Oral Answers to Questions

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[David Rutley]

The first instalment of the means-tested cost of living payment of £326 will be paid to eligible households from 14 July. I am pleased to remind colleagues that the payment is the first in a £15 billion package of measures to help households this year.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

2. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that disabled people are supported in work.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chloe Smith)]

We are absolutely delighted to see 1.3 million more disabled people in work than in 2017, smashing our commitment of 1 million lives changed by 2027 five years early. We remain committed to reducing the disability employment gap and, over the next three years, we will invest £1.3 billion in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions.

[Marion Fellows]

The UK has the highest levels of in-work poverty this century, which, as the Minister will know, disproportionately impacts groups facing higher living costs, such as disabled people. In the middle of this Tory man-made cost of living crisis, will she ensure that the UK Government’s health and disability White Paper addresses the suitability of the current statutory sick pay system, increase the Access to Work fund and end the payment cap, as well as create statutory timescales for the implementation of reasonable adjustments?

Child Maintenance Service: Reform

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2022 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered reforms to the Child Maintenance Service.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Rees, and I thank the Chairman of Ways and Means for allowing me to secure today’s debate on child maintenance reform. I honestly did not know how to start this debate. I have been campaigning on this issue for seven years, and in a debate in July 2019 I asked for sweeping reforms of the Child Maintenance Service, which is a cry I repeat today. At the risk of repetition, deviation and very little hesitation, here I go again—that is the only funny in my speech.

I thank One Parent Families Scotland, Gingerbread and Mumsnet for their helpful briefings, and I thank One Parent Families Scotland and Gingerbread for the work they do to support families with child maintenance issues. I reaffirm that my interest and campaigning on this issue is based on the needs of the children involved, on the Child Maintenance Service being able to work effectively to support them, and on ensuring that those children receive the maintenance they are due.

It can be difficult for folk in a stable relationship to understand the difficulties faced by parents with care when trying to receive child maintenance from previous partners who renege on their responsibilities. There are millions of relationships that have fallen apart, but at no point should a relationship breakdown mean that parents do not have a responsibility for their children. It is a fact of life, however, that some parents just walk away and try to shrug off those responsibilities. At that point, I believe that the responsibility should fall on us all to support those children and make their lives better, yet in these rich nations children fall into poverty, and the Department for Work and Pensions fails them with a system that does not help them, writes of huge debts to them, and does not adequately enforce payment.

Child poverty in the UK is a national disgrace and a reflection on the Government’s attitude to welfare. This is a Government who think it is fair to impose a benefit cap on families, for example, but children do not ask to be part of one-parent families where the paying parent is not facing up to their responsibilities. The Government and the DWP should not be failing them too.

Single parents with children are more likely to be in poverty, so any reduction in income is likely to be particularly harmful. In the face of the Tory-made cost of living crisis, maintenance matters even more in protecting children from poverty. That is why the SNP has been calling on the UK Government to introduce a minimum maintenance payment, to provide parents with care and their children a guaranteed income, and to prevent hardship and ensure a dignified standard of living.

Child maintenance arrears have also been exacerbated by shortfalls in making payments to parents who lost income during the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis. A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report in January this year showed that nearly half the children in lone-parent families live in poverty, compared with one in four children in couple families.

The workings of the CMS have been criticised by colleagues from all parties, either here in Westminster Hall or in the Chamber, and all Members will, at some time, be asked to help constituents with issues relating to the CMS. When the National Audit Office recently spoke to parents involved with the service as part of its report, they confirmed what many parents tell third sector organisations and their MPs: the system does not work for them or their children. In advance of this debate, I forwarded a list of asks to the Minister in order that I may have a fuller response today, and I really hope that will work.

The DWP is meeting its objectives in reducing reliance on state-administered maintenance, but Gingerbread is deeply concerned about the laissez-faire approach to understanding why so many families have no maintenance arrangements in place. One Parent Families Scotland states:

“A functioning CMS needs to offer bespoke advice and support to parents to reflect individual circumstances. It needs to give confidential help to those with more challenging living arrangements, such as domestic abuse, to safeguard the vulnerable. For instance, it should remove face-to-face meetings with ex-partners who have carried our domestic abuse to avoid power imbalances and coercive control. The CMS needs to advocate better on behalf of single parents to ensure that their voices are heard. However, the feedback from parents suggests that these objectives are not at present being met.”

A Mumsnet survey states that just 11% of parents described their experience of using the CMS as positive, with 73% describing it as negative, and 72% saying that using it has made their mental health and wellbeing worse. Paying and receiving parents told the NAO investigation that the CMS was not working properly for them.

The recent NAO report explores the failures of the CMS, showing that it is simply not working for far too many single parents. The report found that the UK Government have not learned one of the key lessons from the now-defunct Child Support Agency, and that in preventing arrears build-up, enforcement can be too slow to be effective. The report suggests that unless the UK Government write off more CMS debt, outstanding arrears will grow indefinitely. Indeed, they are forecast to reach £1 billion by March 2031 at current rates.

The DWP does not yet fully understand why those without an effective arrangement do not use its service, and it could do more to help prevent around half of direct-pay arrangements from failing, leaving maintenance unpaid. The DWP still has significant problems with its customer service, which undermines trust in the CMS. According to the latest DWP figures, in the quarter ending December 2021, out of over 158,400 paying parents due to pay via the collect and pay service, 32% paid no maintenance, 68% paid some maintenance, of which 23% paid up to 90% of the maintenance due for the quarter, and 45% paid over 90%. I do not like to use statistics in debates like this, but it is absolutely incredible that 32% of parents paid no maintenance.

The percentage of parents paying something toward their child’s maintenance has fallen by four percentage points to 68% since the last quarter. The last time a compliance rate of 68% was observed was in March 2020. There has been an eight percentage point decrease in the percentage of parents paying over 90% of the maintenance due for the quarter since the quarter ending March 2021, falling steadily from 53% to 45%.

All concerned organisations representing parents and children involved with CMS are calling for the abolition of the £20 application fee and a 4% deduction from collect and pay arrangements, as those are a barrier to the poorest parents becoming involved with CMS in the first place. It might be hard for some of us to imagine the difference that £20 or 4% of a maintenance arrangement would make, but to some people that is a huge amount of money.

I am calling on the Minister and the Government to reduce the income charge threshold—currently 25%—to ensure that low-income non-resident parents are not disproportionately charged, and that higher-income non-resident parents pay their fair share. That is important when people change or lose jobs, as it affects the ability of some parents to pay the amount of maintenance due.

The withholding or restricting of child maintenance payments can be used as a tool for economic abuse. According to DWP data, in the quarter ending in December 2021, 60% of new applicants to the CMS were recognised as being survivors of domestic abuse, which is why the way they are treated is so important. When will DWP introduce a trauma-informed service delivery and appropriate training for staff to identify ongoing financial abuses, given the increasing number of CMS customers who have experienced domestic abuse? When will the service introduce better customer service and management for parents, such as having the same caseworker for individual cases? Having to phone up repeatedly, and getting someone different every time, is almost an abuse in itself.

The Government announced in March that they have plans for future changes to the CMS, such as including unearned income in child maintenance calculations, for which I have been calling for quite a while. The caveat, however, is that the Government have said they will do so

“when the legislation timetable allows”.

