Digital ID

Debate between Liz Kendall and Charlotte Nichols

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

That is nonsense.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

I have been contacted by a large number of constituents in recent weeks, whose healthy scepticism about digital ID making a material difference in tackling illegal immigration I share. I think there is scope for better digital integration across the public sector more generally, but the Secretary of State talked in her statement about a lot of hypothetical things—things that this policy could do in the future—and the only use case that has been confirmed so far is right-to-work checks. Can we be clear on the use cases that we intend to pursue and over which timescales, so that we have the information we need to make a decision on whether we want to go down this path?

[Liz Kendall]

These are not hypotheticals; we are looking at how other countries have used these systems to deliver more effective Government and other services to their citizens. We have proposed having mandatory right-to-work checks by the end of the Parliament, but there will be many important voluntary ways in which people can better access services and support. We will be consulting on that fully when we come forward with the detailed proposals.

Welfare Reform

Debate between Liz Kendall and Charlotte Nichols

Tuesday 18th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. I will look at that and write to her to make sure we address it properly.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

While I accept that it is perfectly possible for people with severe mental health conditions to work with the right support—in Warrington, we already have an employment rate above the Government’s national target—is there not a risk that these proposals are premature and that we are legislating for the mental health services we might hope to have in the future, rather than where these services are today? Does the Secretary of State accept that the issue is not over-diagnosis, but the broken mental health services we inherited?

[Liz Kendall]

I have always believed we should follow the evidence on this. We have a clear commitment to recruit 8,500 new mental health workers and to have mental health support in every primary and secondary school to prevent problems from happening. We also need to roll out individual placement and support within the NHS. I have seen in my own constituency that it can be life-transforming, but we need to go further and faster to ensure that all people with mental health problems who can work do so.