Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Kendall Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

6. What recent estimate she has made of the level of child poverty in Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.

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

This morning the nation fell silent to pay tribute to all those who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Today we honour and remember them. I quote the words inscribed on Lutyens’ beautiful Arch of Remembrance in Leicester from the hymn “O Valiant Hearts”:

“All they hoped for, all they had, they gave to save mankind—themselves they scorned to save”.

Some 4.3 million children are growing up in poverty—700,000 more than in 2010. That is why the work of our cross-Government child poverty taskforce is so urgent, and why we will use all levers available to increase family incomes, reduce family costs and give every child the best start in life.

[John Slinger]

I have had the privilege of assisting the brilliant volunteers at the Make Lunch organisation in Rugby, which provides holiday lunch clubs with play activities for entire families, including those with complex needs. Last summer it fed 25 families, last Christmas it bought slow cookers for families and this Christmas it is offering hampers. They treat families with dignity. As with food banks, is it not an indictment of the record of the last Government that such charitable support is needed in the first place?

[Liz Kendall]

Make Lunch sounds like an absolutely brilliant charity, and I ask my hon. Friend to pass on our great thanks for its fantastic work. That work is urgent, because the Child Poverty Action Group estimates that a quarter of children in my hon. Friend’s constituency are growing up poor. Our child poverty strategy will be published in the spring, but we will not wait to act. That is why the Budget announced a new fair repayment rate to slash universal credit deductions and give 1.2 million of the poorest households £420 on average a year, lifting thousands of children out of poverty.

[Tracy Gilbert]

Previous Labour Governments have tackled not only poverty but its root causes. Can my right hon. Friend outline how the child poverty taskforce will identify and tackle the root causes of poverty in my constituency and across the UK, to ensure a permanent end to child poverty?

[Liz Kendall]

I am sure that, like me, my hon. Friend thinks that it is unacceptable that an estimated one in six children in her constituency is growing up poor. We have taken immediate action to help the poorest families in Scotland through our fair repayment rate, which will benefit 110,000 households in Scotland. We are tackling the root causes of poverty with our reforms to make work pay, tackle exploitative zero-hours contracts and create more good-quality jobs in every part of the country.

[Patrick Spencer (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

Child poverty is a scourge in British society, and I am grateful that the Secretary of State is bringing forward a child poverty strategy. Has she decided how to measure child poverty? May I warn her against using the much discredited relative measure, which, as we know, shows poverty decreasing during times of economic decline and increasing during times of economic growth? I implore her to use an absolute measure, which has a much better record of showing deprivation and long-term increases and improvements in living standards.

[Liz Kendall]

I am afraid I will disappoint the hon. Gentleman: we will look at relative poverty after housing costs, but we will go further and look to alleviate the very deepest poverty. It is appalling that hundreds of thousands of families are forced to rely on food banks—something that I know only too well from my time chairing Feeding Leicester. We will look at relative poverty, deep poverty and what it will take to give every child the very best start in life, by bringing together support from public services, charities and other groups. That is the way to bring down poverty and make the changes sustainable.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Northern Ireland has some of the highest child poverty figures in the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I am sure that the Secretary of State wants to help. We have had a 70% increase in food bank usage in my constituency in the past 12 months, which is an incredible indication. Will she kindly tell me what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Northern Ireland Assembly on what more can be done to help?

[Liz Kendall]

The Minister from Northern Ireland is a member of our child poverty taskforce. I hope to visit soon and the co-chair of the taskforce, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson), also plans to visit. We have introduced the new fair repayment rate to slash the level of universal credit deductions because, as food banks in my constituency have told me, that really pushes people into poverty. That is not what the Government should be doing, and that is why we have taken action. I look forward to coming to Northern Ireland to talk to the hon. Gentleman, his constituents and the organisations fighting poverty to see what more we can do.

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

The legacy we inherited is almost 1 million young people not in education, employment or training—nearly one in eight—with all the long-term consequences we know that can bring for their future earnings, job prospects and health. That is why our new youth guarantee will ensure that every young person is earning or learning, which is better for them, better for the economy and better for our country as a whole.

