Universal Credit
Debate between Baroness Chapman of Darlington and Iain Duncan Smith(10 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Duncan Smith
I always do my level best to agree with my hon. Friend. He talks common sense whenever he rises to his feet and today is no different.
Jenny Chapman (Darlington) (Lab)
How confident is the Secretary of State that the system will be able to deal with people who live in such unusual circumstances as being in a couple or having children?
Mr Duncan Smith
The system will roll out for all the complicated groups right the way through until we have 6.5 million on it. There were some reports in today’s papers that were wrong. The pathfinder rolled out to singles to begin with. Next it goes on to couples, then to couples with children, then we bring in the more complicated groups and then we bring in the tax credit group. I simply say to the hon. Lady that she needs to understand the difference between an approach that rolls something out at every stage and learns from it, and the approach that Labour took on tax credits, which was to rush them in and see them fail.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Baroness Chapman of Darlington and Iain Duncan Smith(12 years ago)
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Mrs Jenny Chapman (Darlington) (Lab)
In their efforts to get people back into work, will Ministers please make more of an effort to work with colleagues in the Treasury on tax credits? Constituents of mine are taking three-month contracts, ringing up to get the forms, which then take six or seven weeks to arrive, and when they are returned they are being refused the tax credit because there is only four weeks of the employment left. This is putting people off taking temporary work and really is—I use the word again—a shambles.
Mr Duncan Smith
The hon. Lady knows that we are not yet responsible for tax credits, although under universal credit they will eventually come in. I will certainly relay her comments to the Treasury and ensure that that does not happen. I agree with her that everything we do to promote work, even part-time work, is very important.