Oral Answers to Questions

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Monday 16th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley) (Con)]

1. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on levels of unemployment.

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

The Budget made the choices needed to fix the foundations of our economy. Taking those into account, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that unemployment will fall to 4.1% next year and remain low until 2029. We are taking action to support jobs and growth, and to transform employment support to get Britain working.

[Dr Shastri-Hurst]

Will the Minister answer a simple question: since the Budget, have unemployment rates gone up or down?

[Alison McGovern]

I have just given the OBR’s assessment. It is worth noting that there are still a significant number of vacancies in the economy. We are determined that the Department for Work and Pensions will be reformed to serve employers better, so that they can fill those vacancies.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

Many disabled people in Ealing Southall are unnecessarily unemployed purely and simply because their employer refuses to respond to their request for the reasonable adjustments that they need to do their job. Will the Minister consider strengthening the right to reasonable adjustments, so that workers receive a response within a specified number of weeks, in line with the recommendations in the groundbreaking disability employment charter?

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for her important question. I know she met my colleague the Minister for Social Security and Disability recently, and I am sure that their conversations were productive on this important point.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

I recognise what was behind the increase in the national minimum wage for 18 to 21-year-olds, but I have been surprised by the reaction of businesses in my constituency. Those businesses have told me, in terms, that they will reduce the number of 18 to 21-year-olds they employ, because there is a higher failure rate associated with their employment, as they are new to the workforce, yet employing them will cost the same as employing those who are older. Does the Minister recognise that issue, and what will she do about it?

[Alison McGovern]

Anybody who sees that, in the British economy, there are nearly 1 million young people out of work or training—not doing anything—would say that is a dreadful legacy left by the previous Administration. That is why the youth guarantee is at the heart of our “Get Britain Working” plan.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before I call Dr Jeevun Sandher, may I offer him my congratulations on his engagement?

[Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)]

That is incredibly kind of you, Mr Speaker.

Young non-graduates are finding it far harder to get good, well-paid jobs. The number of young people not in education, employment or training has nearly doubled since 2013, and youth unemployment is at its highest rate in almost a decade because young people are not getting the skills they need. On top of that, they are becoming far sicker; one in three young people currently has a mental health problem, and that figure is rising. What are the Government and the Department doing to give young people the skills and the health support that they need to get good, well-paying jobs?

[Alison McGovern]

That question demonstrates the quality analysis I would expect from recently engaged economists on the Labour Benches. The Minister for Skills and I have been working closely on the youth guarantee, because we know that it is only by colleges and jobcentres working in hand in hand that we will get young people the skills that they need to succeed.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Helen Whately (Faversham and Mid Kent) (Con)]

In the run-up to the election, Labour clearly committed to an employment rate target of 80%, but in the past few weeks I have noticed a shift in language from “target” to “ambition”. Will the Minister clear this up for us: are the Government still committed to the 80% employment target, or will that be another broken Labour promise?

[Alison McGovern]

I make no apologies for having ambition for people in our labour market. The figure was always an ambition, because Labour Members want our jobcentres to shift away from pointless admin towards real ambition for everybody who steps through the door.

[Helen Whately]

I think we all heard that loud and clear: Labour has ditched its employment target. That is already another broken Labour promise. However, I feel for the Minister. How can she be expected to boost employment when her Chancellor is busy taxing jobs and then shrinking the economy? The Government have destroyed business confidence, have put up taxes on jobs, and are piling red tape on employers. Which of those measures will help her to deliver that employment “ambition”?

[Alison McGovern]

I have brought forward proposals to get Britain working, together with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Secretary of State for Education, and Secretaries of State right across Government. That is how we will plot a course towards our ambition of an 80% employment rate. I thank the shadow Secretary of State for being kind enough to refer to our “Get Britain Working” plans as

“rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic”.

It was very brave of her to acknowledge that the last Government’s legacy for us was a sinking ship.

[Kanishka Narayan (Vale of Glamorgan) (Lab)]

2. What recent estimate she has made of the number of people who will be supported into work through the proposals outlined in the “Get Britain Working” White Paper.

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[Chris Murray (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)]

4. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the “Get Britain Working” White Paper on employers and businesses.

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

We have all been there, Mr Speaker. Businesses are crying out for staff, yet only one in six employers uses jobcentres. Our “Get Britain Working” White Paper will revolutionise employment support to give employers the workforce they need. The support will include a new jobs and career service, designed around employers’ needs. We are also launching an independent review of the role of employers in promoting healthy and inclusive workforces.

[Chris Murray]

Some of us are still getting our heads around our new jobs, Mr Speaker. Edinburgh is a booming economy that has all the raw materials to thrive in the years ahead—especially because we have some of the growth industries that the Government have identified as being key to the future of the economy. However, businesses in my constituency are crying out for workers with the skills that they need. What are the Government doing to ensure that the workforce has the skills that businesses need?

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend describes exactly why we need a local tailored service: so that all employers can properly engage with jobcentres and work together to find the skilled members of staff that they need. I agree with him that Edinburgh offers so many opportunities to our young people. I know that all my DWP colleagues in Edinburgh will work with him to get business the skilled staff that they need.