[Andrew Pakes]

The DWP has described Peterborough as a national youth unemployment hotspot. In September, the youth claimant count was running at nearly double the national average. Places like Peterborough college, through its Jobsmart provision, are already pulling together a coalition to respond to that challenge. I welcome the Government’s youth guarantee and “Get Britain Working” plans to ensure that young people in places like Peterborough are given the opportunity to earn or learn. Will the Secretary of State please confirm a timetable for the publication of the White Paper?

[Liz Kendall]

The “Get Britain Working” White Paper will be published imminently, backed by £240 million of investment announced by the Chancellor in the Budget. I look forward very much to talking to my hon. Friend and the organisations that are working so hard locally, because I believe that the man, or even woman, in Whitehall can never know what is best in Peterborough, Leicester or Leeds.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

A small business in my constituency to which I have spoken over the last few weeks has raised concerns about the impact of the national insurance rises in the Budget on, in particular, those in lower-paid work, who in many cases are young people starting their jobs. What impact do the Government think that those rises will have on young people and youth unemployment?

[Liz Kendall]

Just last week I visited a very large employer in my constituency, Tesco, and saw the fantastic work that it is doing with the King’s Trust to ensure that more people get into work and stay in work. It is determined to work with us and our local schools, and employment and other providers, because they know that rather than writing off nearly a million young people, which led to the situation that we inherited, this new Government have a plan to get people into work, enable them to get on in work, and ensure that every young person has the chance in life that he or she deserves.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the new shadow Secretary of State, and welcome her to her post.

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

May I say how nice it is to be sitting opposite the right hon. Lady again, albeit, regrettably, having swapped places with her? I enjoyed our exchanges on social care during the last Parliament, and appreciated our constructive conversations during the pandemic, although, given how well she knows the care brief, I suspect that she was gutted, as I was, to see the incoming Government abandon the care cap and scrap more than £50 million of funding for social care training. The consistent feedback from jobcentres was that the biggest barrier to young people taking up job opportunities in social care was lack of career progression, hence our reforms to create a career path for care workers and investment in training. Has the right hon. Lady spoken to her counterpart in the Department of Health and Social Care about the impact of those social care cuts on her ambitions to get more young people working or learning?

[Liz Kendall]

I, too, welcome the hon. Lady to her post. As she has said, while we will always have our political differences we have also worked closely and constructively on issues that matter across the House, such as the terrible problems facing social care during the pandemic. I will continue that work, and I hope that the hon. Lady will as well, in her new role.

The hon. Lady asked about the impact of what is happening in social care on people’s opportunities and chances to learn. I have already had many discussions with, among others, members of integrated care boards, and they are passionate about the opportunities that exist to get more people into work and enable them to get on in their work, including jobs in social care. Joined-up working between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions will be at the heart of our plans to get Britain working, because, unlike some Opposition Members, we do not find it acceptable for 2.8 million people to be locked out of the workforce owing to long-term sickness. We have a proper plan to get Britain working and growing again.

[Helen Whately]

The right hon. Lady will know that under the Conservative Government youth unemployment fell by 380,000, and that we were tackling inactivity with our WorkWell programme, helping people to stay in work or return to work, which I am delighted to see the right hon. Lady continuing. Unfortunately, however, as a result of her Government’s Budget and Employment Rights Bill, businesses will slash the number of their employees. Moreover, the Government have just broken another promise and hiked up university fees. What advice would the right hon. Lady give a young person who is currently out of work and education, and must choose between worse job prospects and more expensive university degrees thanks to her Government’s choices?

[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.

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[Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)]

13. What steps she is taking to improve support for carers.

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

As a lifelong champion of unpaid family carers, I am proud that the first Labour Government in 14 years have given unpaid carers the biggest ever cash boost to the amount they can earn while still receiving carer’s allowance. That means family carers can earn an extra £2,000 a year and still keep their allowance. That is the difference this Labour Government are making: supporting families who do the most important thing, which is caring for the people that they love.

