Oral Answers to Questions

Justin Tomlinson Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

14. What estimate he has made of the change in the number of people requiring temporary accommodation since 2010.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson)]

As hon. Members will be aware, the administration of temporary accommodation is a matter for local authorities, but I hope they will agree that the best route out of poverty is to support people into employment, and I am proud that we have achieved an employment rate of 73.6%, the highest since records began in 1971.

[Matthew Pennycook]

Official figures show that in England the total number of homeless households in temporary accommodation has risen by an alarming 26% over the last five years. In my local area, it has risen by 55% in the last 18 months. The Minister will know that being placed in temporary accommodation is not only traumatic for the families but incredibly costly. Given that his Department’s policies have been a key driver in this increase, what is he doing, in conjunction with his colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government, to come up with an urgent solution to the problem?

[Justin Tomlinson]

Today, the number of households in temporary accommodation is 66,890, and the all-time high in September 2004 was 50% higher than that. The average time that households spend in temporary accommodation is now seven months less than when we came into office in 2010. Working with DCLG, we are introducing measures to build more houses. Over this Parliament, we expect a further 275,000 affordable houses to be built, which is the fastest rate in 20 years.

[Ms Buck]

Discretionary housing payments were intended to mitigate some of the effects of welfare cuts—housing benefit and the benefit cap—and to prevent homelessness. In my local authority, however, half of expenditure is going to support house- holds that are already homeless and in temporary accommodation. Will the Minister tell us what proportion of expenditure nationally is going on paying for existing temporary accommodation? Does he think that is the point of discretionary housing payments?

[Justin Tomlinson]

We are making available £800 million for discretionary housing payments over this Parliament, which is an increase of 40%. The key is that it is discretionary for each local authority. In addition, to recognise the additional costs within London, £60 per household is provided per week to the local authority.

[Simon Danczuk]

Petrus Community, a homeless charity in Rochdale has told me that there has been a significant increase in the number of people requiring temporary accommodation. The figures show that it has nearly doubled over the last five years of this Government. The charity blames these results on the bedroom tax, benefit sanctions, and employment and support allowance claimants being wrongly declared fit for work. What will the Government do about the situation in Rochdale?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The key is providing more houses. A further 800,000 new homes have been built since 2009, housing starts are at their highest level since 2007, and a further 275,000 affordable houses will be built during this Parliament. Through the new homes bonus, we are offering additional incentives to build further affordable houses.

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

Enfield is significantly affected by increases in temporary accommodation and by child poverty. Does the Minister agree that family breakdown is the key factor that needs to be taken into account when assessing and tackling the root causes of child poverty?

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that very powerful point. To recognise the difference it can make, that factor is one of the key measures within the life chances strategy.

[Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (Con)]

Further to the question about those living in temporary accommodation, does the Minister agree that, in order to get to the root causes of poverty, it is important to tackle not just family breakdown but workless households?

[Justin Tomlinson]

That is why we rightly celebrate the 2 million new private sector jobs that have been created since we came into office. We will continue to deliver a strong economy that will create jobs, which are the best route out of poverty.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

The Tory-Liberal Democrat Government tried to cut housing benefit some nine times. Since May, the Government have been trying again. All this has achieved is a massive increase in the number of homeless families in temporary accommodation, the largest housing benefit bill we have ever seen, and huge amounts of discretionary housing payments being given to local authorities. I am sure that it has occurred to the Minister—he is an intelligent man—that the answer is to build more real affordable housing. Would he like to have a quiet word with the Department responsible and ask it to pull the Housing and Planning Bill, because it will simply result in the sell-off of more and more affordable social housing?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The right-to-buy policy is a deal that we have secured with housing associations to give tenants the right to buy. The homes will be sold on a one-for-one basis, which creates new, modern stock and additional jobs. People who work hard should not be blocked from a chance to own their home, which I very much support.

[Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)]

5. What support his Department is providing to young people seeking work.

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[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

16. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect on family carers in receipt of carer’s allowance of reforms to benefits and other financial support.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson)]

This Government recognise the need to protect and support the most vulnerable in society including pensioners, those with disabilities and their carers. Stronger rights for carers have been introduced through the Care Act 2014. Since 2010, carer’s allowance has increased from £53.90 to £62.10 a week, and in April 2015 the earnings limit for carers was increased by 8% to £110 a week.

