BBC

Debate between Ann Clwyd and Maria Miller

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

It is right to say that it is difficult to justify the level of payment that has been talked about. I hope that the level of concern about that is being noted by the BBC Trust and, indeed, by Mr Entwistle himself.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

I agree with both Front-Bench speakers that the main focus should be on the abuse of children in north Wales. There is a danger of intimidating the BBC. May I give the House a quick example? On Thursday I was interviewed by BBC Wales about child abuse. I mentioned the role of the Welsh Office and the fact that the Welsh Office had known for 20 years that this abuse was going on. I mentioned the fact that there was a convicted paedophile who had worked at the Welsh Office in a senior position, responsible for children’s services. The next day I did a similar interview and I was asked not to mention that person—I had not mentioned the person by name, anyway. I asked why not, and I was told, “That person might be identified because there were a small number of people.” He had already been identified; he was a convicted paedophile. So it is dangerous also that the BBC might now feel intimidated about broadcasting matters which it should broadcast.

[Maria Miller]

I understand the right hon. Lady’s point, although I say firmly that there are many lessons to be learned from the current situation. One of them is that it is in no way sensible to name individuals without there having been a proper and thorough criminal investigation associated with it.

Specialist Disability Employment

Debate between Ann Clwyd and Maria Miller

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to remind us all that what we say here can cause a great deal of fear and concern among the people we represent. Therefore, at all points in time, we should stick to the facts. In this case, the facts are that the £350 million budget for specialist employment support is being protected and that today’s announcement will mean that more than 8,000 extra disabled people will be able to be supported. She speaks with a great deal of knowledge in this respect. The organisation that she mentions has also been involved in the Work programme, which is also there to support disabled people.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

When Margaret Thatcher was Schools Secretary she was known as “Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher”. You, Minister, are now known as “Maria Miller, Remploy Killer”. Are you proud of that?

[Maria Miller]

I am sorry, but that is exactly the sort of statement that this House should not look kindly on. The right hon. Lady knows, because she has been in this place for a lot longer than I have, that we should choose our words carefully because people listen carefully to what we say. The 13,600 disabled people in her constituency will be asking why she is not more supportive of a Government who are ensuring that there is £15 million extra to support them, as well as ensuring that the 37 people in the factory in her constituency receive the support that they need to go forward into mainstream employment.

Employment Support

Debate between Ann Clwyd and Maria Miller

Wednesday 7th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. She is absolutely right: we have to make the money go further and, in these difficult economic times, ensure that the money is being used most effectively. Our consultation on the future of disability employment support received widespread—indeed, almost universal—support from disability organisations. Mind told us:

“We agree that Remploy should be radically reformed, with high quality support for everyone affected”.

Disability Rights UK said:

“We appreciate that the Sayce review has caused some concern… However, we believe segregated employment for disabled people is unacceptable.”

The simple truth is that the Labour party is out of step with the majority of the disability world. I urge it to consider more closely its response to the statement.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

I hope that the Minister, as she faces me, feels a little embarrassed for completely misleading me earlier this week. I, in turn, misled people in my factory, and I hope that she apologises for that. I am afraid, once again, that this is the nasty party at work. It has never changed. It has not changed in the 28 years that I have been in the House. It is an absolute disgrace.

Remploy

Debate between Ann Clwyd and Maria Miller

Thursday 15th December 2011 Westminster Hall

[Maria Miller]

No, that is not what the Government are saying. The Government are still consulting on the Sayce review, as the hon. Gentleman will be aware. I have said that we are minded to accept these things, and as we move forward, we might or might not accept proposals in that report. We may accept them piecemeal or in their entirety. That is yet to be decided, so he will have to bear with me—as I am sure that he is willing to do—for a little while longer, so that we go through the proper processes with all these things.

The hon. Member for Swansea West—I see that he is not in his place—talked about there perhaps being problems with recruitment. Yes, indeed, because of the austerity that we are under at the moment, controls on new Government recruitment are in place. Owing to its non-departmental public body status, Remploy is covered by those controls, but I absolutely assure hon. Members in the Chamber today that since the austerity measures came into force, Remploy has successfully applied for exemptions through this process, where requests have been approved, to ensure that we can continue commercial operations. There are absolute safeguards in place to ensure that the business can continue in the way that it needs to.

The right hon. Member for Cynon Valley mentioned expensive consultants. She and I have a joint dread of the idea of having expensive consultants in place. I assure her that since austerity measures have been introduced, Remploy has not used consultants. I cannot speak for the previous Administration, but that is something that we feel very strongly about.

