Oral Answers to Questions

Iain Duncan Smith Excerpts

Monday 1st February 2016 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge (South Suffolk) (Con)]

12. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of private sector jobs.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

A record 26 million people are working in the private sector, up over 500,000 in the past year and by 2.7 million since 2010.

[Damian Collins]

Will the Secretary of State join me in welcoming the fact that the unemployment rate in my constituency has fallen by 48% since 2010? Does he agree that the roll-out of universal credit, which came to my constituency on 25 January, is a further fundamental part of our welfare reforms to make sure that everyone can benefit from work?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

My hon. Friend is right that universal credit provides the support and incentives that people need to get back into work. Evidence released a few weeks ago shows that universal credit claimants are more likely to have been in employment, spent a longer time in employment, done more job-search activity and earned more than those on jobseeker’s allowance. It is also important to note that, as part of the national roll-out, universal credit has now been rolled out across the whole county of Kent, which includes my hon. Friend’s constituency.

[James Cartlidge]

I very much welcome the fact that youth unemployment has halved in South Suffolk in the past 12 months and that long-term unemployment is down by over a third. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we cannot be complacent, and that there is an important role for community initiatives? Such an initiative is In2BK2, run by Kingfisher HR in Long Melford in South Suffolk, which takes local small business volunteers to help even more young people and the long-term unemployed back into work.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I commend my hon. Friend for working for such organisations, about which he has spoken to me in the past. A huge amount of progress has taken place in this area, as he maintains. It is worth noting that, as a result of what we have been doing with the reforms and in working with organisations such as the one he mentions, the youth claimant count is at its lowest level since the mid-1970s, the number of those unemployed is down nearly 300,000 since 2010 and, most importantly, the unemployment rate for those not in education is 5.8%—pretty near the lowest it has ever been. We will carry on trying to get this right, but this is good evidence that welfare reform is working.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

On 1 November 2011, the Secretary of State issued a press release saying that

“the Universal Credit IT programme is…progressing well with 30% of the new technology required to deliver it now complete”.

Will the Secretary of State tell the House what proportion of universal credit IT has now been completed?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

The roll-out of IT across the country is nearly complete. The roll-out nationally will be complete before April, as I said to the right hon. Gentleman last time he asked exactly the same question. It is always good to have old questions: the old ones are always the best. The roll-out is progressing well. As he knows, he has an invitation to come and visit the final digital development, which will start to roll all the other benefits into universal credit in May.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

23. In Worcester, unemployment overall is down two thirds and youth unemployment is down three quarters since it peaked under the previous Labour Government. How can we go further and achieve the Prime Minister’s aim of eliminating youth unemployment over the long term, and what role can apprenticeships play in delivering that goal?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

There are two elements. The first is that, as my hon. Friend knows, we have introduced a work experience programme, which has been hugely successful in getting young people back into work. When we came into office, people could take work experience through a jobcentre for only two weeks, but we have now increased that to two months—or three months for people who get the chance to have an apprenticeship. Over 50% of those who do work experience have gone back to work.

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the huge increase in apprenticeships we are now planning will reskill our young people and ensure that the work they do is high skilled, high value and well paid.

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

4. What contribution his Department plans to make to the strategy announced by the Prime Minister in January 2016 to ensure that people from all parts of society have equal life chances.

[Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)]

11. What contribution his Department plans to make to the strategy announced by the Prime Minister in January 2016 to ensure that people from all parts of society have equal life chances.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

My Department is leading the development of the life chances strategy. The strategy marks our commitment to transforming children’s lives by tackling the root causes of poverty—worklessness, poor educational attainment, family breakdown, problem debt and addiction.

[Paul Maynard]

Improving life chances is very important in my constituency, given the high levels of deprivation, which are often linked to ill health. What more can the Department do to help people stay in work when they experience ill health, rather than dropping out and having to engage with the benefits system?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I commend my hon. Friend on the huge amount of work that he does so tirelessly in his constituency, which I have seen at first hand when visiting projects with him. He is a huge champion for those who have difficulties getting back into work. As he knows, we have introduced the “Fit for Work” programme, which helps employees facing long-term sickness to get back into work sooner and helps employers to get people assessed properly, rather than allowing them to fall away and have difficulties, so that occupational health can look at them as well as their having a health assessment. That will introduce a new way of looking at people to keep them in work because, as the Department of Health now agrees, work is part of a health treatment and should not be seen as separate. The White Paper that I will bring forward shortly will talk about that.

