the last year alone. We monitor and review

the impact of self-employment on the wider labour market and benefits

system. A Citizens Advice be a report in August 2015 said there

were as many as 460,000 people in self-employment costing hundreds of

millions of pounds in lost revenue. Isn't it time the Secretary of State

started tackling exploitative companies, many with lucrative

public sector contracts, who are forcing staff down the

self-employment would rather than handling disabled people? The

honourable gentleman is right that there should not be exploitation of

workers, particularly of. Employment, but he will have noticed

the Government is on that particular case, it set up the Matthew Taylor

Ruby was specifically to explore alternative employment structures,

considering how those rules need to be altered to keep pace with changes

in the way people work in the modern economy, and I think if he is

characterising the growth of self-employment as in some way

harmful to the jobs market I would disagree with him about that. I

think the new enterprise allowance is proving successful in making sure

that people who want to work for themselves can work for themselves,

and I am sure he, like me, would welcome the fact that in his own

constituency since 2015 self-employment is up by 7% and the

claimant count in the last year has fallen by 12%. Happy New Year to

you, Mr Speaker. Does my right honourable friend agree with me that

rather than denigrating people who are becoming self-employed, we

should be celebrating the fact? They are taking a risk that many others

are not and will my right honourable friend make it as easy as possible

for them to take on new employees and become employers themselves? I

completely agree with my honourable friend. I have already mentioned the

new enterprise allowance which is specifically designed to help those

who may have been claiming benefits to stop claiming benefits, to set up

their own business and indeed to carry on and employ others in a way

that I would hope on all sides of the House we would welcome. This

scheme is proving extremely successful, a survey published last

year showed 80% of businesses started with the new enterprise

allowance and were still trading, more than twice as effective as

those leaving the old jobseeker's allowance benefit in terms of

keeping people off benefits, so it is doing good work. Thank you, Mr

Speaker, happy New Year. Can the Secretary of State ensure that there

is much closer cooperation between the investigation service and local

authorities when prosecuting abusers including on self-employment status

so that councils can be confident that when they report potential

scams, including by employers, they are properly followed up? I am happy

to take the right honourable lady's message and pass that on to the

relevant bodies both councils and the fraud enforcement surface,

because of course self-employment is a good thing for the -- but fraud

involving any employment is wrong and we must get ever more effective

at combating that. I am sure the Secretary of State would agree that

online opportunities are giving many people a chance to set up a business

and would he agree that schemes like the Pop Up Shop that Torbay Council

ran to help micro-businesses onto the high street is what we should

look at rather than the negative impressions given by the other side?

I very much agree and I welcome Torbay's Pop Up Shop experiment. I

had one in my constituency a couple of years ago and it proved very

successful in allowing micro-businesses to start and

develop, to become larger businesses, therefore creating more

employment as well, so I am delighted to hear what is happening

in Torbay. Many self-employed people don't earn a great deal of money and

will be losing out by cuts to tax credits and the introduction of

universal credit. Shouldn't the Government be supporting those who

go self-employed? I'm sorry if I have not wished you happy New Year

publicly, Mr Speaker, clearly it is a compulsory part of this questions

and I do it publicly as well! I don't agree with the honourable

gentleman in his characterisation about self-employed earners and

universal credit. Universal credit reduces poverty by making work pay,

it supports claimants both to enter work but also then to be able to

keep some of their benefits while they are at work if they are not

receiving or earning very much money. Universal credit does the

opposite of what he says, it helps people who are getting into work for

the first time. Isn't the biggest trend in self-employment the massive

increase in women who are self-employed? 70% of those newly

self-employed in 2014 were women, and yet self-employment is the area

where the wage gap is biggest. According to the OECD, self-employed

men earned ?17,000 a year on average, while average earnings for

self-employed women stood at 9800. We know from his own department's

figures that women are less likely to access loans and so on.

Employment. What is he doing to deal with this gender inequality in

self-employment? I agree that gender inequality in pay generally is an

issue that we need to do more about and self-employment is one part of

that. That is why we have introduced things like the new enterprise

allowance which allows people, she says it is only men that take it up,

that is patented not true. She says it is disproportionately men that

take it up, I would urge more potential women entrepreneurs to

take it up, we are improving the enterprise allowance later this year

to make sure that the men touring and advice goes on for longer so

that more people, both men and women, will be able to benefit from

the Freedom of being able to start, set up and run their own business,

which millions of people want to do. Mr Speaker, Resolution Foundation

data shows that self-employment accounts for 81% of the net change

in employment since 2008. The Government's plans to abolish class

to national insurance contributions could lead low income self-employed

women paying five times as much to access maternity allowance. Given

that nearly 2 million self-employed workers earn less than the national

living wage, why has the Government decided to make Social Security

support harder to access for so many of Britain's's entrepreneurs? They

haven't, and can I update the honourable lady's figures, which I

know she has quoted before? Actually, since 2010, 20 9% of the

increase has been self-employment, and in the last 12 months... I know,

I am giving her more up-to-date figures, over the past year 38% of

the increase in employment has been self-employment, so the figure is

not as she suggests, and as I said in answer to one of her colleagues,

the whole point of universal credit is that people, whether through

self-employment or employment, will be able to keep their income, we

have reduced the tape are so less of their income is lost when they go up

the earning scale and get into work, so I'm afraid the honourable lady

simply misunderstands what is happening in the welfare system.

