Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Harriett Baldwin

Monday 25th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan Smith]

The hon. Lady knows that we are not yet responsible for tax credits, although under universal credit they will eventually come in. I will certainly relay her comments to the Treasury and ensure that that does not happen. I agree with her that everything we do to promote work, even part-time work, is very important.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

Can the Minister confirm that over 800,000 new jobs have been created in the private sector since the election and that one of the fastest growing sectors in the sector is cyber-security, as it is in my constituency, where there is an insatiable desire to hire young people who have skills, particularly in ethical hacking?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The point she should make, quite rightly, is that these are new and growing industries where there are real threats to computers and people using them, and that is why the industry is growing. More than that, in the past three months we have seen a fall in unemployment and a rise in private sector employment, even though we have been moving more people from incapacity benefit, ESA and lone parent benefits to jobseeker’s allowance, so it has been a success in difficult times and we should applaud that.

Pensions Bill [Lords]

Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, welcome him to his post and declare an interest also as a woman whose state pension age was increased to 66 under the previous Government. Given the £10 billion—

[Mr Duncan Smith]

Eleven billion.

[Harriett Baldwin]

Eleven billion, that’s right.

Given the £11 billion commitment that the hon. Gentleman is making, and the £12.5 billion commitment that the shadow Chancellor has made, at what point do these billions of pounds add up to real money in the minds of Labour Front Benchers?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Harriett Baldwin

Monday 18th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

T10. The auditors of the Department have not signed off the accounts for many years. Will the Secretary of State’s announcement today keep the auditors happier in future?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

It is always very difficult to know what keeps auditors happy—or if they are among that breed of people who are never happy—but the reality is that we are in discussions with them about the need to be a little more realistic between the two groups to make sure that the accounts are signed off in future. After all, this Department has made huge strides—both under the last Government and this one—to be more efficient. That has been acknowledged by the auditors, so perhaps it is time for us to come to a conclusion.

Welfare Reform

Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Harriett Baldwin

Monday 11th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

As a Back-Bench MP, I receive child benefit. Prior to entering the House, I was even better paid and received child benefit. Was the Secretary of State as surprised as I was to learn that the new Leader of the Opposition would like to restore child benefit to people like me?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

He may be after my hon. Friend’s vote, in which case we will have to do some quiet talking. It is a ludicrous position to take. We now have a Labour party in opposition which prefers to defend the very wealthiest, and a coalition that wants to defend the worst off.