[Luke Hall]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that family stability is hugely important to life chances? Will he update the House on what his Department is doing to strengthen family and relationship support services?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I fully agree with my hon. Friend. In the last Parliament, the Department did a huge amount to get better advice and support for those who are thinking about breaking up. We invested over £30 million in relationship support over the last Parliament, which meant that about 160,000 people had access to preventive support. As the Prime Minister announced recently, we are doubling the funding available over the next five years to £70 million. The life chances strategy includes the important aim of strengthening and stabilising family life.

[Frank Field (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s approach on this issue. Given that he has taught the House the fundamental point that life chances for most children are determined before they are five, will he bring forward a debate in Government time on how the policy of life chances is developing so that the views of Members can be taken into account before the Government publish the White Paper in the spring or summer?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I will certainly look at that request. The door is open to the Chairman of the Select Committee on Work and Pensions. He has had a huge part to play. One of his recommendations, which is quite legitimate, is that we look at how we incorporate early years into the life chances measures. We are looking at that and would be happy to discuss it further with him.

[Mrs Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab)]

22. There is increasing inequality across society for those who are disabled and need access to aids and adaptations. Those who can afford to buy them are fine, but there is a postcode lottery of availability. Is it not unfair, therefore, to look at aids and adaptations in assessments for the personal independence payment? Will the Secretary of State withdraw them from the PIP assessment?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I say to the hon. Lady, whom I respect enormously, that we are consulting on what changes are necessary to aids and adaptations to ensure that the support, which was always bound into the personal independence payment, gets to those who need it most. That is the critical point. All of us should want to ensure that people get the support they need for the things they need most to get by. The door is always open to her, as it always has been, and I would be happy to discuss this matter further in light of the consultation.

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware of the index published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission over the weekend and will share my concern that children growing up in the Norwich City Council area have some of the lowest chances of doing well in life. Does he agree that we should have the highest possible ambition for Norwich children? What does he suggest could be done locally to target that?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

A huge amount can be done locally. Universal support, which is now part of universal credit, is being trialled with a lot of councils to look at the families with the greatest difficulties. It involves councils in getting financial support to those families and in helping them to sort out drug and alcohol abuse. As they receive the special payments, we expect councils to work with us to ensure that their problems are put right, rather than ignored and left to one side.

[Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)]

The Department is responsible for providing support to some people who, sadly, are at the end of their lives and have a prognosis of six months or less to live. Will the Minister update the House on progress to remove the 28-day waiting rule for terminally ill people who are transferring from the disability living allowance to the personal independence payment?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

May I write to the hon. Gentleman about that? We are considering that issue but have not quite made a decision, so I will provide a full answer in due course.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon) is right. Poverty affects people’s life chances, and disabled people are twice as likely to be living in poverty as the non-disabled population. We know from the Government’s own figures that disabled people on incapacity benefit or the employment and support allowance are between two and six times more likely to die than the population as a whole. As my hon. Friend said, the recent consultation to review eligibility for the personal independence payment, just two years after it was introduced, will mean even more cuts for disabled people. That comes on top of the proposed cuts to ESA, the work-related activity group, and the £23.8 billion that has been taken from disabled people as part of the Welfare Reform Act 2012. With 5.1 million disabled people living in poverty, what is the Government’s estimate of how many more disabled people will be living in poverty as a result of those measures?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

Even though we have created a new benefit—I believe that PIP is a better benefit than the DLA, and it is far better for those with mental health problems, as many charities and support groups have admitted—we must constantly keep it under review to ensure that the money allocated for it goes to those who need it most. As the hon. Lady knows, a recent court case widened the whole element of aids and adaptations, which would mean that fewer people got the kind of money that they needed. We believe that the personal independence payment is far better, and that it will deliver exactly what we expect to those who need it most. Our job is to support those who need it. The Government that the hon. Lady was part of did absolutely nothing to sort out the mess of the disability living allowance in the whole time they were in power.

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[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

9. What assessment he has made of the effect on the income of working households of changes to the universal credit work allowance.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

The changes to universal credit work allowances form part of a broader package of measures, including the introduction of the new national living wage, the increase in the personal tax allowance and the enhanced package of childcare support. Importantly, the single taper rate of 65% ensures that the benefits of work are clear and that support is withdrawn at a predictable and consistent rate, unlike under the existing tax credits arrangement.