Number three, Mr Speaker. Minister Penny Mordaunt. This year we are due

to spend 1.9 billion on supporting ill and disabled children to the

disability living allowance. We have rules in place to grant immediate

access to the benefit of those who are terminally ill. Thank you, Mr

Speaker. Can I also add my happy New Year to you, Mr Speaker. Can I thank

the Minister for her answer. Indeed, the family resource survey published

last year showed there were nearly 1 million disabled children, a 20%

increase over the last ten years. Can my honourable friend outline

what measures the Government has taken to take account of this

increase so that these children get access to the support and specialist

equipment that they require? Local authorities and Clinical

Commissioning Groups have a requirement to meet the needs of

children with a special education need or disability, including

providing specialist equipment, but in the last few months my department

has set up a children and Young Persons Forum to set up -- to

understand the need that is out there greater, and she will know

from work that I have done with one of the organisations she is involved

in that we are also looking to support charities, social

enterprises and businesses that are providing these much-needed

services. Many of us who like some of the elements when we first heard

it about the big society now quite like some of the things being

uttered in terms of the shared society. If it is going to work for

children and not just for the terminally ill but for people with

disabilities, and some disabilities are abilities, I am talking here

about autism, if it is really going to happen this time this programme

has got to have teeth, leadership and resources. Absolutely, and the

announcements made by the Prime Minister today are accompanied with

additional funding, and the approach that is being taken is to look at

every age range in society, so we have announcements that are going to

help children and young people, again I have outlined what my

department is doing to ensure that we are looking at their needs, as

well as new provision for those in the workplace.

Some children with disabilities get disabled student allowed on some of

those are not eligible for PIP or DLA, so why is the government

cutting DSA? I would be happy to look at any particular case that the

honourable gentleman has, but we are very conscious of the needs of

children and young people in particular, which is why we have set

up an additional forum. Yes, we are concerned about people in the

workplace, but if we get it right for children and young people,

including students, we will save the future ministerial teams problems.

So I am happy to look at any case the honourable gentleman has.

Michael Fabricant. You issue a papal order saying we don't have to say

happy new year, Mr Speaker? But happy new year anyway. Very welcome.

I appreciate the spirit of the honourable gentleman's observation.

With permission, I will not say happy new year again, but I will

answer questions four and 20 together. Evidence shows that being

in the right work is good for health and that being out of work can have

a detrimental effect on health. That is why I have launched the work,

health and disability green paper jointly with the Secretary of State

for Health. This expresses our intention to work with health care

professionals to support people to work and our current consultations

ask how we should best achieve this goal. Helen Stokes Lampard, who is

the chair of the Royal General College of General practitioners,

has spoken widely about the burden of work and general practitioners.

Notwithstanding that, what analysis has my right honourable friend done

on the effectiveness of fit notes and getting people back to work? I

am very keen on improving the effectiveness of fit notes in

getting back to work, and I take the point about the pressure on GPs.