How long is that long grass? Why is this not a priority now? There is a cost of living crisis going on, and think of the difference it would make to children.

DWP figures also show that since 2021, when the CMS began, £451.1 million in unpaid maintenance has accumulated. That amounts to 8% of all maintenance due to be paid since the start of the service. The SNP has repeatedly called for effective enforcement action to be taken in the collection of maintenance arrears. Much stronger systems and resources need to be dedicated to tackling parents who attempt to avoid or minimise child support payments, and those who do not pay what has been agreed. Many parents game the system—they know that if they do not pay and are then called to account, they can pay a little and slip off the immediate register, and the children suffer even more.

The CMS simply is not working for some parents, and closer attention has to be paid to what parents are saying. One parent said:

“I tried to claim child maintenance and received a few erratic payments. It had to be collected through earnings arrestment. Every time the dad moved job, payments stopped and wouldn’t restart for months. CMS said they couldn’t find him and they were not allowed to search for him…I was told I should write him a letter that would be passed onto him. I didn’t/couldn’t…so I didn’t make a new claim.”

Another said:

“I would improve the customer service; those working with communicating with parents using the service can be so insensitive when discussing personal situation and lacking in knowledge about the services provided.”

Another parent said:

“I’ve had to wait for more than a year for a response on more than one occasion (despite chasing) which is completely unacceptable. Upon phoning, any random person becomes your case worker and as my case is complex this is soul destroying. I’ve had complaints closed down without my agreement. Calculations performed incorrectly. The actual running total has had technical issues twice, so I don’t know how much is owed etc and it’s taken months to sort out. If you don’t chase nothing is actioned. The portal can be like a black hole.”

Another said:

“Although I am on Collect and Pay the paying ‘parent’ is still getting away with non-payment and nothing is being done about payment of the arrears. Then they have the audacity to charge me 4% even though none of this is the child’s fault and it’s the child who is being deprived of what she is owed.”

When will the CMS stop writing off arrears, some still from the Child Support Agency? That money is due and should not be written off as children reach adulthood.

The hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Dr Mullan) secured an Adjournment debate on Tuesday on the specific issue of maintenance arrears, which he was correct to raise. He suggested home curfew as a consequence of not paying child maintenance. Although that sounds like a positive thing, it has unintended consequences in cases of domestic abuse and control, so I would urge caution on that. However, at present the DWP does have sanctions, such as confiscation of passports and driving licences. DWP figures show that from the quarter ending December 2019, four passports have been subject to either suspended or immediate confiscation orders, 10 driving licences have been disqualified either immediately or under a suspended order, and 362 prison sentences, suspended or immediate, have been passed. Do any of us really believe that is good enough?

I will not go over the list of asks because I have done that so often. I know the Minister will respond, but I want to reflect on what the organisations that deal daily with parents in the CMS system have said. The chief executive of One Parent Families Scotland, Satwat Rehman, said:

“Parents are facing huge delays in hearing back, poor customer service, and ultimately a failure to collect the payments. At a time when the cost of living is rising to impossible levels, with many families forced to choose between food and fuel, addressing these issues is more important than ever. No child should have to go without because one parent is choosing not to provide them with financial support when they are able to.”

The chief executive at Gingerbread, Victoria Benson, said:

“Child maintenance is not a 'nice to have' luxury, in many cases it makes the difference between a family keeping their heads above water or plunging into poverty.”

She also said:

“It’s clear that urgent changes need to be made to ensure the child maintenance system is fit for purpose and works for those who need to use it. Without reform more single parent families will experience poverty and more children will be exposed to ongoing disadvantage. Single parents and their children should be supported to thrive because of their family make up—not in spite of it.”

Mumsnet founder, Justine Roberts, said:

“Providing for your children is a fundamental responsibility, and it’s genuinely surprising that the Child Maintenance Service allows so many adults to evade it. Children from these families deserve better than to be treated as collateral damage when relationships break down.”

In this debate, I have tried to raise some of the issues expressed by those who use the service, because it is important that their voices are heard. The Child Maintenance Service has not been working effectively for years. I know there are huge numbers of parents who use direct pay, who are involved in collect and pay services, and who pay on time, but I am not here to press their case. I am here to make the case for children affected by parents who do not face up to their responsibilities—indeed, I think all hon. Members are here for that reason. Let us try to make the CMS work for the children who need it.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Rutley]

I give way to the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw.

[Marion Fellows]

I have never said this in public, but my late husband was a Rangers fan, man and boy, and I could feel his presence when I watched the match last night. It was such a sad ending.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Rutley]

I agree. Other hon. Members may not quite agree with everything that the hon. Gentleman just said, but I think we can all agree that it was a remarkable achievement.

We can all also agree that this debate is important. Even though my current ministerial brief does not cover this area, it is vitally important. The Child Maintenance Service plays a valuable role in ensuring that children are supported in instances where parents do not live together and where they come to a private arrangement. We know that the vast majority of separated parents quite rightly take their responsibilities extremely seriously, as the hon. Member for Strangford pointed out. Our aim is to help parents to support their children and we are sensitive to the needs of both parties. The CMS is designed to promote collaboration between parents, and it offers a statutory scheme where collaboration is not possible.

The central focus in all of this is that the children are supported. The intent of child maintenance reform is to encourage parents to meet their responsibilities and provide their children with the financial support they need to get a good start in life, and that intent is well supported by the evidence. I will come on to that point in a second.

We are committed to maximising the positive impact of the Child Maintenance Service and ensuring that good arrangements are put in place for children, no matter where they are growing up. As the hon. Member for Strangford pointed out, parents need to honour their responsibilities to their children. We believe the CMS has made substantial improvements in the pre-covid period, notwithstanding that there is further room for progress, and the statistics support that. The compliance rate for parents on the collect and pay service has increased significantly, with the percentage of parents paying something rising by eight percentage points between the quarter ending March 2018 and March 2020. From March 2016 to December 2021, the percentage of CMS cases where no maintenance is being paid fell by about 30%, from 46% in March 2016 to 32% in December 2021.

CMS investigators have the power to deduct directly from earnings and to seize funds owed in child maintenance payments where requests for payments are consistently refused. For example, the CMS has the ability to seize funds held by a third party that they owe to the paying parent. Over 800,000 children are now covered by the Child Maintenance Service arrangements, up from 700,000 in mid-2019. We are making a difference to the support that children have been receiving: since 2019, over £1 billion in child maintenance has been arranged each year through the direct pay service and the collect and pay service. The hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) made an important point about poverty. She and I have regular debates on this subject, but it is important to note that around 140,000 fewer children are growing up in poverty as a result of child maintenance payments. That is good progress, but clearly more work needs to be done.

The hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw rightly raised points about the fee for an application to the Child Maintenance Service, which is set at £20 for all CMS participants. That fee is intended to encourage parents to consider whether they really need a statutory scheme case, but it is not so high that it creates an insurmountable obstacle. Applicants who are victims of domestic abuse or under the age of 19 are exempt from paying the application fee. It is not our intent to create a barrier for vulnerable customers; in fact, around 60% of applicants do not pay that fee. Collection charges, which are 20% for the paying parent and 4% for the parent with care, only apply to the collect and pay service, and are intended to provide both parents with an incentive to collaborate. The collection charge for the receiving parent is deducted only when maintenance is paid, so the receiving parent does not owe money to the Child Maintenance Service if maintenance is not paid. If there were no charge for receiving parents, there would be no incentive for them to use the direct pay service.

