Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Grayling Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Hazel Blears (Salford and Eccles) (Lab)]

3. What steps he is taking to encourage social enterprises to become providers under the Work programme.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

As the right hon. Lady knows, involving the specialist skills of the voluntary and social enterprise sectors in delivering the Work programme is extremely important, particularly where they have expertise in helping the hardest-to-help groups. Across the summer, we held a series of consultation events across the country, and we have had meetings through some of the professional organisations that represent different elements of the voluntary sector. The Minister for Welfare Reform—Lord Freud—and I have held meetings in the City to try to encourage financiers to support the voluntary sector in its approaches to the Work programme. I cannot give the right hon. Lady information about the specifics of the process today, because we will be publishing more details in due course, but I can assure her that we are keen to keep those organisations present.

[Hazel Blears]

I am grateful for the Minister’s reply. He knows that many social enterprises, such as Work Solutions, which does a fantastic job in the Ordsall area of Salford to get people back into work, have very tight margins, and often struggle with cash flow. If the national system is to be about payment by results, what measures will he take to ensure that small organisations, which are often without a financial buffer, can survive within the system and provide the specialist services that only they can provide?

[Chris Grayling]

We have introduced the Merlin standard, a new code of conduct for suppliers to the Department for Work and Pensions, which will apply to the prime contractors for the Work programme. They will be obliged to do the right thing to support their subcontractors appropriately financially. If they fail to do so, and treat their subcontractors financially inappropriately, they could lose their contracts. The system has just won an award for its role across Whitehall—there is potential for it to be used elsewhere in Whitehall—as best practice for dealing with small subcontractors. We must protect them, because they have a huge role to play.

[Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)]

Will the Minister join me in congratulating Progress Recruitment on its work in Blackpool? It is a social enterprise that works with many of the hardest-to-reach people in my constituency to get them back to work. Will he do all he can to encourage local government, when it again considers its service provision, to look at whether it can spin off organisations such as Progress Recruitment as social enterprises, as part of reconceptualising that service provision?

[Chris Grayling]

I certainly praise the work that has been done in Blackpool, and I praise my hon. Friend’s work in supporting that activity. Not many people understand the scale of the social challenge in Blackpool, and the work that is done by organisations such as the one in his constituency is extremely important. I very much hope that the framework that we are creating for the Work programme will give local authorities and local organisations the scope to work alongside providers to deliver local solutions to some of the problems. I have no doubt that social enterprise should be and will be part of that. Local authorities can help to make that happen.

[Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

Does the Minister accept that there is considerable support on the Labour Benches for the point that my right hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles (Hazel Blears) raised? Does he accept that if we are to protect social enterprises, and if they are to play a greater part in welfare reform, that will require almost a total change in attitude from the big providers? Birkenhead had one of the best organisations—A&P Group—but it did not win the larger contract, and did not want to, and the large provider had no interest in making sure it survived. It was a huge loss to young people in the area who, until then, had had a Rolls-Royce service.

[Chris Grayling]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for highlighting such an important point. I have been very clear to people who are bidding for the Work programme that we expect them to demonstrate their ability to assemble a consortium or organisations with the specialist skills to help the hard-to-help groups. Many of those organisations are in the voluntary sector or the social enterprise sectors. If they do not demonstrate that ability and if they do not have those networks, they will not get the contracts. It is as simple as that.

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

4. What plans he has to increase parental responsibility for child maintenance.

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[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

13. What recent progress his Department has made on delivering its Work programme.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

The commercial delivery of the Work programme is on track. Before the end of the month, we will be releasing a list of those organisations that have successfully bid to be part of the framework for employment-related support services. Shortly after that, in early December, we will publish the full invitation to tender for the Work programme. We are still on course to launch the programme next summer.

[Henry Smith]

Regrettably, my constituency has one of the worst records for its over-50 unemployed people ever getting back into work. I would be interested to hear some specific advice about what the Government are planning for that age group.

[Chris Grayling]

Of course, this was one of the great failings of the Labour Government, who failed to understand the challenge that older workers faced. Their employment programme offered none of the personalised support that is necessary to deal with the specific challenges that my hon. Friend mentions. What we will do through the Work programme is offer personalised support by paying providers by results; they will have a full incentive to do the right thing by older workers and ensure they get into work.