That is specifically why, in the consultation document, we have

considered extending the possibility of issuing fit notes to other health

care professionals and I will be very interested to see the response

we get not just from those receiving the fit notes but also from the

health care professionals involved. I support my right honourable friend

on this policy, but does he agree with me that given the consultant to

whom a patient will be referred is a work coach, is it critical that they

have the training to deal with those hardest cases of unemployment,

particularly those with mental health problems? I do agree with my

honourable friend on that and I'm grateful for his support. I am happy

to reassure him that all work coaches complete a specific training

for their role, including a course which combines the knowledge, skills

and behaviour they need to deal with the people they work with,

specifically people who may have a mental health condition, because

obviously, work coaches need to have the skills to deal with the issues

that will arise from that. In Wrexham, one autistic constituent

had his DWP caseworker take his benefits away when he told them he

enjoyed a hobby as a disc jockey. He received a bill for a fictional

figure in vented by the DWP for the cost of income that had to be

recovered by them was that they work coach needs to assist individuals,

not penalise them. Will he please do better? Well, I don't know the

details of that case if the honourable gentleman would like to

write to me or the minister for disabled people, we will look at

that case. But I can assure him that the majority of cases that come

before work coaches, those work coaches do their best to help people

make the most of their lives, to get into employment or back into

employment, and that is at the heart of what we do. After the big cut in

employment support allowance takes place in April, the new work and

health programme is in place. Department be spending more or less

unemployment support for ESA claimants than is the case currently

under the Work Programme and work choice? I can assure the right

honourable gentleman that as part of the changes, there is an extra ?330

million abroad programme for those who are on that group. We are going

to target support more effectively to ensure that as many as possible

can get back into work. There is a huge premium on helping ex-offenders

into work for them, for their families and reducing the cost to

society. Jobcentre plus has a dedicated resource of 150 prison

work coaches helping support prisoners nationwide. I am grateful

to the minister for his response. He will know from his own experience

and from an excellent report from the Department for Work and Pensions

select committee about supporting offenders that getting a job is one

of the best means of preventing reoffending. As well as the work

that is being done, will he look to see what can be done jointly with

the Ministry of Justice to ensure there is better collaboration

between Jobcentres and community rehabilitation companies to join up

those agencies? We do work closely with the Ministry of Justice and

numerous joint initiatives locally and nationally, and row supporting

the elements of the Ministry of Justice's new employment strategy.

But I do recognise that we need to improve opportunities for

ex-offenders, so I welcome his and his committee's report, which we

will respond to in due course. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of prisons

and probation did not find that a single prisoner had been helped into

employment ID through the gate provision, which is the government's

flagship programme for seeing a step change in rehabilitation. Did that

surprise him and what is his response? My response firstly is

that this has been a challenge for successive governments for many

years. We do need to do better. There is good work going on.

