The Secretary of State’s Handling of Universal Credit

Baroness Laing of Elderslie Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

I will not give way.

What did the Opposition do? They cynically voted against the regulations that allowed the £1.5 billion of support to be made available to claimants. I get that the Opposition are there to oppose, but that should not be at the cost of helping the very people they claim to represent. Opposition Members have raised individual cases of claimants who have been suffering hardship. How many of those hon. Members have looked those individual claimants in the eye and explained why they voted to deny them the help and support that they needed? [Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. The Minister has listened to all the questions and is now answering them, so he should not be shouted at by hon. Members on either side of the House.

[Alok Sharma]

Let us talk about the help that the work coaches are giving. The NAO report says:

“A survey of live service claimants found that claimant satisfaction levels were similar to those on legacy benefits and in our visits to jobcentres we observed good relationships between work coaches and claimants.”

The support is available, and it is working and helping people to get into work.