Economy, Welfare and Public Services

Liz Kendall Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Liz Kendall)]

I have never seen the right hon. Member for Central Devon (Mel Stride) do a comic turn quite like that. Opposition clearly suits him, but if he wants to lead his party out of its catastrophic defeat, he will have to do a lot better.

I am honoured to close today’s debate, not only as I am speaking from this side of the Dispatch Box for the first time, but after so many truly wonderful maiden speeches. Members from all parts of the House talked about the social, cultural and economic heritage of their constituencies and about the real challenges that their constituents face, but also their talents and potential for a brighter future, given that they have a Government who are on their side. There are too many Members to go through individually, especially on the Government Benches, but let me just say this: your constituents will be very proud of you, as will your friends and family. I say that especially to the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton). Members have spoken with passion and conviction, especially on the Government Benches, about the need for change and to make true on our manifesto promises, and that is what this Government will deliver.

This King’s Speech turns the page on the last 14 years of chaos and decline, and it takes the first steps towards national renewal, delivering growth in every part of the country, tearing down the barriers to opportunity and repairing our public services through investment and reform. Growth is this Government’s No. 1 priority, because it is the only way that we will improve prosperity, put more money into people’s pockets and transform our public services. Our plan starts with economic stability through the fiscal lock and our Budget responsibility Bill, so that we never again repeat the mistakes of the last Conservative Government, who crashed the economy, leaving working people to pay a heavy price.

Our planning and infrastructure Bill will get Britain building again to deliver the homes and other infrastructure that our country needs. Our national wealth fund will unlock billions of pounds of private investment to support good jobs in clean energy and other growth industries of the future. The Department I am now privileged to lead is central to our growth and opportunity missions, through unlocking the potential of our pension system, getting people into work and on in their work and driving down poverty in every part of the country.

First, on pensions, people who have worked hard and saved all their lives deserve a decent income in retirement. Although the previous Government talked about the need for pension reform, in reality there was little action. In contrast, we have acted immediately. Our new pensions Bill will bring together all the different pension savings that people build up across their working lives and drive better value for money in pension schemes. These measures could help improve incomes in retirement and boost pension pots by more than £11,000. Our landmark pensions review, announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, and led by the Minister for Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Emma Reynolds) will go even further in unlocking investment in British businesses and improving outcomes for British pensioners.

The second way we will boost growth and unleash opportunity is by getting Britain working again. Last week’s labour market statistics underline the truly dire inheritance we face. Britain is the only G7 country whose employment rate has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Some 9.4 million people are now economically inactive—either not in work, or not looking for work. That is one in five of the entire working age population.

Of those people, 2.8 million are locked out of the workplace due to poor health. That includes over-50s, often women with bad hips, knees and joints—I know about that only too well—and young people with mental health problems, often lacking basic qualifications. One in eight of all our young people are not in education, employment or training. What a damning indictment of the last Government. But behind those statistics are real people, with real hopes and dreams, who were written off by the Tories, denied opportunities and support, and then blamed for the position they are in. Let me tell the House now that, under the new Labour Government, that will change.

Our plan to get Britain working will be a cross-Government effort to drive change and unleash opportunity in every corner of the country. We will create more good jobs in clean energy and through our modern industrial strategy. We will make work pay and improve the quality of work through our new deal for working people. We will cut NHS waiting times, improve mental health support and transform skills and childcare to tackle the root causes of the problem, and fix the foundations for work, not just paper over the cracks.

We will deliver fundamental change in the Department for Work and Pensions, too. First, we will overhaul jobcentres, bringing together Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service to create a new jobs and careers service to help more people get to work and get on in their work. Secondly, we will drive down economic inactivity through new local work, health and skills plans led by mayors and local areas, devolving responsibility and resources to provide the right support in one place, because the man—or even the woman—in Whitehall will never know what is best in Leicester, Lowestoft or Leeds.

We will also deliver our youth guarantee to ensure that every young person is earning or learning, because unlike Conservative Members we will never accept almost a million young people being written off before they have even begun. Under this Government, there will be obligations to engage with support, look for work and take jobs when they are offered, as there always have been since the original Beveridge report, but there will be no more divisive, derogatory rhetoric or claiming that people just think that they are too bluesy to work. I am in politics to solve problems, not to score cheap points and grab empty headlines that do nothing to tackle the problems in people’s lives.

Alongside our plan to get Britain working again, we have taken immediate action to deliver our manifesto commitment for an ambitious strategy to tackle child poverty. I am proud that the last Labour Government lifted more than half a million children out of poverty. The contrast with the Conservatives could not be greater, with 700,000 more children growing up poor during their time in office. The fact that 4 million children are now living in poverty is a stain on our society. That is why, within a week of taking office, I called in child poverty experts and campaigners to help start work on our plans. It is why the Prime Minister announced our new ministerial taskforce to drive action across Government, underpinned by a new child poverty unit in the Cabinet Office. I will lead that work with our Education Secretary. As the Prime Minister announced, we will look at how to use all the levers at our disposal, including household income, employment, housing, children’s health, education and childcare so that we drive up opportunity, drive down poverty and give all children the best start in life.

The Government were elected on a mandate for change, to change our economy so that it works for working people, to get our public services back on their feet and to transform opportunity by tearing down the barriers to success in every corner of this great nation. The King’s Speech takes the first steps to rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off, delivering real change to people’s lives, giving them the chances and choices they deserve and to begin—finally—the task of restoring faith that politics can once again be a force for good.

Question put, That the amendment be made.