Ultimately, to improve the situation, we need more prisoners to

be work ready and we need more employers to be willing to take on a

prisoner. Having governors control skills provision in prisons will

have some beneficial effect on work readiness, but we also need to

encourage more employers to step forward. Things like the seeing

potential programme can help. Other things have a part to play, but we

need to do more. The minister will be aware that people on the autistic

spectrum are often disproportionately represented in

the criminal justice system, and people with autism have great

difficulty finding jobs. Could he reassure me that when he looks at

the health and disability green paper consultation, he will look

specifically at people with autism and ex-offenders with autism, is

only 16% of people with autism are currently in employment? My right

honourable friend highlights an important point. I know that my

friend, the minister for people with disabilities, will indeed be looking

at the issue of people with autism. It also highlights the point that

one of the key determinants for post-release employment is what

happened with that individual before they were convicted. It highlights

again the importance of making sure nobody is left behind. We pay

particular attention to all of these groups who face particularly

difficult barriers to getting into work. Our select committee report

found reoffending costs ?15 billion to the public purse, and yet fewer

than one in four ex-offenders go on to find work. Alarmingly,

Westminster Council's report before Christmas of rough sleeping found

that one in three of their rough sleepers had come directly from

prison. Why is it that this department is unable to provide

proper transitional support for people leaving prison to make sure

they are not on the streets and they are assisted? It is true that when

you talk about ex-offenders and people on release from prison, it is

vital to have help with finances, employment and housing. Among the

things we have done to help on housing and making sure there are no

waiting days, and also being able to keep the housing element in

universal credit open for 26 weeks rather than 13 for certain types of

prisoner, in order to enhance the support. If I were allowed to wish

you a happy new year, I would! In the meantime, pension Wise provides

guidance to people aged 50 and over with the defined contrition pension

pot on their options under the pension fix abilities. We are

consulting on a single finance guidance body to provide debt advice

and guidance on money and pensions. In thanking the minister for his

reply, I can't resist pushing him and the whole House a happy New

Year's Eve. More specifically, can he said what information the

government are providing in terms of what people know about their

entitlement to the state pension? Attack Mata for his salutations and

for that question. -- I thank my honourable friend. The DWP continue

to run a multichannel communication campaign that includes radio, press,

social media and other channels to raise awareness of the new state

pension. As well as directing people to information on golf .uk --

gov.uk, the priority has been to provide personalised information to

individuals so they know what they are likely to get. Since 2016, the

online check your state pension service has had over 2.1 million

views. The minister's warm words do nothing to reassure women in my

constituency with whom the government's advice and pensions has

a terrible reputation because of the injustices that Waspy women face. If

the government can do one thing, it would be to look again at those 2011

changes and give justice to those women. The honourable lady will be

aware that there are many issues involving the Waspi women. A lot of

time and resources were spent on informing them of the situation

including millions of letters from 2011. Happy new year to you and

everyone in the House, particularly the Waspi women. Mr Speaker, a

leaflet recently published by the Treasury named ways to save 2017

mentioned the junior ice, the helped by ISA, premium Bonds, the cash and

stocks and shares ISA and the new lifetime Isil, but completely omits

pensions. This is a disgrace and confirms my fear is that the

government have downgraded the role of pensions and are using the

gimmick of Waspi to distract from pensionable savings. Does the

minister agree that Isas are the best way -- pensionable savings are

the best way to save for retirement? I totally disagree with the

honourable gentleman's analysis of the government's importance for

pensions. A lot of effort goes into communicating with people on

television and elsewhere about auto enrolment and it is one of the great

successes of this government and the coalition before of how successful

auto enrolment is that so many people, and I hope that continues. I

know the minister agrees on the need for greater transparency in the

pensions world, particularly around costs. He will be keen to address

the criticism of the government for failing to ensure that people get

the best possible returns. The Financial Conduct Authority's report

in November said there were a number of failures in the asset management

industry around the transparency of costs and charges being applied to

pension investments, with weak price competition having a material impact

upon investment returns. Labour is committed to implementing all of the

FSA's recommendations. Is the government? Yes. Question number

seven. There are 100,000 fewer children in relative poverty than in

2010, and 557,000 fewer children living in workless households. The

forthcoming green paper on social justice will identify and address

the root causes of poverty, building on the two statutory indicators set

out in the welfare reform and work act 2016, namely worklessness and

educational attainment. Stella Creasy. I note that the minister

used the figures about relative poverty. I am a bit surprised,

because we know that absolute poverty in this country has been in

decline for the last ten years, except the children, were half a

million more children in this country and living in absolute

poverty since 2010. What responsibility does the minister

think this government and the previous government have for that?

The responsibility the government has is to make sure as many

households as possible have work, because for children in particular,

working age adults in nonworking families were almost four times more

likely to be living on a low income and the child poverty transition's

report of June 2015 found that 74% of poor children in workless

families that moved into full employment exited poverty. That is

what we can do and what we are doing for children who have been in

poverty. As she neglected to say, there are 500,000 fewer people

living in absolute poverty than in 2010. The key point is about getting

people into work. I hope that she, as a reasonable member of the

opposition party, would acknowledge that the fact that we have

historically low levels of unemployment is the best thing we

can do for children. It is the best way to get children and the

households they live in out of poverty. In her own constituency, I

am happy to tell her that the claimant count since 2010 is down by

47%. And the youth claimant count has fallen by 2% in the past year.

One of us in the chamber can learn about brevity. However the problem

presenting my surgeries, scratch the surface and nine times out of ten,

the swiftest cause a poverty is family breakdown and that is a

harder nut to crack. It is, and that is why this government and

previously the Coalition Government, has decided that having a simple

income -based measure and target is not the right way. We need to look

at the root causes of child poverty and having a range of indicators and

targets, is the best way. One of which is family breakdown and that

is the best way we have as few as possible children living in

poverty... Happy New Year to you, Mr Speaker. The Secretary of State has

talked about tackling poverty, but because of the change in universal

credit, families will be ?1000 worse off, and some ?2500 worse off. Why

does the government continued to downplay the role of income poverty

in determining children's future health, job prospects and life

expectancy, in spite of all the evidence? I am not downplaying, I am

talking about the underlying causes of actually making sure we take a

range of measures across the board, which actually help to eradicate

child poverty. That, I think is the only sensible way to do it. Simply

focusing on individual incomes or individual benefits is not the whole

picture. It doesn't represent the realistic picture. We need to be

more wide-ranging in the way we approach it. The Prime Minister has

been talking about the pressures faced by people getting by on low

and average incomes and our shared responsibilities to them. Fine

sentiments, but does the Secretary of State admit they sound hollow

when the government's plans to cut incomes for those families who were

just getting by. Does he accept the government has a responsibility to

support parents who are working hard in average low paid judge, not cut

their already overstretched incomes? I would point out to the honourable

lady, this government's introduction of the national living wage gave the

lowest earners their fastest pay rise in 20 years last year. An

increase of 6%. It is an example of a government measure introduced by

employers. I cannot think of better early example of the shared society.

What assessment has the government made of how many more children will

be pushed into poverty given the cuts to the work allowance under

universal credit? As I have said to a number of honourable members on

all sides, the solution to this lies in a wider range of issues. We have

the social Justice Green paper, which I'm sure we will have many

discussions about in this House and elsewhere. At the root of it, it is

making sure as many people as possible can earn a salary and can

work. I am sure she will welcome the fact that in her own constituency

since 2010, unemployment is down 53%. Thousands of families able to

work and control their own lives and work their way out of poverty. She

should welcome that. It is a poor government that fails to understand

the value of children. In addition to the universal credit work

allowance cuts, this government has abolished the child poverty unit,

frozen Social Security payments and is removing tax credits from third

and subsequent children. Does he think child poverty will go up or

down as a result of these measures? I have given the honourable lady a

number of figures relating to addle poverty and child poverty. The fact

is, since 2010, there are 100,000 fewer children in relative poverty.

I would also hope she would welcome the fact the work of the Child

poverty unit is now covering a wide range of policies and is based

inside the Department for Work and Pensions. Question May, Mr Speaker.

With permission, I will answer questions eight, 14 and 21 together.

