Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I can reassure the hon. Lady, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on school food, which I briefly co-chaired some while ago, that I am as committed as she is to addressing food insecurity, particularly for children. I believe and hope that the changes we have made in terms of access to early funds will have reduced food insecurity, but I will of course take an early interest in the report that she is producing. I look forward to seeing it.

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

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that someone on benefits moving into work under the legacy welfare system that we inherited from the Labour Government could have lost up to £9 of every £10 they earned? There was no incentive to work whatsoever.

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend draws attention to a real failing of the previous system. There was such a high rate of tax—sometimes up to £9 out of every £10—that there was no incentive for people to get into work. I thank him for reminding us that universal credit adjusts to such situations and ensures that work will always pay.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amber Rudd]

I certainly hope that that does not come forward, but I think this is the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, so I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will want to put that question to its Secretary of State.

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

Some people are paid four-weekly, not monthly, so one month of the year, they will get two payments. Will the Minister ensure that universal credit can cope adequately with this situation?

[Alok Sharma]

As my hon. Friend knows, we discussed this in an earlier question. Of course, the key thing is to get support to people, and where they have two payments in one assessment period and none in the following period, they should expect to receive their full universal credit payment.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 7th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

I know that the hon. Lady has worked tirelessly on this issue. The Government recognise its importance, which is why we have increased our financial support by nearly 50% since 2010. We are making improvements specifically in relation to payment in arrears, improving communication and ensuring that the Flexible Support Fund is better known and better used to help those who would otherwise face a financial barrier.

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

Can the Minister confirm that parents with disabled children will continue to receive additional support under universal credit?

[Justin Tomlinson]

Yes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 2nd July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

As the Secretary of State has said, we are at record levels of employment in this country and that is because of the policies of this Government. The hon. Gentleman talks about the 200,000 extra people who will be in work as a result of UC. He will also know that, in 2012, the Institute for Fiscal Studies looked at the methodology, which related to the key element of this, which was the financial incentives that will make more people go into work, and it concluded that this was within the plausible range.

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

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is right that our welfare system supports those in need, but in the long term the best way out of poverty is sustainable employment?

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are at record levels of employment in this country. It is interesting that the Opposition talk about estimates. If I remember correctly, back in 2010, the Opposition said we would lose 1 million jobs as a result of our policies, but we have created 3.2 million. At the end of the day, when it comes to estimates, I am not taking lectures from the Opposition.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 21st May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

We welcome the High Court ruling, which showed that the policy is lawful. However, the hon. Lady is absolutely right: in terms of kinship carers, we are going to be making those changes. This will have to come about through regulations in Parliament and we will bring those forward shortly. I would point out that, as the Secretary of State made clear in her written statement, we will be making changes to include not just those in kinship arrangements, but children who are adopted and would otherwise be in local authority care.

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

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is completely right that in our country someone should be able to have as many children as they want as long as they can support them, but it should not be that the taxpayer has to subsidise them?

[Alok Sharma]

As I said in response to the hon. Member for Blaydon (Liz Twist), the aim of this policy is to strike the right balance between support for claimants and fairness to taxpayers, but of course we do have exceptions in place, quite rightly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, all hon. Members should be engaged in the battle against poverty. We in particular have chosen to take a different approach. Pleasingly, the Children’s Commissioner has identified that low educational attainment is critical to the future employment and economic prospects of all children. That is why we are focused on it as one of the two planks of Government policy on the matter, why we have concentrated so hard and why we are so pleased that so many more children are going to good and excellent schools.

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

22. The latest figures for the east midlands show that just over 106,000 of children in poverty are in workless households. That is down 23,000 since 2010. Although there is much more to do, does my hon. Friend agree that jobs created under this Government are transforming the lives of the most vulnerable in our society?

[Kit Malthouse]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and is a renowned champion of those in poverty in his constituency. It is interesting to note that nearly three quarters of children in poverty move out of poverty when their parents move into full-time work. We must capture and use that in our constant fight against poverty.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 5th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

I would advise the hon. Lady to be slightly careful about the statistics she is using. As we heard earlier, there are some particular problems, but in that report in particular there were enormous caveats saying that the measures were not accurate and the numbers not necessarily reliable, particularly on a constituency basis. The Government are committed to a strategy to tackle poverty that involves work, and since 2010 we have 954,000 fewer households in unemployment and moved into work. That is the best thing we can do for their futures.

