Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Kendall Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

2. What steps she is taking to support young people into training in Hexham constituency.

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

This Labour Government believe that every young person should be able to fulfil their potential. Unlike Conservative Members, we will not stand by while almost 1 million young people are not in education, employment or training. Our Get Britain Working trailblazer in the north-east is already helping young and neurodivergent people with supported work and training placements, including in Hexham. The local jobcentre is also working with Newcastle United Foundation to help young people build their confidence and develop their skills so that they and our country can look forward to a brighter future.

[Joe Morris]

For too long, previous Governments did not take into account the realities of life in communities across my constituency, which is incredibly sparsely populated and quite rural. The youth guarantee can and will make a considerable difference in communities all across it, from the Tyne Valley all the way out to the north Tyne and into Callerton and Throckley, too. Will the Secretary of State work with me to ensure that we continue to support young people in all those different, disparate communities to access the skills and opportunities they deserve?

[Liz Kendall]

My hon. Friend is right that people have different needs in different parts of the country. We need to tailor employment support to the needs of individuals, so alongside measures like our youth guarantee, we are overhauling our jobcentres to provide that more personalised support and introducing measures such as mobile jobcentres to provide better help in rural areas.

[Michelle Scrogham (Barrow and Furness) (Lab)]

3. What steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in Barrow and Furness constituency.

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[Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey) (SNP)]

9. What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reducing poverty.

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

We are determined to drive down child poverty in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and right across Scotland and the rest of the UK. Our child poverty strategy will look at every lever at our disposal to drive up family incomes, to drive down family costs and to give every child the best start in life. I discuss such issues regularly with the Chancellor and Ministers across Government, because we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that every child can fulfil their potential—they deserve it and our country needs it.

[Graham Leadbitter]

Two million pensioners in the UK are in poverty, and the British state pension is among the worst in north-west Europe. During the independence referendum, Better Together claimed that our pensions are more affordable when Scotland is part of the UK. Eleven years on, will the Minister tell me exactly what the Union is doing for Scottish pensioners, other than impoverishing them?

[Liz Kendall]

Investing an additional £31 billion in the triple lock over this Parliament is delivering huge benefits to pensioners in Scotland, as are our measures to drive up the uptake of pension credit in order to help the very poorest pensioners; our measures to stabilise the economy; and our investment in the NHS, on which many pensioners rely. I am proud of the action that we are taking. Given that this Government have agreed and are giving Scotland its biggest ever funding settlement, the hon. Gentleman should ask some challenging questions of his Government, to ensure that they deliver for Scotland’s pensioners, too.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Last year, a staggering one in four kids in Derby lived in poverty. Our local charities, such as the Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance, do amazing work; last year, they handed out 20,000 food parcels. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the upcoming child poverty strategy addresses the root causes of child food poverty, so that parents are not left struggling to put tea on the table?

[Liz Kendall]

I understand very well the issue that my hon. Friend raises. As a former chair of Feeding Leicester, the programme to end hunger in my city, I see only too clearly the links between poverty and dependence on emergency food parcels. I am very proud that we have already slashed deductions in universal credit and extended the crisis and resilience fund, providing it with its first three-year funding settlement. There is much more to do. We want to make sure that children have hungry minds, not hungry bellies, and we are determined to deliver that.

[Mr Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) (Con)]

The best way to reduce poverty is for people to be in work, but as a result of this Government’s damaging economic policies, we have seen youth unemployment rise by 6% since the general election. What representations will the Secretary of State make to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget to ensure that more damage is not done?

[Liz Kendall]

The Labour party believes that everybody who can work must work. The hon. Gentleman should look at his own party’s record: progress on the disability employment gap and the lone parent employment rate stalled under its watch, and economic inactivity rose. We are the only country in the G7 whose employment rate has not got back to pre-pandemic levels. We are overhauling our employment system to help more people into work, and to get on in work. I am proud of our record; maybe he should look at his own.

[Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) (Ind)]

Tackling poverty should be a key priority of any Government who wish to see their people thrive. The Equality Act 2010 includes a socioeconomic duty on all public bodies to address inequalities “when making strategic decisions”. When will that duty be enacted in England?

[Liz Kendall]

My hon. Friend raises a really important point. Throughout its work, the DWP is already looking at how to narrow the gaps between different parts of the country and different groups of people. We have set our jobcentres and employment systems new targets for reducing those gaps, and we are taking cross-Government action to tackle child poverty. We have achieved a lot. There is a lot more to do, but this Government, unlike Opposition Members, have made tackling poverty an absolute priority. Our child poverty strategy is coming out in the autumn, so I ask hon. Members to watch this space.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

10. What estimate she has made of the number of 16 to 24-year-olds receiving universal credit.

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[Damien Egan (Bristol North East) (Lab)]

13. What steps is she taking to support young people into employment, education or training in Bristol North East constituency.

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

One in eight young people are not in education, employment or training. That is bad for them, bad for businesses and bad for our country as a whole. Our west of England youth guarantee trailblazer, which covers my hon. Friend’s constituency, is helping to remove barriers to work for young people, including by providing free bus travel for participants and connecting young people with skills support. Last month, I announced an additional £45 million to extend our youth guarantee trailblazers, so that we can guarantee that all young people are earning or learning.

[Damien Egan]

That is fantastic to hear. Will the Secretary of State set out the practical impact of the west of England youth guarantee trailblazer so far? Assuming that it is positive, will she confirm plans to back it up with more investment, in order to support our young people in the Bristol area?

[Liz Kendall]

I am really proud of the work being led in the west of England—including by our fantastic Mayor, Helen Godwin—to help more young people. The trailblazer is engaging much more deeply with employers—it has engaged over 135 of them. It is helping to enrol young people on employability courses and giving them more work placements, giving them the skills and experience they need. As my hon. Friend knows, young people say that they need a job to gain experience, but in order to get the job, they need that experience. We are trying to turn that around. We have announced additional funding of up to another £5 million for that west of England youth guarantee trailblazer. A lot has been done, but there is a lot more to do.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

14. What steps she is taking to increase the uptake of pension credit.

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[Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)]

17. What steps she is taking to reduce the number of children in poverty in Leigh and Atherton constituency.

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

It is a shameful legacy from the Conservatives that more than a third of children in my hon. Friend’s constituency are living in poverty according to the Child Poverty Action Group, and we are determined to tackle that. We will be lifting more than 100,000 children out of poverty by providing free school meals to all children whose families are on universal credit, benefiting more than 7,300 children in Leigh and Atherton. We will also be helping to feed them during the summer holidays by extending the holiday activities and food programme, alongside our fair repayment rate in universal credit and our crisis and resilience fund. We are helping struggling families. There is much more we will do in our child poverty strategy this autumn, but we can and we are making a difference.

[Jo Platt]

I thank the Secretary of State wholeheartedly for that response, and I agree with her. Because of the lack of action from the last Government, 26.6% of children in Leigh and Atherton are living in poverty. I welcome the measures that this Government are taking, including the extension of free school meals, but more needs to be done. Can she reassure us that she is working hard on the child poverty strategy to ensure that it addresses the needs of all children in poverty, including those with disabilities and special educational needs, so that every child can reach their full potential?

[Liz Kendall]

We will absolutely do that. The child poverty taskforce, which includes Ministers from across Government, had a specific session on children with disabilities and special educational needs, including with families and the charities that fight so hard to deliver improvements. I am not a patient person, but I ask my hon. Friend to wait until the child poverty strategy is published in the autumn, because we believe that every child—no matter where they are born or their ability or what their parents did—must be given an equal start in life.

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

18. What steps she is taking to increase levels of employment through the trailblazer programme to tackle economic activity.

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

This Government are determined to get Britain working again. That is why we are investing £80 million in our trailblazer programmes to drive down economic inactivity. We are overhauling our job centres to provide better, more personalised employment support. We are delivering a youth guarantee, so that every young person is earning or learning, and we are providing a record £3.8 billion to help sick and disabled people who can work to get into work. There is much further to go, but we are already making a difference.

