Milburn Review: Interim Report

Lewis Atkinson Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Western]

I am reluctant to respond in the strongest terms possible because it is the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) who has made the point, and I hold him in the highest regard. The Milburn review says loud and clear that this is not about a fecklessness in young people, and neither are they proud of not being in education, employment or training. Young people want those opportunities, and it is a failure of the state and the system. Whole-system reform is needed, and we are determined to bring it forward.

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

The Milburn report identifies a state failure to provide timely and appropriate mental health support—and this is just about child and adolescent mental health services, up to adult services. Most tellingly, it states that there are no waiting time targets for mental health services. Will the Minister have a conversation with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to supplement the jobs guarantee with a mental health support guarantee, and ensure that young people are not waiting more than 18 months for mental health support?

[Andrew Western]

I will raise that with the Department of Health and Social Care and come back to my hon. Friend.

Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report

Lewis Atkinson Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

My party opposed the Conservatives’ decision to accelerate increases in the state pension age, but that is not what the report is about. It is about how those changes were communicated and, at the risk of repeating myself, that is why we have taken this decision.

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

It is no small thing for a Secretary of State to stand up with the sincerity that my right hon. Friend has and to offer an apology on behalf of the Government and accept maladministration, and I know she takes that responsibility seriously. I understand her position regarding the 90% of women who knew the pension age was going to change, but among the 10% who did not realise, people made individual decisions about their financial circumstances. Will she say more about why she did not feel that it was possible to put an individualised compensation scheme in place for that 10%?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lewis Atkinson Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

The hon. Lady’s party left nearly a million young people not in education, employment or training, and almost a record number of people—2.8 million— out of work owing to long-term sickness. They failed to introduce reforms to join up work, health and skills properly, and they have not learnt from those mistakes. I am proud that this Government are investing an extra £240 million to get Britain working again, giving people the opportunities that they need to work and build a better life.

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

4. What steps she is taking to increase uptake of pension credit in winter 2024-25.

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

10. What steps her Department is taking to help increase uptake of pension credit.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Secretary, His Majesty's Treasury (Emma Reynolds)]

We have launched the next phase of our pension credit campaign on radio, TV and print media, and the Government have written to 120,000 pensioners on housing benefit who may be eligible but are not currently claiming pension credit. After less than five months in government, we are bringing forward the merger of housing benefit and pension credit, which the Conservatives announced 13 years ago but failed to deliver.

[Lewis Atkinson]

Under the previous Conservative Government, many eligible pensioners in Sunderland Central did not receive the pension credit that they were due. When I speak to organisations such as Age UK Sunderland, they tell me that that was often because people did not know how and whether to claim. How many pensioners are now taking up pension credit thanks to the actions taken by this Government?

[Emma Reynolds]

We have seen a 152% increase in pension credit claims since late July, with over 74,000 pension credit claims up to mid-September. We know that many local authorities and, indeed, Members of this House—including me last Thursday—are helping pensioners on low incomes to ascertain whether they are due pension credit.