The Child Maintenance Service may also review the income of a paying parent if earnings decrease or increase by 25% over a year—a point that was raised by the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw. That 25% threshold ensures that liabilities remain stable so that both parents can budget with certainty, which aims to provide ongoing certainty for the child as well.

[Marion Fellows]

Will the Minister give way?

[David Rutley]

I will, but can I just make one further point, which I think might answer the hon. Lady’s question? Most people’s income does not change to that degree over the course of one year. The threshold also ensures that minor changes in income do not interfere with the efficiency of the system, thereby increasing costs for the taxpayer. I recognise that there is an important issue here, and I assure hon. Members that DWP Ministers will keep that tolerance under very active review.

[Marion Fellows]

I just wanted to thank the Minister for that, because it is a very important point. I know those changes are not frequent, but they can prevent money from going to children, which is the issue that this debate is all about.

[David Rutley]

I underline for the record that that issue is kept under active review.

Within the CMS, arrears are written off in exceptional circumstances only. With regard to CSA arrears, the Department carried out its compliance and arrears strategic review. Over the course of that review, 250,000 receiving parents were written to, explaining the situation. There are fewer than 60,000 cases remaining with CSA debt, and more than 35,000 of those are undergoing collection and enforcement activity. In instances where the receiving parents ask, the CMS undertakes further action to seek to recover the funds. Crucially, this exercise has allowed the CMS to focus its effort on parents who told us they wanted us to try to collect the money that they are owed and the money that will benefit children now.

We are determined to go further and not content to stand still. We are always looking to improve the way we deliver this vital service. The Department continues to keep child maintenance policy and our operational delivery under review. Those who have met Baroness Stedman-Scott will know that she is also a redoubtable champion on these matters and not somebody to be messed with. She is very keen to drive further action forward.

We are also considering how other countries arrange child maintenance. We are gathering examples of good practice and looking at what can be learned from other systems. This includes researching what interventions are used to encourage parents to make their own maintenance arrangements without Government involvement. The CMS has introduced new digital services such as the apply online service that allows parents to make an initial application more easily. That option is available 24/7 and allows greater flexibility for separated parents to use the CMS and manage their child maintenance arrangements in a way that suits them.

That brings me to the standard of service that customers receive when they go to the CMS—a point raised by numerous colleagues today. The CMS is committed to delivering service to the highest standard and has created a more customer-focused culture over the years. In the past, the CMS has experimented with personal caseworkers —a point raised by the hon. Member for Strangford—but it was found that that does not offer the best service. Instead, the CMS organises caseworkers into more tightly formed teams, which allows for knowledge and expertise sharing, so any caseworker can deal with any of their team’s cases. We find that that is the best way forward, but I will gladly pick that point up separately with the hon. Gentleman later.

The hon. Members for Motherwell and Wishaw and for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) raised the incredibly important issue of domestic abuse survivors. The CMS takes domestic abuse very seriously and has substantially strengthened its procedures to ensure customers can use the CMS safely. The CMS updated its domestic abuse training programme to give clear guidance to caseworkers on how to support victims of domestic abuse. The Department also commissioned an independent review of ways in which the CMS supports survivors of domestic abuse, including those facing and suffering from financial abuse.

The review was conducted by Dr Samantha Callan, who consulted a range of domestic abuse stakeholders and leading charities, as well as CMS customers who have, sadly, experienced domestic abuse. The Government will, of course, carefully consider the findings of the review and any recommendations.

Moving on to the issue of unearned income, we are also looking to take new measures to ensure that income gained from sources other than earnings is distributed fairly. The CMS compliance and arrears strategy 2018 introduced powers that allowed notional income from assets such as coins and gold, income derived from capital, and any foreign income to be used in the assessment, but we want to go further. We propose making changes in legislation that enable the child maintenance calculation to include unearned income that is not currently captured—for example, savings and investment income, and dividends.

--- Later in debate ---

[Marion Fellows]

I thank all hon. Members who have taken part in the debate. I know that this is not a particularly popular time, so I really appreciate them being here. I thank the Minister for his response, although I will be investigating it further. I did not want to say this, but I think I have to. The noble Baroness plays an important role—I have had meetings with her and she is redoubtable—and also speaks well of her Department and tries to move things forward, but it is a pity that she is in the other place and is therefore unable to be directly scrutinised in the Chamber of the House of Commons. That often makes it difficult for Ministers to respond directly to folk like me and other Members present. I am well aware that there was a push on enforcement last year, but I will be writing to the Baroness directly to ask whether that push is going to be continued. I still do not think I have had an answer to, “How long is the long grass?” regarding when legislation will appear. [Interruption.] The Minister is indicating “quite short”, but I think everyone involved would like some more surety about that.

I thank you, Ms Rees, for presiding over today’s debate so well, and I thank all the organisations that have helped us to have it. We are all concerned, and the Minister can take it that we will remain so and will keep a very careful watch on folk in the DWP. The staff in the Child Maintenance Service work hard and do their best. They do not need to be reformed; what needs to be reformed is the systems, and the way in which they are enforced.

Resolved,

That this House has considered reforms to the Child Maintenance Service.

Child Maintenance Arrears

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Mullan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue. My focus today is on the need to change regulations, but I accept the wider concern about the functioning and efficiency of the agency. I will go on to talk about his point about the cost of living crisis. Figures suggest that 16% of children who are not in receipt of maintenance payments would be lifted out of poverty if they were, and that shows the level of concern we are trying to address.

We have seen some improvements. The NAO found that the internal processes for moving towards enforcing compliance were better, but the bigger picture is not positive. Of separated families who have a Government-mediated arrangement in place, the NAO found that only one in three see it paid in full, so two in three are not getting the payments in full to which they are entitled. Sometimes, the sums people are expected to pay are incredibly small. At the end of September 2021, total cumulative arrears under the current child maintenance scheme were £436 million. That amount is increasing at roughly £1 million a week, and the total will hit £1 billion by 2031. That is a huge amount of money that is not being paid by non-residential parents, and we have a responsibility to hold to account and punish individuals who behave in this deplorable manner.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is the children who suffer most? The way that the Child Maintenance Service is writing off arrears means that these children will be permanently disadvantaged, with no more holidays and no more of the things that most children would take for granted.

[Dr Mullan]

The hon. Member pre-empts the exact point I was going to go on to make, which is that between December 2018 and March 2021, the predecessor agency wrote off about £2.6 billion of owed maintenance. That is the Government stepping in and legally excusing a parent of their responsibilities to their child. Whether or not it is realistic to recover it, morally I am not sure the Government should be doing that in a child and parent relationship. That is not a success in my book.

As of September 2021, 38,000 paying parents with an ongoing arrangement had not paid any maintenance for more than three months, and 22,000 had not paid for more than six months. That is tens of thousands of individuals happy to let other people pick up their most fundamental responsibility of providing for their child. All too often, it is strangers picking up the pieces through the tax system. In theory, the Department has some tough powers, including imprisonment, but the figures I have quoted clearly show that they are not working. Imprisoning someone, although perhaps morally warranted, stops them being able to earn and is not a practical solution to use at the scale needed to tackle the tens of thousands of non-payers. Those delinquent individuals have learned that if they just start paying a bit again, the whole system resets.