This government is committed to supporting new enterprises. We are

building on the success of the new enterprise allowance which has

supported 96,000 claimants to start a new business. From this year,

eligibility will be extended to include universal credit claimants

who are already self-employed. Would my right honourable friend look

again at small businesses and self-employed to use on my systems

for their tax affairs and does he recognise often these people don't

have equipment, knowledge of broadband capacity to download these

complex forms and it costs time and money? I am happy to tell my

honourable friend, tax affairs are not my direct responsibility but the

Treasury will have heard what he said. But Jobcentre Pelous is always

keen to help particularly, small businesses with individual problems

they may have, such as the use of online forms. Unemployment has

continue to fall in Cornwall to record low levels of the county now

having 61,000 self-employed people. Does he agree it is only under a

Conservative Government we can continue to increase employment in

Cornwall and continue and further improve the creation of small

businesses in those communities? He makes a very good point. In North

Cornwall in his constituency, self-employment has increased by

7.6% since 2010. As I have said in answer to previous questions, the UK

labour market is in its strongest position for years. The best way to

promote new and growth of jobs is to promote new and growth in small

businesses and I am delighted to know it is going so well in

Cornwall. Would he agree universal credit can help the self-employed,

along with the other forms that got Demens is putting forward in

benefits for the self-employed, because universal credit can help

people who are working as well as trying to set up on their own? One

of the differences about universal credit and the previous benefits, it

is replacing, is people can continue to receive it when they are still in

work and it is good at coping but people who may have fluctuating

earnings, which a lot of self-employed people do, because it

can be flexible enough to adjust to that. The introduction of universal

credit is another brick of the edifice of helping people set up

their own businesses. What does the Secretary of State going to do about

the people who are classified as self-employed, because of the

contracts of employment they have, not because they have set up their

own business, but because their employer requires them to sign a

contract saying they are self-employed, which means they get

Nizic pay, no annual leave? How will he help them? I agree this is an

issue and this is why we have set up the Matthew Taylor review.

Investigating the new types of employment structures that have been

set up in recent news and making sure employment laws keep up with

new types of employment. Absolutely, I agree there is an issue and that

is why we have set up the Matthew Taylor review. Question nine, Mr

Speaker. The number of people in employment has increased by 104,000

in the past year. The National living wage has given people a pay

rise, helping to build an economy that works for all. Has the Minister

considered the implication of the national living wage Raqqa wage

coming in so quickly on small and medium-size businesses, particularly

those in the manufacturing sector? What would he say to those

businesses who will not be able to adjust in time or will be profitable

because it looks like it is being brought in so quickly? It is right

everybody should be able to benefit from strong economy, but as well as

introducing the national living wage, the government has announced

plans to reduce corporation tax further to 17% and increased the

employment allowance which could be worth up to ?3000 a year. Isn't it

perverse of the government to have reduced work allowance and universal

credit at the same time as we have seen the increases in the national

living wage, so the overall benefit to individuals in work is reduced?

The government has done a range of things. Universal credit is a

completely different benefit system from the legacy benefits that it

replaces. It doesn't make sense to make a direct comparison against tax

credits. You have to see it in the context greater help with childcare

and that the national living wage. Band with an increased income tax

personal allowance means you get to keep more of what you learn as well.

When the national living wage was introduced, the Office for Budget

Responsibility said it would cost 60,000 jobs in the economy. Does the

Minister think it is a price worth paying or is it another forecaster

custom expert economists are we should be ignoring? My honourable

friend is correct about the OBR's projection, but he will have noticed

it came in the context of projection of employment growth which was

larger. Question Number Ten. We are investing significant resources

including increased coverage of talking therapy services by 600,000

a year by 2020. Mental health is a key part of our green paper in

improving lives which we are consulting on. Can I thank members

on all sides of this House who came to our drop-in event on the Green

paper and are helping with the consultation. I welcome her response

and also the intervention of the Prime Minister today on the subject

of mental health. Would the Minister agree in order to best support those

with mental health conditions into the workplace, we need to transform

the way in which we deliver mental health for young people before they

reach working age. I agree with my honourable friend absolutely. When I

ask health care professionals working in DWP services, what is the

single most significant health care intervention that would be

transformative, it is mental health support services for young people.

The Prime Minister's announcement on that today is very welcome. The

five-year forward view on mental health which was released a year ago

had two specific recommendations for the Department of work and pension

is. One of which included employment support. Can the Minister update the

House as to the progress on that specific recommendation? There were

two particular targets, but there are a range of initiatives the

Department has set out. Good progress has been made on all of

those fronts, including developing specific mental health support for

services we run, like access to work. There has been considerable

work going on and the Prime Minister made reference to that today. She

also said we need to dig up the pace on this issue and I agree with her.

