Welfare Reform

Lord Knight of Weymouth Excerpts

Tuesday 5th October 2010 Lords Chamber

Tabled By

[Lord Knight of Weymouth]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to report to Parliament the details of welfare reforms including the introduction of a universal credit, a family benefit cap and the ending of universal child benefit.

[Lord Knight of Weymouth]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice.

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My Lords, too often the current system traps people in benefit dependency, making a move to work seem risky and financially unsustainable. This has led to a 45 per cent increase in real terms in spending on welfare in the past decade. Our proposals for these and other welfare reforms will be announced at the spending review. We also intend to publish a White Paper in response to our consultation on welfare reforms, and I assure noble Lords that there will be ample opportunity for further debate.

[Lord Knight of Weymouth]

My Lords, I am grateful. There is a real urgency for Parliament to scrutinise these massive changes to the welfare state. Can I ask the Minister what he would say to the mum with three young children who wants to stay at home to care for them while her husband earns just over £45,000 a year? She is already worried about the VAT increase in January; has lost £500 a year with the child tax credit cut; and now will lose another £2,400 with the loss of child benefit. She thinks that she would be better off going back to work or even splitting up her family. Is this why the Prime Minister promised before the election not to touch child benefit, and is this not a sign that the Government are already out of touch with the “squeezed middle” hard-working families of this country?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I would suggest that the only one who is out of touch is the noble Lord himself if he is not aware of the financial difficulties facing this country and the need to reduce government spending in line with the deficit that we inherited. This is essential to our policy. This is not an easy decision to make, but it is a necessary decision to make if we are to bring public spending into line.