Oral Answers to Questions

Maria Miller Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

4. What plans he has to increase parental responsibility for child maintenance.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

The coalition Government are determined to ensure that all parents meet their financial responsibility for their children. At present, around 50% of separated parents have no maintenance arrangements in place. We are working with colleagues in the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice and the voluntary sector to ensure that we deliver a seamless approach to supporting parents pre- and post-separation.

[Mrs Grant]

What plans does the Minister have to improve the Child Support Agency?

[Maria Miller]

First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s immeasurable work, particularly with the Croydon family justice centre. She is an expert in such matters, and raises an important matter. The Child Support Agency’s performance is improving, with more children benefiting from more money collected. However, the present system does not do enough to provide effective child maintenance support as soon as possible after parental separation, nor does it do enough to promote positive relationships between parents. Making those improvements to the system is in the best interests of children, as is ensuring that we have more enduring financial support for them.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

5. What recent discussions his Department has had with disability organisations on proposals to remove the mobility component of the disability living allowance from residents in publicly funded care homes.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

I have had discussions with a number of disability organisations on the proposals to modify eligibility for DLA following the Chancellor’s spending review announcements. Specific spending review measures, along with those in other Departments across Government, have not been subject to public consultation, but they will of course be subject to full parliamentary scrutiny.

[Mr Roy]

Of all the proposals on welfare reform, this is absolutely the most brutal and cruel. Disabled people in publicly funded care homes deserve much better than is being offered at the moment. What will the Minister do when she has to meet a disabled person in one of those homes face to face, and how will she explain why she is taking away their much-needed lifeline to the outside world?

[Maria Miller]

I think that the hon. Gentleman is referring to the measure on mobility. Local authorities, working with care homes, have a clear duty to promote, where practical, independence, participation and community involvement for every single disabled person living in such care homes. The proposed change to DLA eligibility should not leave disabled people more isolated. Importantly, we have to ensure that there is clarity in funding streams as we move towards personalisation, which is something that almost every disabled person welcomes.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

Constituents of mine in Atworth have come to see me about their 30-year-old daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy and will be affected by the changes. In her care home, different residents have very different mobility needs to maintain their independence, as well as experiencing different challenges. Can we expect care homes to meet those needs in an individually tailored way?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is important that we have personalised care for disabled people. Every disabled person has different needs and, working with colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health, we will ensure that the correct level of support is being delivered locally.

[Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)]

Will the Minister take this opportunity to clarify exactly who will lose the mobility element of their DLA? There is quite a lot going around the blogosphere about who might be affected. Will the changes affect children in residential schools? Will they affect those in residential care who are self-funders as well as those who are funded by the local authority? Will there be exemptions, or will everyone in residential care lose the mobility element of their DLA?

[Maria Miller]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. This does not affect self-funders, and we will be making clearer as we get towards the Bill exactly how the measure will affect all other groups. I reiterate that it is important to get clarity in the funding streams as we move towards personalisation, which is overwhelmingly welcomed by disabled people.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

My hon. Friend makes a good point about the need for clarity and clarification as we move towards the universal benefit, but we must also consider the issue of decency. The measures that she is taking are having deleterious effects on the well-being of people in my constituency. Many of the families concerned have looked after their children for many years outside care. Will she take the opportunity to meet me so that we can discuss some of these constituency issues?

[Maria Miller]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and I am very happy to meet him to discuss this matter further. I would draw hon. Members’ attention to the fact that colleagues in the Department of Health have put £2 billion into social care, which will be available to ensure that local authorities and social care providers are able to meet people’s needs.

[Margaret Curran (Glasgow East) (Lab)]

The spending review said that this measure would apply only

“where such costs are already met from public funds.”

Perhaps the Minister will take the opportunity to reassert that this afternoon. However, Scope and other leading disability organisations have established that removing the mobility component will hit thousands of disabled people. They have described the change as “callous”, and called on the Government to think again. Will the Government listen to those organisations, or do they believe—and can they guarantee—that there will be “no losers” as a result of this policy?

[Maria Miller]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. She will obviously realise that one reason for having to look at these sorts of measures is that we were left an immense fiscal deficit by the previous Administration. I can confirm to her today that we will, of course, listen to the concerns and thoughts of voluntary organisations and disabled people—indeed, I am already doing so—and that the measure we are putting in place will ensure that the existing duties of care homes and local authorities, which are to ensure that disabled people are able to live independent lives, will be fully enforced so that the correct level of support can be delivered locally.

[Michael Dugher (Barnsley East) (Lab)]

6. What estimate he has made of the likely effects on his Department’s expenditure on out-of-work benefit payments to residents of Barnsley East constituency of implementation of the changes announced in the comprehensive spending review.

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[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

15. What steps he is taking to help disabled people into employment.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

The Government are committed to increasing the employment rate for disabled people by giving them the help that they need to follow fulfilling, mainstream careers whenever possible. The Work programme will provide more personalised back-to-work support for unemployed people, including disabled people, from next year. Work Choice, which began on 15 October, provides specialised support for disabled people who face more complex barriers, and the access to work programme provides financial help with reasonable adjustments for the workplace above and beyond what the employer could reasonably provide.

[Mr Buckland]

Does the Minister agree that for far too many disabled young people, both in my constituency and elsewhere, the transition into adulthood and the jobs market can be very challenging? What steps are her Department taking to ease the process into adulthood and jobs?