The proposed closure of eight Glasgow Jobcentres resulting in

increased travel times, introduces further barriers for people with

mental health conditions who are seeking help into work. How will the

Minister ensure people with mental health conditions can continue to

receive the help they need? My right honourable friend, the Minister for

employment, has met all of the MPs who are concerned with that

particular vocation across Glasgow. Also, the Minister for welfare

reform, my honourable friend, has also met with Scottish ministers on

this particular issue. We are very aware of the concerns members have

raised and if she has any subsequent comments to make, she is more than

welcome to have meetings with either myself or my colleagues. People with

mental health conditions are more likely to fail the work capability

sextant and to be sanctioned. At the same time we know from independent

research how damaging both were capable assessments and sanctions

are for mental health. With the announcements today, when will the

government take responsibility for the impact on policies on mental

health and make sure that support is available from trained mental health

professionals for claimants of mental health conditions and will

the Secretary of State committed to scrap the work capability assessment

and punitive sanctions, as a Labour has? I would refer the honourable

lady to three things. First of all, the Secretary of State speech where

he announced his focus on the particular issues of sanctions for

people with mental health conditions. The Prime Minister's

statement today as well. I would also point to the green paper, and

major tenant of that is that we are consulting on the work capability

assessment. A Labour policy which is not delivering. I am pleased that

enormous numbers of Labour MPs came to our drop-in numbers and will be

helping us in that consultation. It is an important issue and we should

get it right. Number 11, please, Mr Speaker. Over

93.5% of assessments and over 90% of work capability assessments are

deemed acceptable through independent audit. There was not

deemed acceptable are returned to the provided to be reworked. And we

maintain records and they are held to account through their contact.

With the Minister include the use of body worn cameras which would

include the accuracy of the much disputed health reports. It would

safeguard claimants and assessors and it is proving very successful

when in use by emergency services across the UK. There are detailed

improvement plans, but one of the things that is being looked at is

how assessments are recorded. If the honourable lady would like to write

to meet with any specific suggestions, I will be happy to look

at them. The vast majority of successful appeals are because of

additional, late submitted evidence, so what more can be done to access

and share medical evidence between professionals ahead of the decision?

My honourable friend is absolutely right the department has carried out

a number of pilot exercises to look at the more lenient of the early

stages of assessment to give people time to get that health care

information in front of assessors. It is paying dividends and we hope

that will be rolled out. I would call on this question, the

honourable member for air Carrick Cumnock if she were standing, but

she is not, so I cannot. But she is standing now, so I will. Thank you,

Mr Speaker. Many of my constituents have been refused home assessments

and others have been unable to have their assessments recorded at home

for the DWP. Given the fact that 61% of 90,000 claimants who have

appealed against the decision at the tribunal period up to September 2016

won the case, would the minister commit to a root and branch review

of the assessment process? Although we are consulting on ESA, the green

paper consultation does afford us the ability to look at PIP

assessments and look at the journey that a person is going on. I had

previously said we are looking at what further we can do in terms of

recording assessments. If the honourable lady has cases where

people need home assessments and they are not getting them, I would

urge her to flag them with me. In my constituency those who are waiting

for their PIP appealed to go through are having to wait nine months to

have it heard. Given they receive no benefit during this period and can

lose their vital mobility car, will the Minister say what ever is the

department is going to make to speed up this process? I am sorry to hear

this is happening in the honourable gentleman's constituency. That is a

very unusual length of time to be waiting for an appeal and if he

would like to give me the details of those cases, I would be happy to

look at them. Number 13. Manageability is an independent

charity responsible for its own management information, including

the data it publishes. There are 70,000 more people with a mobility

car than there were in 2010. By constituent Evelyn Campbell had her

car removed on the 20th of December following a PIP assessment, leaving

her housebound and distressed over Christmas. It will take months for

her appeal to be heard and in the meantime her car has been sold. Is

this not another example of a policy from this government which is both

cruel and, given that 60% of PIP appeals are successful and the cars

have to be re-provided, it is a totally false economy. Those that do

lose their vehicle receive transitional support through motor

ability, including the right to buy their vehicle and a ?2000 lump sum.

Although only a small proportion of decisions are peeled and overturned,

I am exploring a range, that is of those going to appeal, not the

caseload, I am exploring a range of options and will be working closely

with them on this. The key point is that I do not think that the car

should be withdrawn until the appeal process has finished. As the

minister said it was only a small number, could she be encouraged to

look down that route? We are looking at this issue, we are also looking

at the issue of those who may wish to travel overseas for whatever

reason, whether it is a work reason, a travel option or some other

reason, and we are working very closely to see what can be done in

those instances. Topical question. Number one, sir. As part of the

comprehensive package of reforms to improve mental health support and by

the pro-minister this morning, my department will be undertaking an

expert led review over how best to ensure mental health of employees

can be best supported. This will include promoting best practice

amongst employers and making available free tools to businesses.