The Department’s civil enforcements are restricted to the collection of arrears at the time when a liability order is granted and cannot be used to enforce ongoing maintenance, which is another reason why an element of punishment would serve a wider purpose. It is not surprising that the evidence shows that overall, maintenance arrears continue to build up, even when the Department begins enforcement action. The NAO found that on average, parents had arrears of £2,200 before the enforcement action began and £2,600 afterwards. As if it were not bad enough that taxpayers have to top up the income of less well-off families when one parent is not contributing, we have to put time, money and effort into chasing up payments with no consequences for those who are not paying.

Taking stronger steps is broadly supported. According to a survey by Mumsnet and Gingerbread, 93% of parents believe that those who regularly avoid paying child maintenance should face more serious penalties. Not only would punishment be morally warranted, but I expect that it would have a powerful effect on compliance and put people off not paying in the first place. As I said, tougher restrictions to ensure that people are paying their child maintenance could lift 60% of children not in receipt of payments out of poverty. With the cost of living crisis, there is no better time to tackle the issue.

A change needs to be made to the system to ensure that the continuous rise in non-payments is tackled, and that is where home curfew can play a role. When the Government originally introduced enforcement measures, they crafted the legal framework to introduce home curfew measures but the powers were never enacted. I am not clear why, but I have campaigned for some time for those powers to be put to use, so I was delighted that, earlier this year, the Secretary of State announced plans to do exactly that. I hope that today’s debate helps to encourage the Government to make progress towards that commitment.

I would welcome the opportunity for my constituents to contribute to a consultation; perhaps the Minister could meet me and some of them as plans are developed. It will be no surprise to him that I think it is important that we use this power not just as a mechanism to encourage payments but to punish. If we could meet ahead of the consultation so that we can ensure that that is part of the proposals, it would be appreciated.

Home curfew could remain in place for the designated period regardless of whether a parent started to pay—for example, for three months. I imagine that spending three months at home every night, pondering their responsibilities, would be a powerful reality check. People need to understand that we as a society do not find non-payment acceptable and that they will be punished for not paying for the upkeep of their children.

On a related note, not earning any money should be accepted as an excuse for not paying maintenance only when there has been a genuine attempt to find work, which should be determined in the same way that the Department assesses that as part of the wider work of the welfare state. If someone has responsibility for children, they should be out there doing everything they can to find a job. If they are not doing that, they should not be out socialising of an evening.

Importantly, unlike imprisonment, home curfew can be used in a way that does not prevent a person from looking for a job and earning, as it can be tailored to their circumstances. It would typically be an evening and overnight curfew to allow people to find and take work during the day, but it could be switched around for people who find night work.

I sound a note of caution. As constituency MPs, we have all had cases of people for whom the administration of maintenance by CMS has gone wrong. Of course, if we are seeking powers to restrict someone’s liberty, we need to ensure that the cases are watertight, but we know that tens of thousands of people are not paying and would be fair targets of this policy.

I understand that home detention equipment is available, so we can make the change work. I would welcome people who are not paying having to explain why they have an ankle tag and cannot go to the pub in the evening. I have no doubt that many would say that they are guilty of a minor crime before admitting that they do not pay for their own kids, which tells us all we need to know about how badly we have got it wrong.

I acknowledge that there are many loving parents who would and do contribute to the care of their children but who are prevented from seeing them by the parent who has primary custody. When I first raised the issue of home detention for non-payers, many such parents contacted me and were clearly distressed. I make it clear that I am in no way minimising that and I fully support every parent in exercising their clear legal right to secure access to their children. Of course, it is abhorrent for any parent not to act in good faith when it comes to access, but two wrongs do not make a right and, as with every MP, I have to choose what I campaign on.

I am clear that every child deserves parents who step up and look after them and that no taxpayer should be left filling the void when they do not. On behalf of a society that I believe wants to see tougher action, the Government need to proceed at speed to secure it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Guy Opperman]

The hon. Gentleman has forestalled one of the issues that I was going to raise. I remember the debate secured by the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw on 21 January 2021, in which there was discussion of how the CMS was managing during covid. It was a struggle, to be perfectly blunt; all such services were struggling to provide assistance during the pandemic, and there were complications. I would like to think that all colleagues accept that the Child Maintenance Service has improved as covid has disappeared, as people have been able to return to work, and as consistency has returned because people are no longer getting ill, having to shield and having all the problems that follow.

The hon. Member for Strangford raised the issue of numbers. There are approximately 4,000 staff working for the Child Maintenance Service in the United Kingdom. That is a lot of people who are addressing this problem on an ongoing basis. I take the criticism, and the constructive criticism, about consistency in dealing with a case. In every MP’s office up and down the country—whether on this issue, on passports, on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency or on any public services—there are desires and hopes for consistency, so that people can build up a relationship with a particular individual. Clearly individuals working in the public sector are free to move on to other things, but the criticism is legitimately made, and I take it on board; I am certain that the noble Baroness does, too.

My hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich talked about collections in his outstanding speech. Collections are increasing. The criticism can be made that they are not increasing enough, but despite the difficulties of the pandemic, CMS collections have continued to increase; they rose by 8% between 2018 to 2021, and in 2021 some 71% of paying parents who used the collect and pay service were complaint.

In the quarter ending December 2021, a total of £46.6 million was paid through the collect and pay service; in addition, £210 million was due to be paid through direct pay arrangements. As a result of child maintenance payments, between 2018-19 and 2020-21—the most recent period for which there are statistics—the households of some 140,000 children were taken out of the category of low-income households. That goes to the point made by the hon. Member for Strangford and emphasises the desperate importance of this issue. It is particularly relevant in a cost of living crisis. Those payments are made both through family-based arrangements and the CMS.

The main point of the speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich was about enforcement, and I turn to that now. When a parent fails to support their child and fails to fulfil their financial responsibilities, a number of options cut in. If arrears have begun to accrue, the CMS aims to take immediate action to re-establish compliance. For example, £3 million was collected between October and December 2021 through CMS civil enforcement action.

There are other enforcement powers, too. If a non-compliant paying parent is employed, the service will first attempt to deduct the maintenance and any arrears directly from their earnings. That is done by a deductions from earnings order or request; employers are obliged by law to take that action. This represents a quick and efficient way of going directly to the source of income to obtain the money. We learn these lessons from those who are the best at this: the taxman, who basically goes to earnings directly and ensures that they get immediate recovery.

[Marion Fellows]

That works in the civilian world, but not always with certain military people. There are real issues with chasing them for child payments.

[Guy Opperman]

I will reveal the product of a conversation I had earlier with the hon. Lady. I take note of her point, and if she gives me details of specific examples, particularly if there are regiments where this is a problem, I and the Department will be most interested to know about them. Of course, it would be best if we could respond to them before her important Westminster Hall debate on Thursday.

Where earnings cannot be accessed directly and there is a solely-held bank account—an absent father or mother has a bank account in their name—deductions can be taken directly from that account, and administrative methods can then be used to take control of goods, passports and other things on an ongoing basis.

My hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich talked about sanctions. We clearly use them only as a last resort, but a paying parent found guilty in court of wilful refusal to pay, or of culpable neglect in relation to payment of arrears, may be prevented from holding or obtaining a driving licence for up to two years, or alternatively may be committed to prison. As I indicated, we have also got the power to disqualify non-compliant parents from having a passport. Those are pretty serious penalties, but I take the point that that is not a direct penalty for the offending behaviour.

Oral Answers to Questions

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

8. What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that disabled people are supported in work.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

19. What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that disabled people are supported in work.

[Anna Firth (Southend West) (Con)]

21. What steps she is taking to help disabled people into work.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mims Davies]

We have 900 disability employment advisers who individually work with claimants to help them to progress. One of the most positive outcomes of the kickstart scheme has been the number of people with neurodiversity or disabilities getting a first start into work because they worked directly with their work coaches to understand what support they needed to get into work. There is also, of course, the Access to Work programme.

[Marion Fellows]

This Thursday, the all-party parliamentary group for multiple sclerosis is launching a report on the support that people with MS receive to get into and remain in employment, and to leave employment. According to the report, people with MS are not receiving enough support from their employers to remain in work. On average, 80% of people with a diagnosis have to retire within 15 years of receiving that bad news. Will the Department commit to improving Access to Work by reducing waiting times, ending the payment cap altogether, and helping employees to better support their disabled employees to thrive and remain in work?

[Mims Davies]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising a really important point about employers being able to understand and work with their employees as their health needs change. Employers stepping forward to do more to retain quality staff is absolutely right. She will be pleased to know that we are adapting Access to Work to support hybrid working. We have introduced a new flexible offer, and we are also piloting an adjustment passport to help to smooth transitions into employment. Perhaps we need to look at that in terms of those leaving or having to change their employment. I am sure the Minister for disabled people, the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith), who is unwell today, will be keen to hear from the hon. Lady.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Thursday 24th February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for the opportunity to raise these matters. Around the world, 1 billion people live with a disability. According to World Vision 20% of the world’s poorest live with a disability, and according to the UN around 80% of disabled people live in developing countries. Here in the UK, nearly half of disabled people—49%—live in poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. In spite of that, disabled people’s rights at home and abroad have been consistently ignored and deprioritised by the UK Government.

The UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, or the UNCRPD, was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006 and ratified in the UK in 2009. It introduced obligations to

“ensure and promote the full realisation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms”

for all disabled people, including taking into account

“the protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities”

when making and assessing policy. Following a parliamentary inquiry on disability and development in 2014, the UK committed to become a global leader on this neglected and under-prioritised area in its bilateral development review. However, eight years and a global pandemic later, we have seen glacial progress in the policy area of disability rights in the UK.

Last week, the second global disability summit was hosted by the International Disability Alliance, the Government of Norway and the Government of Ghana. The aim of the summit was to mobilise efforts for the implementation of the United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, the principles of “leave no one behind” and building back better, and more inclusive programming with regards to covid-19. Although I was glad to see the UK Government making 18 commitments at last week’s summit, they will not meet the real needs of disabled people or allow us to do our duty as global citizens to protect the human rights of disabled people at home and abroad. Sadly, this was a missed opportunity once again, and the UK Government’s commitment fell way short of what is needed. Ahead of last week’s summit, the Scottish National party called on the UK Government to enshrine the UNCRPD in law. That was another missed opportunity to protect disabled people’s rights at home and abroad and to advance the rights of everyone.

The UN committee overseeing the UNCRPD not only called on the UK to incorporate the convention into legislation and allow domestic remedies for breaches in 2017, but has investigated the UK over “grave and systematic violations” of the convention in 2016. Although the UK Government recently published their progress in response to the recommendations late last year, the socioeconomic landscape for disabled people has changed beyond recognition since 2016, when the recommendations were made. Examples include coercion of disabled people or their carers to sign “do not resuscitate” orders, and failure to include disabled people in Government plans for financial and social support during the pandemic. Thus, disabled people’s rights remain a great cause for concern.

The Oxford University disability law and policy project and the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights report, “An Affront to Dignity, Inclusion and Equality”, published on 2 July 2020, referred to a

“failure of the government to implement properly its legal duties with respect to the rights of people with disabilities.”

The report stated:

“The government’s policymaking in response to the pandemic has failed to fulfil its own Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010 with respect to disabled people and its obligations under the United Nations Convention”.

Despite the progress that the UK Government claim to have made, disability organisations have expressed concerns to me and others that disabled people’s rights as set out in the convention are not being protected by the Government. One carer working with the Disabled Children’s Partnership shared her story:

“My name is Sarah, and I live in Devon with my daughter, who has an acquired brain injury...There is horrendous resentment towards disabled people in our society, and carers are massively undervalued. As one of the richest countries in the world with an apparent commitment to human rights, you would have thought the UK could respect disabled children and their families—but we are treated horrifically. We need to change attitudes, change services, and fight the injustices that affect disabled children and families”.

Another carer, Joanna, told me:

“The system is broken....It doesn’t get us the services we have a right to to live a good quality of life, and makes us spend a fortune. It needs reform”.

The national disability strategy, published last summer, committed to being “mindful” of the UNCRPD in its implementation—but being mindful of disabled people’s rights is just not enough. In Scotland, as part of taking forward the 30 progressive, bold and ambitious recommendations of the national taskforce for human rights leadership for a new human rights framework for Scotland, a new human rights Bill will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament during this parliamentary Session. The Bill will incorporate four international human rights treaties, including the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. It will be a significant and historical milestone in the Scottish human rights journey. It will give effect to a wide range of internationally recognised human rights—belonging to everyone in Scotland—as far as possible within devolved competence, and it will strengthen domestic legal protections by making them enforceable in Scots law. It will also demonstrate global human rights leadership, placing Scotland at the forefront of human rights legislation and, most importantly, practice. The inclusion of those rights will empower people, enabling them to claim and enforce their rights in multiple ways domestically, including in a Scottish court. Incorporation of the CRPD will give greater impetus to public bodies to remove barriers and support disabled people to participate fully in society, such as by being able to access information and services and living independently with dignity.

The Scottish Government have created a comprehensive delivery plan to help Scotland meet the requirements of the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. “A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People” was the Scottish Government’s delivery plan for that. It covered 2016 to 2021 and aimed to make equality of opportunity, access to services and independent living a reality for all disabled people in Scotland. Flowery phrases are all well and good, but setting challenging targets is the correct way to push forward on the rights of disabled people. That sometimes leads to not achieving all targets, but overall it leads to improvements in the lives of disabled people. The Scottish Government have committed to publishing a new disability equality plan, which will be published this year. Will the Minister follow the Scottish Government’s lead, commit to enshrining the UNCRPD in law and champion disability rights at home and on the global stage?

The UK Government have exhibited a continual pattern of deprioritising disability inclusion in their policy and decision-making processes. One of the key recommendations following the 2017 investigation by the UN committee into the UK’s implementation of the convention was to involve disabled people and disabled people’s organisations in planning and implementing all laws and policies affecting disabled people. The UK Government said that because the convention was ratified, all UK Government Departments “need” to consider it when developing policies that affect disabled people. However, UKIM, the UK independent mechanism for monitoring progress on the UNCRPD report, said in October 2018 that it

“remains seriously concerned about the continued failure of the UK Government to conduct an assessment of the cumulative impact on disabled people of multiple policy and law reforms in relation to living standards and social security.”

