Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Smith Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey]

I am afraid that the right hon. Lady never did one when Labour was in government. Disabled people remain my top priority. Let me reiterate to the House that the disability living allowance, carer’s allowance and the support group of the employment and support allowance will all increase with CPI. We have protected the disability support programme in its entirety, and an extra £15 million is going into Access to Work.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

5. What plans he has to increase access to the new enterprise allowance.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Mr Mark Hoban)]

We have recently taken steps to increase access to the new enterprise allowance by extending eligibility to day one of an individual’s jobseeker’s allowance claim and increasing the number of mentoring places available by 30,000.

[Julian Smith]

Take-up of the scheme in Yorkshire has been excellent, but how do we ensure that those considering taking it up are given the best possible advice on developing their nascent business ideas?

[Mr Hoban]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight take-up in Yorkshire. In his constituency, 40 claimants have started with a mentor, and so far 30 have started training. That is a good result—better than the national average—so clearly people in his constituency are getting good advice. We need to ensure that the quality of advice increases. We want more people to see self-employment as a way into the work force.