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

E-commerce is a growing part of our economy. Will the Minister spare a thought for small-scale employers in my constituency and throughout Northern Ireland, who. since Friday, have seen their supply chain clobbered by the imposition on Northern Ireland of the EU’s general product safety regulations? Because of the extra paperwork and the need to pay an agent in Northern Ireland, many suppliers in Great Britain are now refusing to sell to Northern Ireland. Will this Government ever take steps to reintegrate Northern Ireland into the internal market—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have to shorten questions a little, so that I can get others in.

[Alison McGovern]

I am not entirely sure that the issues the hon. and learned Gentleman raises are completely within my responsibilities. However, DWP colleagues in Northern Ireland work closely with business, and I am sure that they will continue to do so, whatever the prevailing economic circumstances.

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

5. What plans she has to review universal credit.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to help reduce levels of poverty.

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

More people in good jobs is the foundation of our approach to tackling poverty. That is why we have set out the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, on top of extending the household support fund, introducing a fair repayment rate for universal credit, and the extensive work of the child poverty taskforce.

[David Taylor]

In my constituency of Hemel Hempstead, according to figures given to me by the local charity DENS, there has been a 1,000% increase in the number of people needing to use food banks over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, another institution, the Hemel Hempstead community fridge, sees queues an hour before it opens, in scenes akin to something out of Soviet Russia. Does the Minister agree that there are few more shameful examples of the last Government’s record on poverty? [Interruption.] I cannot quite hear the mutterings of Conservative Members, Mr Speaker—I think the word they were looking for was “sorry”. Will the Minister also outline further steps that we can take to reduce the need for food banks to exist at all?

[Alison McGovern]

The statistics my hon. Friend has read out are, I am sorry to say, consistent with those of the Trussell Trust, which distributed 61,000 emergency food parcels in 2010. Last year, the figure was 3.1 million. That is not acceptable, which is why we have committed to tripling investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million and—as I have said—introduce our fair repayment rate for deductions from universal credit, because if a person is out of debt, they are out of danger. We are increasing the national living wage to £12.21 an hour from next April, which will boost the pay of 3 million workers. That is also why the child poverty taskforce is working very hard.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

Benefits such as pension credit and disability living allowance are important in assisting people to stay out of poverty, but delays in processing applications push people into poverty. One constituent of mine is an 82-year-old gentleman who has spent more than 16 weeks waiting for his application to be processed, and another is the mother of a disabled child who has waited more than 18 weeks and is now being told that it will take an extra 25 weeks for a mandatory reconsideration. What steps is the Minister taking to reduce delays in processing applications for pension credit and other state support, in order to help lift households out of poverty?

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Lady for the question that she rightly puts to this House. We have increased the number of staff working on pension credit by over 500, and are working very quickly to deal with those backlogs and delays. As she says, we need to get through those backlogs.

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[Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)]

T2. Over the weekend, James Reed, the chief executive of one of the UK’s largest recruiters, said that job vacancies are down 26% compared with the same period last year, which should be a red-light warning that higher unemployment and recession are just around the corner. Will the Secretary of State plead with the Chancellor to reverse the jobs national insurance tax raid that is devastating employment figures before that warning becomes a reality?

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

We still have more than 800,000 vacancies in this economy, and businesses are crying out for staff. That is why, through our reform programme, we are determined that the DWP will serve business better. I look forward to working with Members across the House to make that happen.

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

T9. On Friday, my constituents Andrew Price and Matthew Whitmore came to my surgery to share their anger and distress at their pensions being stolen by a so-called investment company. They are thousands of pounds out of pocket. Will the Pensions Minister say what protections are in place against this, and will she meet me to discuss how my constituents can get their money back?

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[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

T3. Why did the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate that the Budget would cost 50,000 jobs?

[Alison McGovern]

I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the OBR report that says that overall, employment will go up.

[Douglas McAllister (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab)]

How does the Secretary of State envision the future of jobcentres in my constituency and across Scotland, and what role will technology play in that?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

T7. This Christmas, over one in four children in this country will be living in poverty. That could be partly addressed by scrapping the two-child benefit cap and paid for simply by reversing the Tory tax cut on the banks. What is more important: hungry children or bankers’ bonuses?

[Alison McGovern]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the condition of children living in poverty in this country. That is why, as I mentioned earlier, the child poverty taskforce is doing extensive work on the issue.

[Kate Osamor (Edmonton and Winchmore Hill) (Lab/Co-op)]

According to the 2022 Migration Observatory report, over 200,000 children are likely to be in families with no recourse to public funds. As the 2022 Work and Pensions Committee report highlighted, those families face particularly tough circumstances without access to benefits. Will the Minister confirm whether the child poverty taskforce is engaging directly with affected families to understand the challenges they face?

[Alison McGovern]

The child poverty taskforce is considering all children across the UK in all aspects of our child poverty strategy. We recognise the distinct challenges of poverty faced by children in particular groups, such as migrant children, disabled children and others. We are engaging directly with families affected by poverty. We recognise that the causes of child poverty are deep rooted and we will look at all levers to make change.

[Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)]

In Epsom and Ewell, local charities such as the Sunnybank Trust are seeing a lack of employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities. In fact, only 6.9% of people with learning disabilities are currently in paid work. What measures is the DWP taking to support employers to help individuals with learning disabilities to get into work?