Welfare Reform Bill

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

I welcome not only the Bill but the fact that the coalition Government have recognised the importance of dealing with the huge financial and social failures of the current welfare system. Within 10 months of being in government, we are introducing a Bill that Labour Members and the previous Government shirked for 13 years. Because of the Opposition’s lack of will, we have the lamentable situation whereby welfare spending, which was £64 billion in 1997, is projected to be £109 billion this year, and 1.5 million people have spent most of the past decade on out-of-work benefits.

I have to say that I agree with the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who stated in 1997:

“We have reached the limits of the public’s willingness simply to fund an unreformed welfare system through ever higher taxes”.

If that was true in 1997, with the golden economic legacy that the previous Labour Government were bequeathed but went on to squander, one can only surmise that, 13 years later, we are well over the limit of the public’s acceptance of welfare spending. We all know what, or rather who, were the roadblocks to reform: the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), together with his protégés, the current leader of the Labour party and the current shadow Chancellor. How do we know this? Again, Mr Blair provides the answer in his memoirs when he states, with regard to welfare reform:

“I kept saying to Gordon, quite apart from the fact that both sets of proposals are manifestly right in themselves, if we don't do them, a future Tory government will”.

So here we are, as a Conservative-led coalition Government announcing the biggest and most overdue shake-up of the welfare system since the 1940s. We are replacing the previous Prime Minister’s micro-managed, command, dirigiste benefits system, which has created a benefits culture that is expensive, inefficient and bureaucratic—and, perversely, provides a major disincentive to work—with a system that will ensure that work pays and no one is better off remaining on benefits when offered a job. The universal credit will provide a more logical, efficient, secure and fair benefits system that will demonstrate and reinforce the value of being in work. All Members, and our constituents, should be aware that because of the transitional arrangements no one on benefits will be worse off as a result of the introduction of the universal credit.

Having supported the aims of the Bill, let me move on to the some of the specifics. I have been contacted by a number of constituents regarding the replacement of the mobility aspect of the disability living allowance with the personal independence payment. I am reassured by the Secretary of State’s remarks on this part of the Bill, when he said that DLA and its mobility component will continue and will be reviewed at a future time. However, the Government need to do as much as possible to reassure those who are severely disabled and unable to work that they will be protected and not lose their entitlement. I have had constituents saying that they fear they will lose their social interaction and effectively become prisoners in their own home. Those genuinely disabled people must be informed that these changes will be to their advantage.

[Mark Lazarowicz]

The fact that such an obviously ultra-loyal Government Member has been getting such messages from his constituents suggests that things are not all right on the Government Benches. Does he agree that that is another reason why a bit more consultation and time to consider the proposals would be better than the rushed way in which they are being brought forward?

[Andrew Bridgen]

The Labour party had 13 years to do something. Thirteen years ago, the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field) was asked to think the unthinkable; he did so, and then was promptly removed from office. That shows Labour’s commitment to welfare reform. There will be plenty of time for consultation, and I can promise that plenty of Government Members will be fighting for the rights of these vulnerable constituents.

The detection of fraudulent claimants is key to the success of this Bill. It is inexcusable that the current system is costing the taxpayer in excess of £5.2 billion a year because of welfare error and welfare fraud. There could be a role for credit rating firms in helping to identify households where there is reasonable evidence that a fraudulent claim is perhaps being made. This can be achieved with greater data sharing across Government Departments, and with the credit rating agencies, to ensure that the widest possible range of data are available. We also need to ensure that fraud is indentified at the earliest point of the process; again, the credit rating agencies can play a role. I welcome the development of the single investigation service and the three-strike rule in the Bill. We will see a reduction in fraud only if false claimants have a serious fear of being caught, and of facing a penalty if they are caught.

In conclusion, the Bill gives our country the chance to reverse a benefits culture that has become a huge black hole sucking in large numbers of people and huge amounts of taxpayers’ money. The Bill will release millions of people from the misery of welfare dependency and break the intergenerational cycle of worklessness, which costs this country so much not only financially but socially. The Secretary of State deserves great credit for his relentless work over many years on this issue. The successful passage of the Bill will make welfare a floor on which people can build, rather than a ceiling that it is impossible for them to break through.