[Samantha Niblett]

I have spoken to many people in my constituency of South Derbyshire who are taking on caring responsibilities for loved ones. I know how hard that is and I am so grateful for the job they do, but it is often a thankless task. I am glad that the Government have taken action to support people in our communities who take on caring responsibilities, but it is disproportionately women who do so. Will the Secretary of State outline how the increase in the threshold will benefit women and allow them greater freedom to work?

[Liz Kendall]

My hon. Friend is right: 60% of unpaid carers are women, but women spend more hours caring, so they are disproportionately represented when it comes to receiving carer’s allowance. This is a small, but significant and important, step forward. It is a signal that the new Government understand that as people live for longer and care for longer, we will have to do more to help families balance work and caring responsibilities. That is the truth of family now: it is as much about caring for our elderly and disabled loved ones as it is about caring for our own wonderful children.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

14. What estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit but not claiming it.

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[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

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

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

The Budget took the first steps in this Government’s plan to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty in every corner of the country: it included an additional £214 million for our plan to get Britain working, a new fair repayment rate in universal credit to help over 1 million of the poorest households, and the biggest ever package to reduce fraud and error in the system, ensuring that every pound of taxpayers’ money is wisely spent. There is much, much more to do, but in the Department for Work and Pensions, change has begun.

[Calum Miller]

My constituent Kevin had to stop work in 2018 due to a medical condition. He is desperate to find a job, but has consistently found that he is not eligible for support from his local jobcentre. Kevin asked me, “How does someone who has fallen out of work get back into work?” Will the Secretary of State or a Minister meet me to discuss Kevin’s case, and see if, together, we can answer his question?

[Liz Kendall]

The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. It is not right that his constituent, who wants to work, has suffered from a mental health problem but does not have the support that he needs. In parts of the country, steps have been taken to help provide the healthcare and other support that people need, but we need to go further, faster. My hon. Friend the Minister for Employment will indeed meet the hon. Gentleman. Let’s get cracking on this and see what we can do.

[Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)]

T2. On my recent visit to Hertford and Ware food bank, hard-working volunteers raised with me the damaging impact of rules introduced under the previous Conservative Government, which prevent jobcentres from referring benefits claimants to food banks. Does my right hon. Friend agree that those changes prevent some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from accessing support in an emergency, and will she set out the steps that the Department will take to reverse them?

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

The Conservatives are the party of work and aspiration, and once again, we left office with unemployment at a historic low. We all know that Labour always leaves unemployment higher than when it came into office, but rarely has it seemed in such a hurry to achieve that. Its first Budget will, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, cost the country 50,000 jobs in the next few years alone. What assessment has the right hon. Lady made of the cost to her Department of those job losses?

[Liz Kendall]

May I gently say this to the hon. Lady? She should be apologising, because we have record numbers of people out of work due to long-term sickness; one in eight young people is not in education, employment or training; and people are locked out of the world of work because the Conservatives failed to make proper plans to get people into work and on in their work. Until Conservative Members face up to their responsibilities, and to the cost to the taxpayer of their mistakes in not getting people with long-term sickness into work—£25 billion extra over the course of the forecast period—they will remain on the Opposition Benches.

[Helen Whately]

I wonder if the Secretary of State did not hear my earlier question; I said that I was grateful that she is continuing the work that we did in government, through the WorkWell programme, to help people in ill health into work by joining up healthcare and employment. However, the point I was just making, to which she did not respond, was that 50,000 jobs will be lost as a result of Labour’s Budget. That is not the only thing frightening the life out of businesses at the moment—

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[Mr Speaker]

Order. I did make the suggestion that you might come to the end of your question, but you decided to carry on reading, so I will have to stop you. I call the Secretary of State.

[Liz Kendall]

I am very proud of a Budget that invests in the long-term growth that this country needs, that gives a pay rise to the 3 million lowest-paid workers, and that invests in the NHS so that people can get back to health and back to work. That is the change that this country desperately needs.

[Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk) (Lab)]

T3. As a proud member of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, I want to raise with the Minister the amazing work that it has done to produce the estimate that around three quarters of workers in typically low-paid sectors are paid weekly, fortnightly or four-weekly, rather than monthly. That is not recognised by universal credit. Will the Minister promise to meet USDAW and other trade unions to make sure that this matter is investigated?