Universal Credit: Delayed Roll-Out Debate

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Department: Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Delayed Roll-Out

Hywel Williams Excerpts
Tuesday 4th February 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

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Will Quince Portrait Will Quince
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I thank him for visiting his jobcentre. If more Members across the House did so, they would have a better understanding of the system and of how our work coaches feel about it. They would find that, as my hon. Friend rightly says, it is a valuable tool to help people to get into work and to progress in work. We should all be proud of it.

Hywel Williams Portrait Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)
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In a written answer to me, the Secretary of State has conceded:

“As the two-child limit policy was introduced in April 2017 there is insufficient data to assess any impacts of the policy on low income.”

Almost three years on, we still do not have sufficient data to assess the impacts. Will the Secretary of State and the Minister take the opportunity provided by this period of grace that they have granted themselves to get proper statistics on the effect of the two-child rule on people of ethnic and religious backgrounds, and at local authority and parliamentary constituency level?

Will Quince Portrait Will Quince
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I am not entirely sure about the correlation between that question and this urgent question but, nevertheless, the hon. Gentleman can write to me, or I would be happy to meet him to discuss the issue further. I cannot guarantee that we will agree, but I will be happy to listen to him to understand the issues he raises.