[Richard Harrington]

Last week, Leavesden studio in my constituency was given a £125 million investment by Warner Bros. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the Government’s new Work programme will help local unemployed people to get off the register and get jobs in this fantastic opportunity?

[Chris Grayling]

That is a great example of new private sector investment in the United Kingdom, which proves that the private sector can indeed create the jobs that we all want to see for the future. I congratulate my hon. Friend and his constituents on the work that they have done in bringing the investment to the United Kingdom. I hope that the local provider for the Work programme will forge a close partnership with Warner Bros to ensure that it delivers people with the right mix of skills and capabilities to fill vacancies, and I hope that my hon. Friend will help to facilitate that partnership.

[Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)]

In the last four months alone, an employment agency in my constituency has helped more than 300 long-term jobseeker’s allowance claimants and single parents into work under the employment zone programme. Four such agencies operate in the constituency, but long-term JSA claimants and single parents will no longer be able to apply for that extra support after 31 December as a result of the transition to the Work programme. What specialist support will the Minister give thousands of my constituents, and thousands of others throughout the country, to help them back into wok?

[Chris Grayling]

We will provide enhanced support for people in that position through Jobcentre Plus for a short period, but I hope and expect that providers who are already in the framework and who win Work programme contracts will be able to take up some of the challenges that those people face and help them before the formal launch of the programme in the summer.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

There are some good ideas in the Work programme, and all of them were in the last Government’s flexible new deal. What proportion of the payment to be handed over to a Work programme provider in respect of a jobseeker will be handed over when that person obtains work, and how long will he or she need to remain in work before the whole payment is handed over?

[Chris Grayling]

I will publish the full details of the contractual arrangements for the Work programme in a few days’ time, but I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that we will not be paying up front as the flexible new deal did. Last year, the flexible new deal paid providers £500 million for 16,000 starts. That is £30,000 per job start, and in my opinion it was an inefficient use of public money. Even as the programme becomes more mature, the previous service fee arrangements would still mean a huge up-front cost. We will do things differently: we will pay providers when they succeed, and not before they have done so.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to help disabled people into employment.

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[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

11. what recent progress has been made on the work capability assessment independent review led by Professor Malcolm Harrington.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

Professor Harrington will publish his report on the work capability assessment tomorrow. He will be available to take questions and I hope Members will come forward and put any issues and concerns to him, and indeed to me, during the course of the day.

[Tracey Crouch]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Can he assure the House that those who have varying support needs because they have fluctuating conditions will be considered accordingly during the assessment process?

[Chris Grayling]

I am very happy to give my hon. Friend that assurance. This issue—along with that of people with mental health issues—has been of paramount importance to me, and it is one of the subjects to which I asked Professor Harrington to pay the closest attention. I hope my hon. Friend will see tomorrow that he has recommended a number of measures that will help in that respect, but I can also assure her that we will continue to review this issue. We will continue to study the process as it unfolds, and we will make further improvements as and when necessary.

[Rachel Reeves (Leeds West) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that answer, which we welcome. He knows that there is support from both sides of the House for Professor Harrington’s review and Labour will support the Government in taking forward meaningful reform, particularly in identifying mental health problems such as depression and schizophrenia. What assurances will the Minister give the House that reforms to the work capability assessment will better support people with mental health conditions get back to work?

[Chris Grayling]

One of the things I made sure to do when we set up the review was invite the chief executive of Mind to take part in one of the support groups for Professor Harrington. That input has been hugely valuable. I have also invited the mental health charities to make recommendations about possible changes to the descriptors, which might also help enhance the process. They are due to respond shortly. We will make sensible changes as and when we can. I intend to brief the hon. Lady and her colleagues about the contents of the Harrington review tomorrow morning, and perhaps we can talk briefly behind the Speaker’s Chair about how best to arrange that. I want them to be part of the process, and I am very happy to take suggestions from Opposition Members as well. As the hon. Lady rightly says, this is a cross-party issue. We have to get it right. It is in all our interests that we get it right, and I think we share the aspiration that this process should be fair and firm.

[Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

12. What assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed universal credit on work incentives.

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[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

14. Whether his Department plans to publish a gender impact assessment of the changes to be made to the benefits regime as a result of the comprehensive spending review.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

The Department for Work and Pensions assesses the equality impacts of any new policies or changes to existing policies and practice. In line with that commitment to transparency, equality impact assessments are published when they are available, and gender impacts are included as part of those documents.

[Cathy Jamieson]

I thank the Minister for that answer. What assessment are the Government making of the needs of vulnerable women, particularly those who receive housing benefit and are aged between 25 and 35? How will the Government ensure that their needs are met and, in particular, that if they have disabilities, they do not end up inappropriately in shared accommodation?

[Chris Grayling]

As the hon. Lady will know, exemptions are already in place for the most vulnerable people, and those will continue. The package of reforms set out in the spending review, particularly the introduction of the universal credit, will make a huge difference to women on some of the lowest incomes, particularly lone parents seeking to get back into work. The credit will make that journey much easier and mean that they are better off going back to work than they would otherwise have been.

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

16. What assessment he has made of the likely contribution of the proposed universal credit to his Department’s objective of encouraging people to work.

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[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

My message to my hon. Friend would be that we are doing everything we can to promote volunteering for jobseekers, both before they enter the Work programme and, once the programme is in place, after they enter it. We have set out plans to allow jobseekers to do up to eight weeks’ work experience and I think that that gives them an important opportunity to take a step into the workplace that they would not otherwise have taken.

[Jo Swinson]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Many people who are out of work or who have fluctuating medical conditions already undertake part-time voluntary work but that was not previously recognised by Jobcentre Plus officials as part of the flexible new deal. What assurances can he give me that those people, who are already participating in the big society, will have their voluntary work positively recognised under the new Work programme?

[Chris Grayling]

I see volunteering as extremely important, particularly in helping those who have been on sickness benefits or incapacity benefit in the long term to make the step into work. I can assure my hon. Friend that we will give Work programme providers maximum flexibility to use volunteering as one of many vehicles to help people get into employment.

[Mr David Ward (Bradford East) (LD)]

18. What assessment he has made of the likely effects of his proposed reductions in housing benefit entitlement on jobseeker’s allowance claimants who have been unable to find work for more than 12 months.

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[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

19. What recent assessment he has made of the value for money delivered by the flexible new deal programme.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

The flexible new deal began in October 2009. Results of its full evaluation will be published in 2012. However, the initial figures, published last week, certainly give rise to concern that it represented poor value for money and that the arrangements set out by the previous Government were extremely expensive.

[Caroline Dinenage]

People in my constituency are concerned about the transition to the Work programme. What assurances can the Minister give me that the Government will take measures to ensure that people are not disadvantaged during the transition period?

[Chris Grayling]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. That is a priority for me at the moment. As it becomes clear who is on the framework and who is not, it will become increasingly clear where we might have issues with the transition. In those areas where the flexible new deal will continue to run until the summer, it is not an issue, and in those areas where the flexible new deal does not exist, it is a concern. We will take urgent measures in the next few days, as we have completed work on the framework and identified the gaps, to ensure that we put in place the necessary support, probably through Jobcentre Plus, to ensure that we look after those who are affected.

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

20. What effects he expects the introduction of the proposed universal credit to have on marginal deduction rates experienced by households currently in receipt of tax credits only.

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[Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

T5. What can the Secretary of State do to assure unemployed people in Staffordshire Moorlands that the Work programme will help them to find not just employment, but sustainable employment?

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

One of the key differences in the Work programme, compared to previous programmes, is that it will pay providers not simply for getting someone into work, but for supporting them while they are back in work over an extended period. That is crucial to ensuring that people do not come off benefits, stay in work for a few weeks and then return to the unemployment registers, as has so often happened in the past.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T9. Is the Minister aware that his own Department’s statistics show that the impact of restricting local housing allowance to the 30th percentile in Glasgow is that 92% of recipients in one-bedroom properties will lose out by, on average, £7 per week? The Glasgow Housing Association told me on Friday that that is likely to lead to higher levels of rent arrears and lower levels of available investment for its properties. Does not that show how unfair and badly designed the proposals are?

