Oral Answers to Questions

Brendan O'Hara Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of social security payments in the context of increases in the cost of living.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of social security payments in the context of increases in the cost of living.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

10. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of social security payments in the context of increases in the cost of living.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mims Davies]

The hon. Gentleman talks about the Scottish child payment. The DWP is actively working with the Scottish Government to support its delivery, including by providing data through the Scotland Act 2016. I know that the hon. Gentleman has been holding cost of living events in his constituency. To his credit, he has been working with local jobcentres and the DWP to help people at this difficult time, which I applaud. The anecdotal evidence that I have of the AET changes, from visiting jobcentres, has been incredibly positive. People understand that they can earn more, take on more hours and fill vacancies, and that work is the best route out of poverty.

[Brendan O’Hara]

We on the SNP Benches have long called out this Government’s many poverty-inducing policies, such as the benefit cap, the five-week wait and the brutal sanctions regime, which contribute further to debt when people are barely surviving the cost of living crisis. Now, the Conservative think-tank Bright Blue—backed by some on the Government Benches—has said that the welfare system is not providing people with enough support and has called for the introduction of a minimum income. If the Minister will not listen to us, will she at least listen to her friends at Bright Blue?

[Mims Davies]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue. I will be very interested in the outcome of the work that the Scottish Government have been doing on the Scottish child payment system, taking the powers that have been devolved to the Scottish Government to support and link into their communities—that is absolutely what devolution is, and I will be following the outcome. But I reiterate that the work that goes on in his constituency and in the jobcentres that serve his community is also about people progressing through work, and that benefits are not the route out of poverty.