[Barbara Keeley]

Indeed, but now there is a real threat, because around 700,000 family carers on carer’s allowance who work 16 hours a week at the minimum wage and can therefore claim working tax credit are going to be hit by the Government’s proposed tax credit cuts. The exact number is not known, but it is probably quite a lot of that group. Most of those carers cannot increase their working hours because they have such a big caring workload. They deserve, in my view, to be exempt from the Government’s tax credit cuts, so are DWP Ministers and the care Minister arguing now for this group of carers to be protected from the cuts?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The Chancellor said he will set out in the autumn statement what he will do to address the concerns some have raised about the transition from a high welfare, low wage economy to a low welfare, higher wage economy. As it stands today, we spend over £2 billion—a record amount—on supporting the valuable work carers provide in society, and the inter-ministerial meeting this Thursday, in which I will actively participate, will look at further ways in which we can support carers.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

17. What progress he has made on reducing the number of people in long-term unemployment.

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[Mark Pawsey]

I have been contacted by a number of constituents who have been in receipt of a Motability vehicle and have appealed against a PIP assessment. They tell me that it can take months for their appeal to be heard, during which their entitlement to the vehicle, to which expensive adaptations have sometimes been made, is withdrawn. What steps can the Minister take to ensure that those rightly in receipt of a Motability vehicle retain it?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson)]

We are working closely with Motability to put in place a package of support for those who lose their eligibility. Claimants will be able to keep their vehicles for almost two months and most claimants receive a one-off payment of up to £2,000 to maintain their mobility. In addition, we have reformed the DWP appeals process with the introduction of the mandatory reconsideration. This enables disputes to be addressed more quickly. Finally, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service continues to focus on reducing waiting times, and I would be happy to work with my hon. Friend further to see what progress can be made.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

Given the considerable disquiet in the country about cuts to tax credits, not to mention the alarm on the Secretary of State’s side of the House, where 20 of his own MPs have said that the Government are in danger of cutting a lifeline to working families, does he now regret describing tax credits as a “bribe”?

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[Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon) (Con)]

T6. I welcome the Minister’s commitment to introducing a yellow card system for sanctions, but does he agree that we also need to ensure that claimants with mental health problems are placed in the right group in the first place? Will he reaffirm the commitment that I received from his predecessor, following a tragic constituency case, to improve mental health training for assessors and decision makers?

[Justin Tomlinson]

This is an important area, in which the Government have rightly invested an extra £1.25 billion in the March 2015 Budget. We have rolled out a £43 million series of pilots to provide face-to-face, group, online and telephone support. We also have mental health and wellbeing partnership managers and disability employment advisers right across the jobcentre network. We will continue to push further training, as this is an important issue.

[Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

T8. Over the previous Parliament, the number of working families in London claiming housing benefit increased by 84%. Over the past three years, London councils have been able to replace only one in seven of the council homes they have sold. Does the Minister see any connection between those two figures?

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[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

I was pleased to meet the Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People to discuss children with Batten disease who were having to re-apply for disability living allowance, but we were disappointed to be told that we would not get a formal response. Will the Minister ensure that the Batten Disease Family Association gets a formal response about how the Department will take the recommendations forward?

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue. I am very disappointed to hear what he says and I will make sure that a formal response is sent. I was very grateful to both the hon. Gentleman and the Batten Disease Family Association UK for taking the time to help proactively support the changes that we needed to make.

[Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)]

Does the Minister share my view that a huge part of tackling youth unemployment is ensuring that people leave the education system work-ready? What has been done to help achieve that?

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[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Building a broad skills set is crucial for entering the world of work, so is the Department actively promoting schemes such as the National Citizen Service, which provides a really unique opportunity to do exactly that?

[Justin Tomlinson]

We have already had cross-departmental meetings to look at how we can further promote the National Citizen Service. As an MP, I can say that it is one of the schemes that was introduced in the previous Parliament of which I am proudest. It absolutely transforms children into young very employable adults; it is a brilliant scheme.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Department of Health about passporting on to the new disability benefits, without the need for further assessment, those people who received contaminated blood from the NHS and contracted HIV and hepatitis C? That is causing such concern to those who are affected.

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I will have to provide her with a written update.

[Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)]

Given the Government’s ambition to have all benefit claims online by the end of this Parliament, will the Minister update the House on what discussions he has had with internet service providers to ensure that those on low incomes can get online?