Welfare Reform and Work Bill

Debate between Heidi Allen and James Cartlidge

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge]

The employment statistics are very much on the side of the agenda we have been pursuing: employment is now at a record high. The fact is that this Bill is socially just because it will enable people to stand on their own two feet and to support themselves through their wages, not rely on the state. That is a sound Conservative principle.

[Heidi Allen]

I want to reiterate two of the points my hon. Friend has made. First, I am also an employer and have lost count of the number of times part-time workers have turned down wage increases or further hours—when I know that their households are short of money—purely because of tax credits. On the flipside, just this Friday I was visited in one of my constituency surgeries by a young married lady with three autistic children—it is a very sad case—who was scared to accept payment for the precious hours she worked as a volunteer teacher, for fear of having her benefits taken away.

[James Cartlidge]

My hon. Friend corroborates my point. I repeat that this is not a fantasy: every employer to whom I have spoken is wrestling with this situation. Tax credits can work as disincentives. I accept the point made by the right hon. Member for East Ham about lone parent employment, but to be completely honest I do not have that statistic to hand. The general statistics on employment are extremely strong.

Our agenda is one whereby we will reduce benefits but raise wages. Real wages are now increasing sharply. Obviously, after the credit crunch there was a period when wages were static. It was very difficult to follow that financial shock with a strong recovery, but we have achieved economic stability. The next stage is to share our prosperity more widely and the key to that is not the benefits system or dependency, but higher wages and people supporting themselves. That is a sound Conservative agenda, but it is also socially just.