[Chi Onwurah]

The Government were forced into a climbdown over tax credit cuts, but it was only a temporary reprieve, because cuts to the working allowance mean that 2.5 million families will be £1,600 per year worse off by 2020. How can the Secretary of State say that he is making work pay, when low-paid working families are paying the price for his cuts?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I disagree with the hon. Lady. An independent study has already shown that with universal credit people get into work faster, stay in work longer and progress faster in earnings. She cannot take this in isolation, however; it is worth remembering that the national minimum wage is rising to some £9, and that under universal credit women will get 85% of their childcare costs, instead of 70%. There will be free childcare for poorer people with two-year-olds, and childcare support for people with three and four-year-olds. The total package is hugely beneficial to people who want to work, which is why, as we get more people back to work, our record will only improve. That compares with the last Government’s shocking record: one in five households with nobody in work.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

It is good to see that the Secretary of State has screwed up the courage to come back to the Dispatch Box to answer some questions.

According to the Government’s own advisers, some working families in this country will be £210 a week worse off as a result of cuts to universal credit. That means that someone on the minimum wage working full time will have to work an extra 30 hours a week to make up the difference. The Chancellor of the Exchequer claims that the Conservative party is the party of work. Did he forget to mention there would be 70 hours a week of it for the lowest-paid?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I do not need any lessons on courage from the hon. Gentleman. What takes no courage is to sit there with a leader who talks about getting into bed with all sorts of extremists. I find that takes no courage whatever. [Interruption.] I note that the shadow Secretary of State is shouting, but he has already declared his interest in being the leader of the Labour party when the current leader fails.

The reality is very simple. Even under tax credits right now—this is why the figures of the hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) do not add up—when circumstances change, people actually have lower payments. The difference between us and the Labour party when in government is that we have cash-protected people through transitional protection so that when they move off tax credits on to universal credit, they will suffer no loss.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

13. What progress he has made on increasing the number of women in employment.

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[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

21. What progress his Department has made on reducing the number of workless households.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

The number of workless households is now at its lowest-ever level, having fallen by over 680,000 since 2010.

[Andrew Bridgen]

I welcome that encouraging figure, which means that fewer children are growing up in workless households. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, while ensuring that every family includes a member in work is the best way out of poverty, it also offers a great role model to any children in the household, increasing family stability and thus giving children the stability and security they need to have the best possible life chances?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. We know that unemployment is one of the causes of family breakdown. Having a family member in work helps to create strong and stable families, which are crucial to giving children the best possible start in life. It is therefore very welcome that the number of workless households in the east midlands—a huge part of which my hon. Friend represents—has fallen by 68,000 since we came to power. I remind my hon. Friend and the House that, notwithstanding all the nonsense that we hear from Labour Members, some 2.5 million children were growing up in workless households when they left office. That is not much of a record.

[Henry Smith]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming the fact that the number of workless households in the south-east has fallen by more than 50,000 since 2010? Does he share my dismay that Labour Members are still set against welfare reform, and want a high tax, high spending economy to take us back to the pre-2010 days?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

My hon. Friend’s question is a strong endorsement of the reforms that have reduced the number of workless households in the south-east by such a large number. Since 2010, the claimant count in Crawley has fallen by 60%, and the youth claimant count has fallen by 75%. Getting people into work clearly has a huge effect. However, my hon. Friend should not be too unkind to the Opposition. I know that many Labour Members who are not now on the Front Bench think that they should be engaging with us on welfare reform, but their new leadership does not believe in that; it believes only in opposition.

[Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP)]

What assessment has the Department made of the barriers that prevent members of households with disabilities from accessing work, and what steps will the Secretary of State take to address them?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

We are increasing the number of advisers in jobcentres, and we are giving advisers much better training. A huge amount of money—more than £100 million—is being invested in training them to look at a wider perspective and a bigger picture, so that they can help those who have difficulties to get into work and support them when they are in work.

It is also important to note that universal credit opens the door to a much better package of support and care, because the advisers do not leave these people. When people receive tax credits they see no one, but from now on, when they go into work, they will be able to come back and see the same adviser. If they have a problem, they will be able to pick up the phone.

This is a hugely positive step, and I congratulate the hon. Lady on her question.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

We are trialling a new feature of the access to work scheme From today we shall be testing the use of personal budgets, which will allow disabled people who have received grants to decide exactly how and when the money can best be used to support their individual needs. That gives them more choice and more control over the support they receive to help them to start work, to stay in work, or even to start a business.