[Will Stone]

I thank the Secretary of State for that response. A lot of disabled people in Swindon with long-term health conditions tell me that they want to get to work, but are just simply not given the opportunity. What are this Government doing to support those people to get dignified work?

[Liz Kendall]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, because he raises an important point that I do not want to let go, which is how many people with a long-term health condition or a disability are desperate to work. Our own survey of people on sickness and disability benefits found that 200,000 people would work right now if they were given an opportunity. We need to give people help to tackle their underlying health conditions, which we are doing through our investment in the NHS. We need to encourage employers to do more to give opportunities to disabled people to work. Above all, this Government are determined to meet our responsibilities, with £3.8 billion invested into employment support for sick and disabled people—the biggest amount in a generation. I look forward to working with him and organisations in Swindon to make sure we get that support right locally.

[Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State accept that the reason that unemployment is higher today than the day she took office is the jobs tax, which increases employers’ costs by £25 billion? What hope does her trailblazer programme have when the Chancellor is working against her?

[Liz Kendall]

I fundamentally disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s premise. Economic inactivity is down by 400,000 because we are moving more people from being out of work and not looking for work to starting to have to look for work. Employment is up by 725,000. We have created 380,000 jobs. I know there is more we need to do. We are working very closely with employers. We are overhauling what we are doing. One of the things that employers say to us is, “We do not want to tell our story to thousands of different job centres.” We are putting in a single account manager and we are overhauling our support for employers. I would be happy to meet him and employers in his constituency to see what more we can do to support them, because we want to get Britain working and earning again.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

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

Let me start by congratulating all the pupils who have received their exam results over the last few weeks. Having good qualifications is essential in today’s economy, and it is brilliant to see so many young people doing so well. However, the number of young people not in education, employment or training is one of the biggest challenges facing the country, and young people are much more likely to be NEETs if they lack basic skills. That is why I am so proud of the action that the Government are taking to increase the number of youth apprenticeships, overhaul foundation apprenticeships and, above all, introduce a youth guarantee so that every young person is earning or learning.

[Chris Vince]

I hope you had a lovely recess, Mr Speaker.

Harlow is full of fantastic schools, and I see the potential of young people there every single day, but that potential is often overlooked because of economic circumstances. Will the Secretary of State explain how the new crisis and resilience fund will support the poorest children in Harlow?

[Liz Kendall]

In the spending review we announced this first ever multi-year settlement for local support, replacing the household support fund. The crisis and resilience fund will provide £1 billion every single year, and will give families emergency help if, for example, their white goods break down or they need food urgently. However, we want to start shifting it increasingly towards tackling the root causes of poverty, helping people to become more financially resilient through the provision of debt advice. We recently held a meeting with more than 600 stakeholders to discuss how we could achieve that shift, because we want to prevent people from falling into poverty and to give them the tools that they need to emerge from poverty themselves.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Helen Whately (Faversham and Mid Kent) (Con)]

I welcome the right hon. Lady back after the summer. She said recently that it had been “a bumpy…few months”—an understatement, in my view. Last time we stood here, she had just completed a rather humiliating climbdown on her welfare savings plans. She set out to save money, but ended up spending it. You couldn’t make it up, Mr Speaker, but here we are: the number of benefit claimants has hit a record high; the sickness benefit bill is heading up and up; and still the right hon. Lady has Back Benchers and Cabinet colleagues calling for even more spending on welfare. The Chancellor is busy doing her sums in advance of the Budget, so can the right hon. Lady tell us how much lifting the two-child benefits cap will cost?

[Liz Kendall]

I am not often called understated, but I thank the hon. Lady for her comments.