That was exemplified by the national disability strategy published in summer last year, which beyond being, frankly, a lot of bluff and bluster with no meaningful action, failed to consult disabled people in an adequate manner. Disabled people need more than warm words and a surface-level appearance of engagement with the disabled community. Will the Minister commit to properly engaging with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations in planning and implementing all laws and policies that affect disabled people at home and abroad?

Just last month, the High Court ruled that the UK Government’s attempt to involve disabled people and disabled people’s organisations in the consultation that shaped the strategy was both unlawful and inadequate. The chief executive officer of Disability Rights UK, speaking about the strategy, said that it was

“disappointingly thin on immediate actions, medium-term plans and the details of longer term investment”

and that there were

“scant plans and timescales on how to bring about vastly needed improvements to benefits, housing, social care, jobs, education, transport, and equitable access to wider society.”

Some of those issues are devolved, but I am not just talking about people in Scotland: I want people across the UK, especially those with disabilities, to have what is their right. I refer to what I said earlier about challenging targets and how the Scottish Government try to improve the lives of disabled people. On 3 February 2022, the Department for Work and Pensions was refused an opportunity to appeal against the High Court’s ruling. Notwithstanding what you have already said, Mr Stringer, will the Minister confirm whether the Department intends to apply for permission to appeal that decision to the Court of Appeal?

The organisation Sightsavers has raised concerns about the vagueness of the commitments made at the global disability summit last week and about a continual lack of transparency on the implementation of disability inclusion policy by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. For example, it has expressed concern about the UK Government’s commitments to move from equality awareness to equality transformation, which encourages collaborative work to empower women and girls, people with disabilities, and other socially marginalised people. The commitments made at that summit risk being little more than aspirational language with no measurable objectives and few or no financial commitments or plans to report results. While the Scottish Government welcome the UK Government’s commitment to fund the Global Action on Disability network, the FCDO has not made any other financial pledges in its commitments. Without tangible reporting on the results, they hold very little weight in upholding the UNCRPD and protecting disability rights on the global stage, so will the Minister join me in asking the FCDO to make the monitoring framework and action plan that will accompany the disability, inclusion and rights strategy available publicly?

Globally, disabled people are disproportionately impacted by poverty, natural disasters, healthcare barriers and covid-19, but they are still excluded from many aid programmes, which do not take disabled people’s needs into account. Unfortunately, we do not compare completely favourably in a global context, as here in the UK, poverty is consistently higher for disabled people. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, there is a gap of around 12 percentage points in poverty rates between disabled and non-disabled people.

The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Professor Philip Alston, highlighted in a 2018 statement concerns about changes to legal aid since 2012, which he said had

“overwhelmingly affected the poor and people with disabilities”,

meaning that they were

“effectively deprived of their human right to a remedy.”

In November 2020, the UK Government announced that they intended to spend 0.5% of gross national income on official development assistance in 2021, down from 0.7% in the seven years from 2013. An unpublished impact assessment of the reductions, written in March 2021, reportedly concluded that this would result in a significant reduction in the number and size of programmes targeted at women, girls and disabled people.

World Vision found that less than 0.5% of all international aid targets disability inclusion. Aid was equivalent to less than $1 per person with disabilities in developing economies. The five most disability inclusion-focused donors target just 3% of their aid to this purpose. The SNP was front and centre of the attacks on the Government’s shameful decision to cut aid by over £4 billion this year and by £2.2 billion last year. The unpublished impact assessment I referred to found that this would result in a significant reduction in the number and size of programmes targeted at disabled people. Only six of the 1,161 aid programmes funded by the UK Government had disability inclusion as their primary objective in 2018.

The new disability inclusion strategy launched by the FCDO last week said that it will work to

“accelerate implementation of the UNCRPD”

globally by supporting Governments to fulfil their responsibilities under the convention through legislation and development and through improving local accountability mechanisms.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for obtaining this debate; she is making an excellent opening speech. Would she agree that the UK Government must lead by example by implementing the convention here in the UK before they can preach to anybody on the world stage?

[Marion Fellows]

I totally agree with the hon. Member. That is one of the reasons I wanted this debate. I want the Government to commit. The FCDO’s new disability inclusion strategy said that it will work to accelerate the implementation of the UNCRPD globally. Well, as the hon. Member said, the Government cannot preach to others about what they have not done themselves. The strategy lacks any solid financial or measurable commitments to protect disability rights on the global stage.

Will the Minister join me in asking the FCDO to commit to tripling the number of aid projects that have disability inclusion as their primary objective by 2023, prioritising grassroots disability aid projects and ensuring that disabled people are not further excluded from global aid? Further, will she join me in asking the FCDO to commit to including disability in the eligibility criteria for applying for refugee status in the UK, in recognition of the disproportionate disadvantages disabled people face globally?

The UNCRPD seeks to ensure and promote the full realisation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all disabled people. Being “mindful” of human rights is not enough; the incorporation of the convention into domestic law will provide the legal enforcement and protection required. It is time for the UK Government to follow the UN committee’s recommendations, match Scotland’s ambition and enshrine the UNCRPD in law, to champion disability rights on the global stage and here in the UK.

[Graham Stringer (in the Chair)]

This is a 90-minute debate and I intend to call the Front-Bench spokespeople at around 2.30 pm, so you can do the arithmetic yourself.

--- Later in debate ---

[Marion Fellows]

I congratulate the Minister on her robust defence of what I will not refer to as the indefensible, though that is there in my thoughts. She has done a grand job—she has a job, and she has done it—but unfortunately she has not convinced anybody on this side of the Chamber with her arguments.

One of my main asks was: does the Minister agree that the Government should enshrine the UNCRPD in law? If that was done, then lots of other things would follow from it. Warm thoughts and good intentions from the Government are great, and I am really pleased that the Government have them, but we really need hard law to make all these things possible. The Minister referred to the employment Bill—where is it?—and access to work, which is the subject of another debate that I will apply for. Hon. Members have reflected on the effects of austerity, too.

I will raise one other issue: the Government’s silo mentality. The Minister had a hard job, because there was discussion of FCDO and DWP—and she also managed to bring in BEIS. Again, I go back to the importance of enshrining the UNCRPD in law, because then Departments would almost be forced to work together.

Something the Minister said struck me. She said that people should be treated fairly and equally. We heard from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), among others, about how people applying for PIP and other DWP benefits are assessed. Could the Government please start treating disabled people with dignity, fairness and respect? That would go a long way towards making things different for disabled people, here and further afield.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

British Sign Language Bill

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Public Bill Committees

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Miller.

I congratulate the hon. Member for West Lancashire on sponsoring the Bill, and on defying gravity and conventional wisdom. The normal advice we give to constituents and non-governmental organisations is that if Members are in the top five in the ballot, they have a chance, God willing, but if they are No. 20 they have no chance whatever. The fact we are here today is a tremendous tribute to the hon. Lady’s sterling efforts and those of my near neighbour, the Minister, who has worked with her. What they have done is brilliant.