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

14. What progress her Department has made on the implementation of the disability confident scheme.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

20. What progress her Department has made on the implementation of the disability confident scheme.

[Mr Speaker]

It is always useful to have a little bit of additional information, and we are deeply obliged to the Minister.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Last year, I attended a disability confident workshop in my constituency, where unemployment now stands at an all-time low of 1%. Also present were representatives of the DWP and the local council, as well as local employers, many of whom signed up to the scheme immediately. Will my hon. Friend give further feedback on the national roll-out of a programme that encourages employers to take advantage of keen, loyal staff who are disabled?

[Sarah Newton]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his local support for the disability confident scheme. I urge all Members to become involved in these wonderful events, where we see hundreds of people signing up to the scheme. It is important for us to continue to build on the constructive and positive feedback that we receive from employers by giving them practical support, so that they can employ more disabled people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Newton]

This country has a proud record of treating people fairly, and we will continue to uphold those proud principles. Of course we are considering the report, and as I have said, we will publish our findings. To put this in context, of the G7 only Germany spends more money supporting people with disabilities and long-term conditions. We spend 2.5% of GDP, which is 6% of all Government spending. That is £50 billion a year.

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

Will the Minister confirm that anyone in receipt of disability benefits, such as PIP or disability living allowance, is exempt from the benefits cap?

[Sarah Newton]

I can give my hon. Friend a very simple answer: yes.

Universal Credit Roll-out

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 24th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge]

It is absolutely right to look at welfare reform in the context of Brexit. My worry, and I say this sincerely, is that—let us look at the seasonal agricultural workers scheme, for example—there is already pressure for a scheme not to get more British workers, but to ask whether we can have workers from Ukraine or Russia. We must think about that, because at the moment unskilled migrants can come to this country only from the EU, not from outside the EU. We have to look at welfare reform through the lens of seeing whether British people will rise to the challenge of stepping into the breach.

The Work and Pensions Committee—I was a member of it—carried out an investigation and we looked at these issues before the general election, and the truth is that large parts of our economy are dependent on migrant labour. If we are to change that, we must understand that the sorts of reform we are now introducing will be just the start of it. There will have to be a real look at education, training and welfare. None of this stuff may necessarily be easy or palatable, but it should move us to a situation in which, instead of flat wages and flat productivity, British people are given a fair chance: they do their bit, and we back them. We will give them support through the universal credit system and we will give them training, and we will have a competitive post-Brexit economy.

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

Does my hon. Friend agree that welfare needs to be a platform to build from, not a ceiling people cannot break through?

[James Cartlidge]

Absolutely. Tax credits created a ceiling.

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

We have a lot of pressure on time. If the hon. Gentleman really thinks it is necessary—I know he thinks everything that concerns him is terribly important —we will hear it.

[Andrew Bridgen]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Could you clarify how a Member of this House would raise an issue relating to equality and standards—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman was in his place or not, but there were points of order raised about equality matters and respect issues earlier, with which I dealt. No clarification is required. My guidance was sought and I proffered it. We are short of time, and there is a debate now in which other people wish to take part. If the hon. Gentleman is interested, he can always seek guidance from my office. He does not need to raise a point of order now and it is desperately insensitive to other colleagues who wish to take part in current debates in the Chamber. This is not complicated.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 9th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

The Government strongly believe that there has been no maladministration by the Department for Work and Pensions, including during the 13 years when Labour was in charge of the Department.

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

Is the new state pension not in fact removing injustices that have persisted for far too long, and are not the main beneficiaries women and low earners?

[Guy Opperman]

My hon. Friend is correct. The new state pension is much more generous for the many women who were historically worse off under the old system. More than 3 million women stand to gain an average of £550 extra per year by 2030 as a result of these changes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

As I have reported to this House before, we have been working ever closer with Motability— a great scheme in its 40th year. We are looking at a number of issues, such as appeals; people who may wish to leave the country, whether for study, work experience, or any other reason; and potentially extending the scheme to other groups. We will report on that review as soon as we can.

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

Can the Minister confirm that far from cutting support for disabled people, disability spending will increase every year to 2020 relative both to 2010 and today?