Business of the House

Jo Stevens Excerpts

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I think we may be trespassing on devolved issues. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman is calling for a wider debate on the competence with which the SNP runs Scotland, and how it can ensure that public money is spent efficiently and effectively, because the Westminster Government are doing a great deal to improve public transport—buses and trains. I think £48 billion is to be spent on the rail network, and there is more money for buses, so I think this is really a matter of devolution and the competence of the SNP.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

The transitional arrangements for those in receipt of the severe disability premium who have been wrongly transferred from the employment and support allowance to universal credit have left them worse off. That includes a number of my constituents who are very severely disabled. May we have an urgent statement on Monday or Tuesday next week, before Prorogation, from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about what she is doing to resolve this terrible situation?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. The situation is one that many of us have seen in our constituency surgeries, and I know that the Department for Work and Pensions is working to ensure that it is put right. I cannot promise a statement in the time available.