I will not detain the Committee for long, but I want to pick up on an issue raised by the hon. Member for West Lancashire in her opening speech—she got to the nub of the issue very quickly—when she said that one aim of the Bill is to give deaf children equal access to the education that they need. That campaign is close and dear to the hearts of my constituents, Ann and Daniel Jillings.

Over the years, Daniel has met a number of Ministers to make the case for the GCSE in British Sign Language. I know it takes time to get the curriculum right, but it is taking rather a long time. The pilot by Signature was carried out in 2015, and we are now seven years on. Daniel will soon be leaving school and he will not be able to take the GCSE in BSL while at school. I urge my hon. Friend the Minister to emphasise to the Department for Education the need to get on with this. It will mean a great deal to people such as Daniel. It will give them an opportunity, as well as helping the hon. Lady achieve an early win, dare I say it, for the objectives of the Bill.

I will not speak any longer, because time is of the essence—not just today, but for the remainder of this Session. We need to get the Bill speedily through this place and on to the other place.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It truly is a delight to serve under your chairmanship on this important Bill, Mrs Miller. I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for West Lancashire and, surprisingly for me, the Minister. They have worked so closely together to make this happen, and I think deaf people across the UK, including in Scotland, will be extremely pleased about the Bill. It was very important that the hon. Member for West Lancashire said that this is the first step, which it is.

The hon. Member for Waveney talked about qualifications. In Scotland, we have a Scottish Qualifications Authority qualification in BSL from level 3 to quite high up—I cannot quite figure out how high it goes, but it is there and is happening. In Scotland, we have lots of public presentations where signage is just there—it is not unusual—and it is really good that this is happening across the UK.

I will not take up much more time, but I know deaf folk in Motherwell and Wishaw, especially those in the Lanarkshire Deaf Club, will be absolutely delighted about the Bill, which is a first step. Let us keep going, and let us keep the pressure on, on behalf of folk who are deaf.

[Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Miller, and on such an important Bill, which will have a positive impact on so many people. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire on all her work in this area. We heard her speak so eloquently on Second Reading about her deeply personal connection with British Sign Language and, as a child of deaf parents, she spoke about how so many children who support their loved ones are forced to grow up too fast. She should be proud of the Bill and the future progress made in this area, which will support so many young people who shoulder responsibilities well beyond their years.

I would like to place on the record my thanks to the BSL Act Now! campaign and the many disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities involved for their tireless work and commitment to the campaign. We all know that getting a private Member’s Bill through takes resourcefulness, dedication and passion—qualities that we can all agree those involved have shown. I commend them all.

As we all know, British Sign Language is the primary form of communication for approximately 90,000 residents of the UK, with around 150,000 users in total. Its vocabulary and syntax do not replicate spoken English, and many deaf citizens have a much lower reading age than the general population. Sadly, too many deaf people in the UK continue to face barriers to communication, which affects employment, education and access to healthcare. The Bill will begin to tackle some of those significant issues. If it becomes law, the Bill will achieve legal status for British Sign Language as the primary language of the deaf community in the United Kingdom. Achieving legal recognition of BSL through an Act of Parliament would be a huge step forward in improving deaf people’s quality of life, their inclusion and autonomy in British society, their educational and professional opportunities, and even their health outcomes.

I strongly welcome the fact that the Bill also contains provisions for Government Departments and certain public service providers to publish and adhere to the guidance, setting out the steps that need to be taken to meet the needs of BSL users. I believe such guidance will improve the delivery of many public services and help BSL users to overcome the current limitations of the Equality Act 2010, which sadly mean that many providers do not know how to make reasonable adjustments for them.

Although I welcome the positive strides the Bill will enable, I know that, like me, many of my colleagues will see it as something that we must build on, and I want to touch briefly on a few crucial areas that I hope we can explore further in the future. The first is on data. As it stands, the Government do not capture sufficient data to give us a clear picture of the deaf community. Current statistics capture people based on terms such as “difficulty in hearing” and “hearing impairment”. The use of “impairment” is unhelpful and outdated, and may have a negative impact on how BSL users respond. In short, the Government do not really know how many deaf people use BSL. That is concerning given they use that data as the evidence base for making decisions about how to support BSL users, a group of people who face some of the biggest barriers in society, whether in employment, education, health, wellbeing or other areas.

Disability Benefits Assessments

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Tuesday 1st February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Gary. I congratulate and thank the hon. Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) for introducing this important debate.

The UK Government are failing disabled people, who have been hit hardest by the pandemic and the rising cost of living crisis. Some 42% of families who rely on disability benefits are in poverty, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said that 49% of all those living in poverty in the UK are either disabled people or live in a household containing a disabled person. According to the Disability Benefits Consortium, the financial situation of 78% of disabled claimants has worsened during the pandemic.

The long overdue national disability strategy was an underwhelming wish list, with few real commitments. It failed properly to take into account disabled people’s experience. Last week, the High Court found the strategy’s consultation process unlawful, due to its inadequate and inaccessible attempt at engagement with disabled people. The Green Paper was long overdue, but did little to convince disabled people’s organisations and disability charities that the UK Government have their best interests at heart. The Green Paper has failed to address benefit sanctions, the payment cap within Access to Work and the accessibility of the UK Government’s kickstart scheme and, worryingly, it considers merging benefits assessments to cut costs.

The DWP disability benefits assessment is an ineffective, deeply stressful and often traumatic process for disabled people. That would fairly sum up what many Members have said today. The assessment process often impedes rather than facilitates access to vital financial support. On average, more than 12,000 disabled people successfully overturn wrong PIP decisions every month. From 2017 to 2019, 2,500 people in my constituency appealed the outcome of their assessment and 18% had the outcome overturned. That figure was relatively low, which meant that people had to continue fighting for benefits they were entitled to by going on to a tribunal, causing more stress. Having an appropriate professional with relevant knowledge and understanding of a disabled person’s condition or impairment is vital to getting the right decision the first time around. Survey data shows that 70% of disabled people felt that their benefit assessor did not understand their condition.

Z2K, which I met this morning, has given me examples. I do not want to waste too much time, but they are important. One person said:

“I repeated several times how much pain I was in which was visible. They still asked me to do physical tests, leaving me in tears and in pain”.

Another said:

“When I received the assessor’s report, I cried, because it reflected a perfectly healthy person, not someone who cannot clean their house or hold down a full-time job”.

One Scope person said:

“I find it deeply dehumanising.”

I will stop there because it is distressing to read these accounts.

The UK Government must end punitive disability assessments to build on the positive temporary changes seen during covid, such as removing conditionality and sanctions for disabled claimants, as well as the need for face-to-face assessments. Claimants must be able to choose the method of assessment best suited to them and what makes them most comfortable. Disability organisations such as Sense have called for the DWP to retain the option of offering applicants the option of telephone and video calls and non-in-person assessments.

The Green Paper’s proposals for a new approach to sanctions are at odds with the Tory Government’s new Way to Work campaign, which is sure to push many, including disabled people, on universal credit into a corner and see sanctions rise. The Government must permanently end benefits sanctions for disabled people and those who are unwell. It is particularly cruel and does nothing but hurt those most in need.

My hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) outlined briefly the Scottish Government’s approach to disability assessments. I will not repeat what she said, but I stress that the whole system in Scotland in based on dignity, fairness and respect. I think that should be rolled out right across the UK.

