Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

James Duddridge Excerpts

Monday 21st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms]

Uprating should indeed be in line with inflation, as it always was in the past.

[James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Stephen Timms]

I will make a little more progress, and then gladly give way again. As I was saying, schedule 1(b) means that housing benefit for people in work will be cut in real terms as well. We will return to that when we speak to amendment 17.

The change in the personal tax allowance, which we have heard a good deal about, will not do very much to help people who are in work on low incomes. Citizens Advice points out that

“any rise in net earnings leads to a reduction in housing benefit and council tax benefit.”

In addition, of course, the change will do nothing at all for people who are out of work.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, as are the organisations to which she refers. Indeed, as I shall say, there has been a widespread call along those lines pointing out the damage that the Bill will do. Disability Rights UK states:

“The Government has suggested that all disabled people are protected from the lower 1% increase in benefits. This is not the case.”

In fact, as the impact assessment tells us, disabled households are more likely than others to be hit by the changes in the Bill.

[James Duddridge]

The right hon. Gentleman has twice from the Dispatch Box repeated the commitment to uprate benefits by inflation. Is that the retail prices index or the consumer prices index, or has that yet to be decided?

[Stephen Timms]

That is a matter to be announced at the appropriate time. At the end of this year, we will set out how benefits should be uprated for the following year, as it always has been done, and at the end of next year for the year after that.