Underoccupancy Charge: Carers

Debate between Lord Bradley and Lord Freud

Monday 10th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

We have aimed to get rid of some of the areas where people are just not taking part in the economic life of the country. One of the things that has been happening is that the proportion of people who have been outside the labour market and in social housing has dropped dramatically from a peak of 49% at the beginning of this Parliament to 41% now—the lowest-ever level. We need to look to help all people that we possibly can to take a full part in the economic life of this country.

[Lord Bradley (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister’s department claims that the focus and scope of the family test is on strong and stable family relationships, with particular focus on extended families, particularly when they are playing a role in raising children or caring for older or disabled family members. Can the Minister explain to the House how the bedroom tax passes this test?

[Lord Freud]

The removal of the spare room subsidy is designed, at its heart, to save money—it saves £500 million a year—and make sure that housing is allocated more efficiently. There are signs of that policy now working.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Debate between Lord Bradley and Lord Freud

Monday 21st July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

I think it would be pointless to slow down universal credit, which is now rolling out smoothly. This year, we are rolling it out right the way through the north-west, moving through couples and families. Any delay to that process withdraws support from the people who need it. We have, however, rolled out the claimant commitment, which is part of universal credit, right through the country. The whole drive of that reform is to help and coach people into work, and that seems to be having a good effect.

[Lord Bradley (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister will no doubt have seen the recent report from the Resolution Foundation suggesting that the extent of the fall in real wages has been underestimated due to the rise in self-employment. What steps are being taken to ensure that we have an accurate assessment of real wages?

[Lord Freud]

The self-employment figures are up strongly, but I need to point out that 60% of the gain in self-employment since 2010 has been in higher-skilled, managerial and professional jobs. It is interesting, when you look at real, living wages, that recent settlements have moved above inflation. There is a lot of variation within the pay settlements, and those in finance and business services have fallen by 0.7%, whereas the figure for retail is up by 2.2% and for manufacturing by 1.8%, running with or above inflation. Some of the suffering being seen in the City is something that I suspect the party opposite would not weep too hard for.