[Dr Huq]

Last week the bedroom tax was declared unlawful in the Court of Appeal because it discriminated against domestic violence victims and disabled children. However, the Government are set to spend more on appealing against the decision than they would spend on abiding by the ruling. Surely the Secretary of State agrees that that means poor value for the taxpayer, and that this despicable and discredited policy needs to go.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

The hon. Lady ought to check her lines before making statements like that. The truth is that that is not what the Court of Appeal said last week. The debate in the Court of Appeal was about whether we should isolate individual groups and rule them out of the benefit system, or leave it to local authorities to handle the matter with extra money. We believe that, with the extra money that we are giving them for discretionary housing payments, local authorities are quite capable of allowing people to stay when they think that that is necessary, without limitation.

What I really wonder about—and this applies to the Front Bench as well—is the fact that Labour Members never, ever talk about those whom they left in overcrowded homes, on waiting lists, and unable to get decent homes. It was they who introduced this policy; we have merely followed through.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

T2. Can the Secretary of State give me some indication of when he will publish the draft regulations on housing benefits for 18 to 21-year-olds? Will he also look sympathetically at exempting from those regulations those who cannot live safely in their neighbourhood where their family home is because of sexual abuse, gang-related activity or overcrowded housing?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

We will publish the draft regulations shortly, although the Welfare Reform and Work Bill has to be passed first. I am very happy to discuss those elements. Of course, there are always exemptions for those who are most in need, and I am very happy to discuss that matter with my hon. Friend if he would like to come and see me.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Last week, the Government were significantly defeated in the House of Lords over their plans to cut the benefits of sick and disabled people. More than half the people in the work-related activity group have a mental health condition. They face barriers getting into work as a result of their condition as well as stigma from employers. Will the Secretary of State now accept how utterly unfair and ineffective this proposed cut is, and abandon it?

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[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

T7. May I ask the Minister to speed up the review process for benefit claimants who have been sanctioned or whose claims are being investigated? Over the Christmas period, a number of my constituents, despite having done everything right, ended up having to borrow money to get through that period because of delays. In some cases, this has happened after the Christmas period as well.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

None of that should actually happen. There are now loans available immediately, so if someone has been sanctioned they are immediately told about hardship loans, which are advertised inside jobcentres. Delay times have fallen to their lowest level ever; they are far lower than they were under the previous Government. If the hon. Gentleman has an individual case in mind, he should write to us immediately or give us a call and we will help to solve the matter straight away.

[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

T6. Will my right hon. Friend congratulate Tame Plastics and other manufacturing firms in Tamworth that are creating new jobs and apprenticeships? What can he do in areas of low unemployment to turn jobcentres into recruitment agencies for more and better-skilled roles?

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[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

We have already heard that the Department has changes afoot in relation to benefits for people with disabilities, not least with the narrowing of the personal independence payment. Are Ministers hoping to extend that to Northern Ireland as well, using the direct rule powers that exist until the end of this calendar year?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

We have no plans to do that, but I am happy to see the hon. Gentleman if he wishes to encourage us.

[Heidi Allen (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Following on from the comments about the ESA WRAG changes and the Lords having passed the matter back to us, I welcome the opportunity to look at this again and am excited to see the content of the White Paper. Can the Minister give us any feel at all about the cost recognition for claimants in the future? This is not just about support; it is also about the additional costs that they face to live.

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[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Does the Secretary of State believe that the two-child policy and the rape clause are consistent with his Government’s obligations under the UN convention on the rights of the child?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I am quite convinced that the proposals that we bring forward will make it absolutely certain that all those who suffer rape will not be put upon in any way by this proposal.

[William Wragg (Hazel Grove) (Con)]

What steps are the Government taking to ensure that all employees are fully informed of the new auto-enrolment pensions?

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[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will Department for Work and Pensions Ministers hold discussions quite urgently with civil service and Treasury Ministers about the Conservative manifesto commitment to cap very large redundancy payments? Are they aware of serious concerns that, by including early retirement awards in the capping scheme, we may penalise long-serving but low-paid public employees by a measure rightly intended to limit undeserved golden goodbyes to the very highly paid?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

As my hon. Friend knows, that is really a matter for the Treasury, but I am very happy to undertake such discussions. If he would like to add his extra information on this, I would be very happy to take it.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

Half of those receiving employment and support allowance in Scotland qualify through a mental health problem. A report from the Scottish Association for Mental Health, which has a base in my constituency at Redhall Walled Garden, has found that people who are placed in the work-related activity group report “inappropriate expectations” being put on them, making their mental illness worse. Does the Minister agree that that will be exacerbated by the Government’s proposed changes?