Poverty and Social Exclusion

Baroness Hollis of Heigham Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

The noble Earl is absolutely right to concentrate on this issue because this group has traditionally done disproportionately badly. We have taken steps to ensure that these young people are better off in terms of housing than youngsters who are not coming out of care. As regards the mental health issues, it is absolutely correct to concentrate on the fact that a large proportion of people develop long-term disabilities due to mental health issues. We are devoting a lot of energy to consideration of that area.

[Baroness Hollis of Heigham (Lab)]

My Lords, we have a bedroom tax because the Liberal Democrats voted for it—

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that employment alleviates poverty, and does he welcome yesterday’s unemployment figures?