We will be conducting an internal review of discrimination in the

workplace against people with mental health conditions. This will build

on our green paper consultation to help build up the evidence base

around mental health. I welcome the fact 90,000 businesses have been

helped, put the Minister tell me how many of these are in Cornwall as a

whole? I also welcome those figures and I can tell my honourable friend

that the new enterprise allowance has helped create nearly 100 new

businesses in North Cornwall since it began. We move into a second

phase with improvements and it is encouraging that since it began over

one in five businesses supported by the NEA had been started by disabled

entrepreneurs. This is an extremely encouraging development. There is

consensus on the need to implement the SCA's recommendations on

transparency on pension scheme costs in full. We hope that is soon and we

will hold the government and the Minister to on that. Labour is

committed to the state pension triple lock, is the government? The

government is committed to the triple lock for the whole of this

Parliament. The District Council have been working proactively with

the DWP to support the roll-out of the full service of Universal

Credit. Although the council has committed resources to this work,

local people are still facing challenges. And the Secretary of

State assure me his department will urgently seek to resolve those

issues that have been raised by the council and other authorities? I am

happy to give my honourable friend that reassurance. He and I have been

exchanging correspondence on this. A letter he may not yet have had

offers him a meeting with my honourable friend the Minister for

employment. We want to work with local councils. The motor neurone

disease Association and Parkinson 's UK have welcomed proposals by the

government to scrap the assessments for people with severe, lifelong

conditions. The Secretary of State described it as pointless,

bureaucratic nonsense. Will the government agreed to scrap

reassessments in the same circumstances for people with

lifelong conditions for a PIP and continuing health care? I would say

that PIP is slightly different. For example, someone's needs might

increase and they will need a reassessment to receive more support

under PIP. What the green paper affords us the opportunity to do is

to look at all of these things together and there are opportunities

for PIP perhaps to have a lighter assessment, but we need to get dull

process right. I wrote to the pensions minister on the 16th of

December about my constituent Ruth Saunders who said there are certain

defined benefit pension schemes were increases are not being paid per

ounce pre-April 19 77. The point is there is discrimination and only

10-15% of companies are not paying these increases. This is one of the

burning injustice as the Prime Minister was talking about and I

have a meeting with him and my constituent to discuss it further.

The government have been reluctant to consider the arrangements for

what the women who have been disadvantaged. What action is the

Secretary of State taking at present and what changes is he proposing? As

the honourable gentleman will be aware the government has had a ?1.1

billion condition for Waspy women and this has been discussed in this

has very many times and the government has no plans to do

anything further in this respect. Can the Minister reassure a company

in my constituency that the work and health programme will not result in

a large reduction in the programme took up disabled people get back

into work? I can give my honourable friend those reassurances. We are

absolutely committed to closing the disability employment gap and we are

picking up the pace on not just the programmes that we are running, but

also asking businesses and employers to do more. On that very disability

employment gap, the government has pledged to halve it by 2020, yet

recently I would like to know what the government is doing to look at

the impact on the public sector of cuts in jobs. The human equality and

human rights commission has lost a third of its staff in redundancies.

The honourable gentleman will no that under this government and the

coalition the disability employment gap is closing. We recognise we need

to do more. I think the public sector can do more and part of that

is identifying particular roles that individuals can take up. This

government is picking up the pace on this issue and it is a much better

situation than existed under the previous Labour government. I

welcome over 1 million more women are in employment, but would my

honourable friend confirm what the government is doing to support women

with children who might find it difficult to return back to work

because of childcare responsibilities? I thank my

honourable friend for that question. Our aim is to help parents into a

job which fits around their care and responsibilities. Last year we spent

a record ?5 billion supporting parents with the cost of childcare

and this will rise to over 6 billion by 20 20. Finland has become the

first country in Europe to place unemployed citizens with

unconditional monthly sums to reduce poverty. When will the government

produce research regarding similar schemes? As I understand it is a

small pilot in a local area and I have read a lot and it is an

interesting idea. It suggests this kind of scheme is fantastically

expensive and some of the losers from it are those who are on the

lowest incomes at the moment. The polite response is I am unconvinced

by this proposal. Seasonal agricultural workers have benefited

from auto enrolment into pensions, but many accrue only small pension

pots. What can the government do to make sure that the bureaucratic

burden does not fall disproportionately on the employers

of these vital workers? My honourable friend has propped up a

very good point. The government has to balance between wanting as many

people as possible having pensions with economic sense and the impact

to employers. My officials have discussed this issue with the

National Farmers Union and the issue will be looked into in the course of

the 2017 review. How can the government meet its target to reduce

the disability unemployment gap, in fact to halve it, where it is

cutting back 80% resources available for that? How can it do it? Is it

not just empty words? The honourable gentleman is

confused. We are putting more resorts is into these initiatives

and also asking others to do more. Obviously we are consulting in the

green paper, but some of the announcements the Prime Minister has

made today included additional resources. We very much want to meet

that target and we are putting the resources and the policies in place

to do that. Last month I asked the government to introduce mandatory

video recording of all assessments because a constituent of mine in

Twickenham was treated with less respect than the character in the

fictional film I, Daniel Blake. When will mandatory video recording

commenced? We are looking at a range of issues to improve the assessment

process and experience of it in both PIP and ESA and recording of

assessments is one of those things, so we are looking at that. For many

young people, housing benefit is a lifeline, not a lifestyle choice.