The hon. Member for Wrexham talked about when financial information will be available. As I have already made clear, no decision has been made on the recommendations of the Sayce review to date, so it would not be appropriate or possible for me at this stage to release financial information on a decision that is yet to be taken. We have to ensure that we adhere to the right proprieties. He would expect us to do that as a Government, and I assure him that, as soon as decisions are made, the appropriate information will be forthcoming for anybody who is interested in that detail.

The Remploy pension scheme has been mentioned. To assure individuals who may be concerned about comments that have been made about that, the Government have promised to protect fully the accrued benefits of pension scheme members in the event that the pension scheme were to close following the implementation of the Sayce review recommendations. It is an unfortunate fact that we have identified a £104.6 million deficit in the valuation of the pension scheme, which we inherited. A deficit repayment plan has been put in place, which is important because we want to ensure that both employees and pension scheme trustees are confident in the propriety of the finances of the scheme. Payments of £7.4 million, £25.8 million and £21.5 million have already been made into the scheme, which shows the commitment that this Government have, in tough economic times, to ensuring that we stand by our obligations and our commitments to Remploy staff.

I want to ensure that the right hon. Member for Cynon Valley who secured the debate has a few minutes at the end to sum up.

[Ann Clwyd]

I am very happy to give my time to the Minister, because there are a lot of questions left unanswered. If she would like my extra time, I am very glad to give it to her.

[Maria Miller]

That is extremely kind of the right hon. Lady. I have managed to race through most of the issues that I want to cover—I think that I have actually managed to cover almost everything raised by hon. Members.

--- Later in debate ---

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Gentleman is asking me to comment on something that I do not think I would ever say. [Interruption.] What I would say is that we have to listen to what disabled people want. Disabled people tell me that they want to live independent lives in communities like everybody else. To be able to do that, they want to have the jobs that everybody else would expect as well.

I fear that I will run out of time if I do not wind up my remarks quickly. In conclusion, getting this right is absolutely crucial for millions of people—millions of our constituents. It is only right that we take the time to consider the consultation representations before making any decisions. I have not yet made a decision about the future, and an announcement will be made as soon as is practically possible. Hon. Members can be sure that I will consider carefully not only the points that have been raised today, but the points that have been raised by hon. Members and right hon. Members in the many meetings that we have had in recent weeks. However, we need to look at the evidence. We need to be driven by that evidence and ensure that we are committed to the best decision for the future of disabled people. I recognise how vital it is to join up with work across Government to improve employment outcomes for disabled people. I have already answered one of the requests in the Sayce report to establish a cross-Government Committee that considers disabled people’s employment.

[Ann Clwyd]

Disabled people want jobs and the jobs are not there. Where are they going to come from?

[Maria Miller]

The right hon. Lady makes a timely intervention. She will know that in her constituency 37 people are employed in a Remploy factory, and she has more than 13,000 disabled people in her constituency. My responsibility is to ensure that more of those 13,000 people get the support they need to get into work. We know that there are almost 700 vacancies in Jobcentre Plus in her area, and that Remploy employment services in Merthyr Tydfil has placed 254 disabled people into employment. In the Rhondda, that figure is 163 disabled people into employment; in Bridgend, it is 251.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ann Clwyd and Maria Miller

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

It is excellent that the right hon. Gentleman is visiting his factory and showing staff support, as he clearly is. As he knows, we are consulting, through the Sayce review, about the future of Remploy. We want to make sure that Remploy factories are successful in the future. At present every single one is loss-making, and half the employees in Remploy across the board—I am not sure of the position in his constituency—do not have work to do. That is not an acceptable situation. We need to look for ways of remedying a situation that we inherited and through the Sayce consultation we hope to do that.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

Is it not unfortunate that the future of Remploy is once again in the melting pot? May I remind the Minister—we had a conversation about this—that in 2008, the last time people went through voluntary redundancy in Remploy, only a quarter of those made redundant got new jobs? In my own Remploy factory in Aberdare, only one person is at work. Surely it is better to keep disabled people in work, doing jobs that they have done satisfactorily for a long time?

[Maria Miller]

We have indeed had some important conversations about the matter. It is not for me to answer for the record of the previous Government, although I point out to the right hon. Lady that 40% of disabled people who left through the 2008 redundancy scheme retired. The figures that she quotes need to reflect that. I can assure her that we will do everything we can to make sure that people affected by any changes in the future are given the support that they need.