Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Liz Jarvis and Stephen Timms

Monday 27th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

T8. Many young care leavers living in supported housing want to increase their hours at work but find themselves caught in the benefits trap. YMCA Eastleigh tells me that this is impacting care leavers in my constituency. What recent discussions has the Minister had with Cabinet colleagues on reforms to the tax and benefit system to make work pay for young care leavers?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

There is a problem in the interaction between housing benefit, which provides housing support for people in supported accommodation, and housing support in the universal credit system. That interaction does cause difficulties, and I think that is what the hon. Lady is referring to. We are looking at that at the moment. We are talking to other parts of government and working with people such as YMCA and Centrepoint to look at the problem and what we can do to fix it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Liz Jarvis and Stephen Timms

Monday 17th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

15. What steps she is taking through the benefits system to support disabled people.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

We will be reforming the current broken system of health and disability benefits. We will bring forward a Green Paper with proper plans very soon, setting out how we will help disabled people who can work to do so, while fully supporting the most severely disabled as well.

[Sir Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That balance will be at the heart of the Green Paper that we are bringing forward. We will deliver proper employment support for disabled people, which has been taken away since 2010. We will deal with the incentives to inactivity that the current system presents. Of course, there will always be people who are unable to work through disability or ill health, and we are committed to fully supporting them too.

[Liz Jarvis]

My constituents in Eastleigh who support and help to care for disabled family members are desperately concerned about any potential cuts to benefits, including personal independent payment. They include Laura, whose son is registered blind, and Debbie, who helps to care for her disabled daughter and is herself disabled. Can the Minister reassure my constituents that disability benefits for people who are unable to work will not be cut?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

I am concerned about the level of anxiety and speculation that has been around over recent weeks. I am sad that that has happened and that people have been concerned, but the current welfare system is failing the very people it is supposed to help—the people it is there for. Our aim is to make the system sustainable so that it will be there for people now and in the future. When the hon. Lady sees the proposals, I think she will see how we will deliver on that commitment.