When will the government clarify how their scheme will not see these

people lose vital support? The regulations regarding the removal of

housing benefit from 18 to 21 new roles will be published. We will

provide full details, particularly the exemptions, which we will

provide in March. I would like to say thank you to the schools and

businesses of Corby and Northamptonshire who provide work

experience for young people. These introductions to the world of work

are important civil ministers continued to make sure this remains

at the front of cross departmental discussions? We know one of the most

important things to be able to get a job is to have had a job and be in

work and demonstrate all of those employability skills. Specifically

with work experience placements at Jobcentre plus, on average people

spend 49 days longer in employment for having done one, so yes. Yvette

Cooper. Can I urge the secretary of State to personally review what is

happening to the moat ability scheme? 41,000 people have had their

cars taken away as the result of assessments, including a severely

disabled Castleford constituents who cannot get to work and may be about

to lose her job. And Pontefract constituents with metal rods in her

joints who cannot get out of the House and is at risk of into

depression as a result, on the day the Prime Minister raise mental

health injustice. Will he take seriously, the serious impact on

people's mental health of being isolated in this way? Happy to

assure the right honourable lady we are looking closely at the whole

moat ability scheme, which he knows is an independent charity and we

have formed a walking working group and we are looking at this

carefully. Following on from the question, from the member for

Pontefract and Castleford, my constituents who has limited

mobility because of a stroke received a moat ability car last

year and it was a lifetime -- lifeline. Last week it was removed

from her now she's struggling to get her children to school and then get

to work. She is appealing this decision and I hope she will win. In

the meantime she is finding it hard to manage her disability as well has

responsibilities as an employee and as a mother. Can the Minister look

at this as a case of urgency to make sure she gets the help and support

she needs? I will be happy to look at the particular case the

honourable lady raises. We are looking at both the issue in the

moat ability scheme but other issues as well, which mean people are not

able to take up work or travel opportunities. We have recently met

with moat ability on these issues. We hope very soon to be able to make

some announcements. Indicators of child poverty are important as the

Secretary of State early on, so our targets. Would he agree to adopt the

provisions in the bill presented which would establish a statutory

targets for the reduction of child poverty? I think that is the

old-fashioned approach, which isn't necessarily the best way forward.

Having the whole range of issues that can give child poverty

addressed is the best way to do it. I look forward to his response to

the social Justice Green paper that we will be publishing in the coming

months. In the London Borough of Wandsworth, last year there was a

25% increase in foodbank use. Shockingly, almost 50% of these

users are children. Does the government agree it is an absolute

disgrace and what will they do to assure us in this House today that

the children and adults of tooting shall no longer have to rely on food

banks? As I said to a previous question, the best route out of

poverty is work. One of the great successes of the economic policy of

this government has been more people are at work, women are at work and

fewer children are growing up in workless households than ever

before. I wish the Labour Party would accept that getting more

people into work, reducing unemployment is the best attack on

poverty any government can make. Stuart Malcolm Macdonald. It is now

four weeks since the employment minister promised members of

Parliament from Glasgow data on the new boundaries by which you want to

close half the city's Jobcentres. Where is the information? I did

indeed meet with the honourable gentleman and his colleagues and we

had a Westminster Hall debate. One of the things I committed to was an

online consultation and that is indeed proceeding, as I said to him.

When we met, if there is other information they want to bring

forward, I am sure they will do so. There are 13,000 children in my

constituency of Bradford East living in poverty, which is almost a third

of the total poverty figure for the whole district. Can the Minister

answer this question and explain to my constituents, his decision to

close the child poverty unit? The child poverty unit, the main

function of the child poverty unit was to support ministers in meeting

the 2010 act, which has now been superseded by the 2016 act, which

the response to which, the response specifically to poverty is being led

by my department so be unit is now working inside the Department for

Work and Pensions. That is the straightforward answer to his

question. Can the Secretary of State tell us if he has any New Year 's

resolutions? Perhaps he could resolve to make sure that no one is

sanctioned at Christmas and will he review the operations of his

department, as I asked him before Christmas, to make sure nobody goes

without over the festive period? My New Year's resolution is to make

sure my department continues its successful work in getting ever more

people into work and making sure we have a benefit system that helps

people get into work and the pension system that provides security and

dignity in old age. Order. Urgent question, Mr Peter Kyle. I would

like to ask the Secretary of State for Justice to make a statement on

the emergency review to determine how to ban perpetrators of domestic

violence from directly cross-examining their victims within

the family