[Maria Miller]

The transition from education to work can be difficult for all young people, but particularly for disabled people. I am impressed by the work that has already been done by employers whom I have visited in recent months, who are already focusing on the importance of disabled young people in their work forces, but the specific support that the Government have provided through Work Choice and the Work programme will help—particularly the differential pricing that is available through the Work programme, which will enable more organisations to work with disabled young people to get them into work.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My constituent Nigel Freeman has suffered a very aggressive bout of cancer, and his best efforts to re-enter the world of work have been frustrated by the operation of the benefits system. Can my hon. Friend assure me that she will end the “one size fits all” approach to health conditions, so that people no longer find themselves trapped on benefits?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend has raised a subject about which we are all eager to hear—people who are committed to returning to work despite very difficult personal circumstances. Under the Work programme, we shall be able to provide more personal and individual back-to-work support for those who face more significant barriers. We want to provide a system of Government support that treats people in a dignified way and assesses them for what they can do, not for what they cannot.

[Eric Ollerenshaw]

I welcome Government moves to help those who can work to get back into work and off incapacity benefit, but how will the Minister use the expertise of existing disability organisations such as One Voice in my constituency, which is run by the disabled for the disabled, so that we can begin to end the present waste of talent?

[Maria Miller]

Local user organisations have a vital role to play in providing that sort of grass-roots support, and the Shaw Trust and other organisations are already bringing their expertise into play in Work Choice. Several of them will also be involved in making the Work programme available next year.

[Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)]

May I draw the Minister’s attention to the case of Mr Spivack in my constituency, who is autistic and relies on his mobility scooter? Is it not fatuous of her to suggest that she is keen to help the disabled into employment if she is withdrawing the means for them to get to work?

[Maria Miller]

I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that the support his constituent will need in order to get to work will be available through either his disability living allowance or access to work. There are clear opportunities for his constituent to get the support he needs.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

How do the Government believe that removing the mobility component of DLA for people living in residential care homes helps disabled people back into work, or enables disabled people who—like a number of my constituents who came to see me in my surgery last week—currently depend on their mobility allowance to get to and from work, to stay in work?

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Lady is right to be concerned that constituents of hers should be able to get to work, and that is why we have support in place for those not in residential care through DLA and also through access to work. That is an important programme that helps many thousands of people get into employment, and we will be supporting more people into employment through access to work this year than last year.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The Government have stated their intention to reduce the number of people on incapacity benefit in order to reduce the welfare bill, but some of us were concerned that the tests the previous Government applied for incapacity benefit were already very strict. What checks and balances will the Minister put in place to ensure that people with severe disability are not impoverished by stricter guidelines for staff conducting assessments of those on incapacity benefit?

[Maria Miller]

Obviously, this is a situation that we inherited, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will soon bring forward proposals to address just the sort of issue the hon. Gentleman raises. I am very aware of the fact that we need to make sure we have an assessment process that identifies people’s real needs for support, and I know that my right hon. Friend is committed to that too.

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[Mark Lancaster (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

T2. My constituent Rachel Clark, who has learning difficulties, enjoys working as a volunteer at a coffee shop run by the charity MacIntyre. Until recently, she received a therapeutic allowance but unfortunately that practice has had to stop for fears that it is in breach of national minimum wage legislation. Given that all parties were happy with the arrangement and that Rachel is happy to carry on as an unpaid volunteer, can we look into this grey area of the law?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We can be clear that individuals such as his constituent are able to undertake volunteering opportunities. Indeed, that is something we have been encouraging as part of the Olympics and Paralympics, and it does not cause any problems if they are in receipt of state benefits.

[Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)]

T4. May I ask Ministers to look again at the proposal to reduce housing benefit by 10% for people receiving jobseeker’s allowance for a year? The Minister for Housing and Local Government said this morning that people in social rented housing will be kicked out of their homes if they go into work, and under the proposal on housing benefit, people will be kicked out of their homes if they do not go into work.

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[Fiona O'Donnell (East Lothian) (Lab)]

My constituent, Mr Edwards, is in receipt of the independent living fund, which empowers him to buy services to meet his needs. Uncertainty over the future of the fund is causing him and his family great concern. When will the Government end that uncertainty?

[Maria Miller]

As the hon. Lady knows, the uncertainty is a result of the previous Administration not having correctly financed the independent living fund. That led to the trustees of the fund having to close it to new applicants. We have already undertaken an informal consultation about the future of the fund, and will shortly come forward with a formal consultation. My overwhelming requirement will be to make sure that existing recipients continue to be well supported.

[Richard Ottaway (Croydon South) (Con)]

T8. Will the Minister confirm that barriers to employment vary from one part of the country to another, that he has abandoned the one-size-fits-all policy of the previous Government, and that personalised help is being given to people seeking to get back into the employment market in accordance with their needs?

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[Dr John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

What are the Government doing to prevent hardened drug addicts with consequent mental health issues claiming DLA in the normal way, which goes straight into their veins and up their noses? What are the Government doing to improve the situation and stop this waste of public money?

[Maria Miller]

As my hon. Friend knows, we are undertaking a thorough review of the assessment process concerning DLA. Those are just the sort of issues that we will be looking at in detail.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State accept that the Government’s plans to accelerate the increase in pension age will come as a cruel blow to a whole generation of women in this country, because the financial reality of motherhood and family life makes it much harder for many women to build up a pension comparable to those of men? What provision is being made for women aged 54 to 59?

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[Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State knows how vital Remploy and other supportive workshops are in helping people back into work. Will he outline the steps that the Government are going to take to promote that through public procurement, and will he or one of his Ministers meet me and trade union representatives to discuss the matter?

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Gentleman knows from the recent spending review settlement that Remploy’s modernisation plan and funding are in place, and we will continue to monitor its performance against that. I have already met trade union officials about Remploy’s future, and I will continue to do so as we move forward with the modernisation plan.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

I, like many other hon. Members, have been contacted by a number of constituents whose pension provision has been seriously affected by the collapse of the former Ford UK parts manufacturer, Visteon. Will the Secretary of State meet me to explore how we might best help those who have been most adversely affected?