Welfare Reform

Debate between Liz Kendall and Gareth Snell

Monday 30th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

That is exactly what we committed to in our Green Paper.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Presumably, the outcome of the Timms review will require some form of primary legislation to enact the changes to the system that will come from the Department for Work and Pensions. In which case, I suggest to the Minister that removing clause 5 from the Bill tomorrow and putting it into any future legislation means the Department can still have its thresholds in the future if it wants to, but only once everybody knows against what criteria those judgments will be made.

[Liz Kendall]

We are co-producing this review, and it may result in changes that require primary or secondary legislation or other action, and I do not want to pre-empt that. Let me just bring my hon. Friend and the House back to the purpose of these changes: to ensure that we have a system that is fair for those who need support and fair for taxpayers, and to try to put the welfare state on a more sustainable footing for the future. If we do not do so, my real fear is that it will not be there for the very people who really, really need support going forward.

Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report

Debate between Liz Kendall and Gareth Snell

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

I am proud of the last Labour Government’s record on helping the lowest-paid women pensioners and of the improvements that we delivered. This is not about that issue; this is about the way that the state pension age was communicated. If the hon. Lady wants a different approach, the SNP Government in Scotland can provide that by using the £4.9 billion settlement—the biggest ever in the history of devolution—that we have provided.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

This will be a sad moment for the 4,000 women in Stoke-on-Trent Central who I have campaigned alongside for justice and a fair transition. I understand the Secretary of State’s need to balance the budget, given what was left by the previous Government, but is this a case of no compensation now because of the economic circumstances that we find ourselves in, or is it no compensation ever? If we find ourselves in the future in a much better economic state, will she consider re-addressing this issue and seeing what compensation might be available for the women who were affected?

[Liz Kendall]

We do not agree with the ombudsman’s approach to injustice or compensation. We do not believe that sending those letters earlier, even though we should have done, would have made the difference that the ombudsman claims. We do not believe that, given that 90% of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was increasing, a flat-rate compensation scheme costing up to £10.5 billion is a fair or appropriate use of taxpayers’ money. However, we will learn lessons from that maladministration to ensure that it never happens again.