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

T6. The whole House will welcome the news that unemployment is on the decline and look forward to the introduction of the Government’s Work programme. However, my right hon. Friend will be aware of the particular issues facing the north-east. What steps is he taking to ensure that there is support in the meantime for those seeking employment in the region?

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend will be aware that I am always extremely concerned about the employment situation in the north-east. I was therefore extremely pleased this summer to see an increase in private sector employment of 17,000 in the region. I was disappointed, however, that the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance barely changed, which simply underlined for me the need for the Work programme to deliver real change in that area. However, the introduction of the new enterprise allowance and some of the other measures that we are taking to support small businesses, as set out in the Budget by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will help to continue the process of job creation in the private sector in the north-east, which is what we all want.

[Malcolm Wicks (Croydon North) (Lab)]

As the Secretary of State and his team develop their longer-term thinking on social security, including for state pensions, what emphasis and importance will they place on the contributory principle?

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

T7. What measures will be contained in the Work programme to ensure that the unemployed in rural areas get the help they need?

[Chris Grayling]

One of the benefits of working with smaller organisations as well as the larger prime contractors is that we can get the input of specialist organisations with expert knowledge of the rural community and the rural jobs market. I believe that the contracting structure we have set up maximises the likelihood of prime contractors identifying the right organisations to deliver support in rural areas.

[Fiona O'Donnell (East Lothian) (Lab)]

My constituent, Mr Edwards, is in receipt of the independent living fund, which empowers him to buy services to meet his needs. Uncertainty over the future of the fund is causing him and his family great concern. When will the Government end that uncertainty?

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[Chris Grayling]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. It is particularly true for areas of the country that have high levels of incapacity benefit dependency. For the first time, we will be attempting to provide real support to people who have been on incapacity benefit long term and are found fit for work or potentially fit for work through the work capability assessment. I am convinced that the specialist support that we can bring to bear for those people will make a particular difference in those parts of the country where the problem is substantial.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Most jobseekers will become eligible for entry into the Work programme after they have been on jobseeker’s allowance for a period of 12 months. Can the Minister explain how it is sensible that at precisely the moment at which they become eligible for the extra support of the Work programme, they will see a cut in their housing benefit because of the period that they have spent on JSA?

[Chris Grayling]

The hon. Lady must understand that we are seeking to maximise the incentives in the system. What we inherited from the previous Administration is a system that is full of disincentives to go back to work. If we do not remove some of those disincentives, create a push to get people back into work and combine that with support to do so, we will end up with the same 13 years of failure as we saw under the previous Government.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

T10. The Barry branch of the mental health charity Mind often advocates in favour of service users at work assessment appeals, with a very high success rate. This demonstrates the difficulty in assessing people with mental health illnesses. What action is the Minister taking to ensure that they are treated fairly in the new work capability assessment?

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend will see tomorrow, with the publication of the Harrington review, some innovative suggestions about how we can deal with that problem. It is a very real problem. I am determined to ensure that we do everything we can to avoid people with mental health problems being wrongly diagnosed by the assessment. I pay tribute to Paul Farmer of Mind, whose input into the process has been hugely valuable.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

May I bring the Minister back to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Mr Bain) about the cuts to housing benefit? The cuts to local housing allowance are the same cuts that will make people in Chesterfield up to £11 a week worse off. Will the Minister confirm that that was not in the Labour party manifesto and is nothing to do with the cap? Will he set the record straight?

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[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

I warmly welcome the long-overdue review of the work capability assessment, but does the Minister agree that there are problems after the assessment, and that the time spent going through appeals and tribunals is far too long? What steps is his Department taking to rectify that?

[Chris Grayling]

There are two aspects to what we are doing. First, we are seeking to improve the process not simply within the assessment itself, but before and after, in the way that individual cases are handled. I hope that that will make a difference. Secondly, my Department is working with the Ministry of Justice to ensure that we streamline and improve the appeals process, create extra capacity to deal with any appeals that result from next year’s migration and have a system that works as effectively as possible.

[Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State knows how vital Remploy and other supportive workshops are in helping people back into work. Will he outline the steps that the Government are going to take to promote that through public procurement, and will he or one of his Ministers meet me and trade union representatives to discuss the matter?