Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Greg Smith

Thursday 16th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

The hon. Gentleman knows that the test has got more difficult and onerous for individuals; we have made it much harder to pass in the first place. We look at all aspects of post-test passing on an ongoing basis, but I will take the matter up with him personally.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

I was grateful to the roads Minister for his commitment in an earlier answer to working with us in Buckinghamshire to find a solution to the crisis created by Arriva withdrawing bus services, but does he agree that companies that have been all too happy to take a taxpayer subsidy have a moral duty to maintain those services or give the money back?

[Guy Opperman]

We certainly expect those companies to engage with the local authority to ensure the provision of alternative service. That is what we intend to ensure happens.

Work and Pensions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Greg Smith

Thursday 16th November 2023 Ministerial Corrections

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

16. What steps his Department is taking to support more parents into work. [900017]

[The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)]

There have been transformational changes in childcare, skills, training and support for future employers, as announced at the spring Budget. It is absolutely the case that from April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week from the term after the second birthday, plus there will be the delivery of more support for working parents of children over the age of nine months with 30 free hours of childcare. There is nowhere in the world that compares with our childcare offer on an ongoing basis. We have virtually Scandinavian levels.

[Official Report, 13 November 2023, Vol. 740, c. 371.]

Letter of correction from the then Minister for Employment, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman):

An error has been identified in my response to my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (Greg Smith) during Work and Pensions questions. The response should have been:

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Greg Smith

Monday 13th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

16. What steps his Department is taking to support more parents into work.

[The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)]

There have been transformational changes in childcare, skills, training and support for future employers, as announced at the spring Budget. It is absolutely the case that from April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week from the term after the second birthday, plus there will be the delivery of more support for working parents of children over the age of nine months with 30 free hours of childcare. There is nowhere in the world that compares with our childcare offer on an ongoing basis. We have virtually Scandinavian levels.

[Greg Smith]

I am a huge supporter of the bold action that the Government are taking to tackle the costs of childcare and get more parents into work. However, some settings in my constituency report that the rate the Government pay does not cover the full costs of providing that place, putting them in an untenable position. Can my hon. Friend work with me, alongside the Department for Education, to ensure that the scheme is fully working and that the childcare places are actually there to be able to take up this generous Government support?

[Guy Opperman]

I am happy to convene a summit with the Department for Education, my hon. Friend and his unitary authority to discuss the ways in which we are ensuring that. We are already working in partnership with the DFE to deliver this campaign, and clearly the Government are committed to ensuring that the implementation of the expansion to 30 hours is dealt with in an appropriate and seamless way.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Guy Opperman and Greg Smith

Monday 5th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

11. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the universal credit taper rate on the levels of people’s incomes.

[The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)]

We reduced the earnings taper to 55% last December and we increased the work allowance by £500 a year. As a consequence, 1.7 million households will benefit from these measures, which mean that they keep, on average, around an extra £1,000 a year. That encourages in-work progression as claimants are clearly better off in work.

[Guy Opperman]

My hon. Friend will be aware that Rugby jobcentre is doing a fantastic job locally; I look forward to visiting in 2023. Since April 2022, we have been rolling out the new in-work progression offer, which will support approximately 2.1 million working universal credit claimants to progress into higher-paid work. They will also be supported by progression champions, of whom we have 37 across the country, including in Mercia.

[Greg Smith]

Universal credit was always intended to ensure that work pays. Reducing the taper rate is a critical part of that, but does my hon. Friend agree that it is not the only critical element? To keep unemployment as low as it is today or lower, things like increasing access to work coaches are equally important.

[Guy Opperman]

A huge amount is being done to increase the time that individual claimants spend with work coaches. More intensive support is being provided. The additional earnings threshold, which my hon. Friend will be fully aware of, is also being rolled out across the country to ensure that we see claimants in better-paid jobs on a longer-term basis.