Welfare reform is always difficult because it involves real people and real lives, and it is a complicated and personal issue. However, we are investing £3.8 billion in employment support to help sick and disabled people into work, we are introducing the first ever right to try work, and we are dealing fundamentally with the perverse incentive left by the Conservative party which encouraged people to define themselves as incapable of work. We are addressing that by raising the standard allowance of universal credit and halving the health top-up for new claims. There is much more that we need to do, and we will be publishing our strategy to deal with child poverty in the autumn, but I am proud to say that the last Labour Government lifted 600,000 children out of poverty, while the hon. Lady’s party plunged 900,000 children into poverty. We will take action, and, as I said earlier, the hon. Lady should watch this space.

[Helen Whately]

I asked the right hon. Lady a simple question, but I fear that she does not know the answer; she certainly did not reply to it. What is clear is that Labour wants to spend more on welfare. So do the Liberal Democrats, and so does Reform. Only one party here is telling the truth about the welfare bill: the country cannot afford it.

May I urge the right hon. Lady to take up my proposals? Will she stop giving people benefits for common mental health problems such as anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and give them help instead? Will she stop giving personal independence payments to foreign citizens who have not paid into our system and free cars to people who do not need them? Will she stop people scamming the benefits system over the phone and on the internet? Will she keep the two-child benefits cap, and get the benefits bill under control?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Can I just say that we are on topicals? It is your own Members who are not going to get in.

[Liz Kendall]

The Conservative party failed on welfare because it failed on work. The reason why we inherited such a dire situation with sickness and disability benefits is that the Conservatives failed to get people into work. We are turning that around, and it is about time the hon. Lady and Opposition Members put forward a proper plan of action that actually gets people into work. We believe in work; it is a pity the Conservative party does not.

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

T2. Meur ras, Mr Speaker. The number of young NEET people is often a reflection of a range of different factors: poverty, poor mental health services, lack of access to support services, and inadequate transport, SEND and care services, especially in remote coastal areas such as Camborne, Redruth and Hayle. Can the Minister reassure the House and these young people that joined-up, cross-departmental working groups have been set up to tackle this issue head-on?

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[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T6. I warmly commend the locally led £100 million Connect to Work programme, which supports those facing complex barriers to employment to get into work and to stay in work. A constituent of mine, Charlie, has explained to me some of the barriers to work that he experiences living with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, but he is a dedicated and focused young man who is to be commended for wanting to be a useful member of society. What support will Connect to Work, and other schemes like it, offer Charlie and other constituents of mine in Dartford?

[Liz Kendall]

We want to give people like Charlie the chances and choices in life that he deserves. Our Connect to Work programme will do everything from helping people access health treatment to providing work placements and building their confidence through training, skills—whatever meets their individual needs. That is the key to this: an end to a one-size-fits-all tick-box approach, and tailored support for him. We are also working closely with employers so that they remove the barriers to work and can employ people with all the skills and talent that people like Charlie have.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

T3. One of the main benefits of saving into a private pension is the tax relief that people get from the Government, which is one of the smartest ways to save for later life. Any move by this Government to cut pension tax relief will devastate savings rates and the adequacy of pension provisions. I would hope that the Secretary of State knows that, so can she assure me that she has made it clear that when the Chancellor is looking to fill the fiscal black hole of her own making, she must not target pensions?

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[Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)]

Scotland is the only part of these islands where child poverty is falling, as a result of the Scottish child payment and the mitigation of the bedroom cap. When will the Labour Government move from empty words to actual action to take children out of poverty?

[Liz Kendall]

We are already extending free school meals to all families on universal credit. We have extended the holiday activities and food programme, so that we feed poor kids not just during school but in the holidays, too. We have introduced a new fair repayment rate in universal credit. We have made the first ever multi-year settlement for the crisis and resilience fund to help struggling families. We are introducing and rolling out breakfast clubs. Our child poverty strategy will be published in the autumn. We are already taking action to tackle poverty and we will do more. I say to the hon. Lady that the Scottish Government need to look at how they are spending the biggest ever funding settlement, given in the spending review, including on employment support, because helping parents into good quality jobs is the long-term key to tackling poverty and inequality.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.