I have a few asks of the Minister. How will she ensure the White Paper on health and disability benefits properly consults disabled people, beyond an inaccessible lifestyle questionnaire, and does not repeat the Department’s failure of engagement seen in the Green Paper and national disability strategy? Will she permanently end benefit sanctions for disabled people and those who are unwell? Will she confirm that the UK Government’s Way to Work campaign will not push disabled people on universal credit into a corner and see sanctions rise? Will she fight for the cut of £20 in universal credit uplift to be reversed and for that money to be extended to people who are on legacy benefits who did not get it? That is another court case we are waiting for a result on.

Will the Minister consider following Scotland’s lead and create a person-centred approach that removes the burden from the claimant of providing supporting information and considers a wider array of evidence outside one-off assessments? Will she take steps to ensure that assessors carrying out disability assessments have the appropriate knowledge of the claimant’s condition or disability—basic stuff—and have proper disability sensitivity training?

--- Later in debate ---

[Chloe Smith]

We are talking about a Green Paper. The point of a Green Paper is to improve the system, so we should continue the debate that we are having.

We are committed to ensuring that people get a good service from our assessment providers. On training, all assessors are of course subject to ongoing quality checks and an audit process, so they all have access to specific training and guidance on a wide range of clinical conditions. To the Labour Members who want us to end the use of private providers, I simply confirm that we intend to continue to use providers.

I now turn to some of the statistics that have been used in the debate.

[Marion Fellows]

Will the Minister give way?

[Chloe Smith]

I am terribly sorry, but I now need to make progress to cover as many of the points that have been raised as I can.

Since October 2013, 3.2 million completed work capability assessments for ESA have taken place. Just 3% of those have gone on to complete an appeal against a fit-for-work decision, and 2% have been overturned at a tribunal hearing. Since PIP was introduced, 4.6 million initial decisions following an assessment have been made; 9% have been appealed and 5% overturned at a tribunal hearing. It is important to set that broader context around appeals and tribunals.

Although we know that most people who claim health and disability benefits have a positive experience—indeed, people themselves tell us that—we recognise that that is not always the case, and we are working hard to improve the assessment system for our claimants. We are committed to assessing people as quickly as possible, so that they get the benefits to which they are entitled. As several hon. Members have rightly said, we want to get backlogs down. Managing journey times for claimants is a priority for the Department. That is why we are using a blend of phone, video and face-to-face assessments to support customers and deliver a more efficient and user-centred service. We are increasing case manager and assessment provider health professional resource, and we are prioritising new claims.

I will briefly touch on the very sad points made by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald). He asked me to look at some specific cases; he will appreciate that there are boundaries to my powers to do so, but I can tell him that of course we want to do all we can to ensure that people get the right support as quickly as possible. We also have processes in the Department for identifying possible improvements from serious cases to prevent such things happening in the future. Of course, it is incredibly sad and tragic whenever any person dies, and I convey my condolences to his constituent’s family.

During the pandemic, we introduced a series of easements to help disabled people and people with health conditions to access our services. We made changes to ESA to help people who had covid, or had been advised to self-isolate, to access the benefit more quickly.

I will move on to some of the key points in the Green Paper and provide some updates to the House. We announced our intention to replace the current six-month eligibility rule for the special rules for terminal illness with a 12-month end-of-life approach. That is extremely important and there will be more details before the House soon on various parts of that implementation.

Our health transformation programme is integrating the services that deliver personal independence payment assessments and work capability assessments into a single service supported by a single digital platform. I note the example provided by the hon. Member for Battersea of a constituent who felt that they had had a particularly disjointed service from those two. We recognise the need to go further and rightly, therefore, consulted on several initiatives in the Green Paper to change the application and assessment process for the better, guided by the three priorities that I already mentioned.

We announced our intention to test a service that provides support for the most in need to help them to navigate the benefits system and other Government services. We will be setting out more detail in the White Paper. I note the points made by the hon. Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) about severe disability. We announced our plans to test a new severe disability group for those with severe and lifelong conditions. Again, in the White Paper, I will be able to provide further details of the work on that.

The Green Paper also looked at how we might separate the assessment for financial support from employment considerations, encouraging people to take up employment support, leading to better employment and independent living outcomes. Again, we will be beginning various tests of an employment and health discussion over the next couple of months regarding that.

We received more than 4,500 responses to the Green Paper proposals. We are very grateful to all those who fed in their views. Listening to disabled people is critical. We are now analysing the responses, along with the views expressed to us by people who attended one of the more than 40 consultation events that took place over that period. That included the first meeting with our newly founded ethnic minority forum, where we heard from people from ethnic minority backgrounds about their real lived experiences of the benefits system. As I say, we will be able to bring forward a great number of updates in the White Paper later this year. I continue to work closely with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and many of the charities also mentioned today. There are several areas of work where I hope to co-produce the outcomes with them.

I reiterate my and the Government’s commitment to improving the lives of disabled people. I am proud of the progress we have made so far. We have put forward some important reforms to go further and build trust and to ensure that disabled people have every opportunity and support that is needed.

British Sign Language Bill

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Friday 28th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Rosie Cooper) on her tenacity and organisation in getting the Bill to where it is. I am delighted to support the Bill to give BSL the legal status and public awareness that it needs to ensure that deaf people have full and equal access to education, employment, public services such as the NHS, information and legal processes, and that they can play a greater role in their communities more widely. I am particularly happy that the Bill has received Government support, as the Minister informed us yesterday.

Since 2003, disabled people’s organisations and disability charities have not stopped campaigning for BSL’s legal status. I thank the activists and organisations who have continued to fight to make it happen, such as the British Deaf Association, RNID and the Royal Association for Deaf people. In my constituency, the local Lanarkshire Deaf Club has been vocal in calling for such a Bill to raise and protect the status of the language in Scotland and the UK.

As has been mentioned, the Scottish Government have used their devolved powers to promote the use of BSL in Scotland and to engage with the deaf community to develop the first British Sign Language national strategy, which I commend to the Minister; I am sure that she is aware of it. Often, we do not need to reinvent the wheel and I am sure that she will take lots of good points from it and bring them forward. As part of the national strategy, the Scottish Government set up the BSL national advisory group to represent the views of BSL users and I am delighted about the British Sign Language council. Everything works better if lived experience is used at its foundation.

UK-wide legislation is needed, however, to ensure that British Sign Language gets legal protection as a language in its own right, and I am happy that that is now happening. It is an indigenous language of Scotland and the UK and, as such, deserves to finally have the legal recognition accorded to Gaelic and Welsh.

The Bill provides a great opportunity to break down barriers; to begin to create a more inclusive, equal and fair society for deaf people across the four nations; and for signers to be prominent in the public arena, as they are in Scotland. It is almost impossible for them not to be—even my party’s annual conference is signed front and centre, which is really useful and good. We need more inclusion across the public sector and I am pleased that the Bill will do that. I congratulate the hon. Member for West Lancashire again.

Cost of Living

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the very first time, Mrs Cummins. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) on securing this timely and important debate, and thank all Members who have taken part. We have had a wide range of contributions, highlighting various factors concerning the cost of living these days.

This Tory Government are proud of their success in getting people into work—it is trumpeted at every turn. However, what is the point of getting people into work if doing so does not help them to support their families to get the basics in life? A pretendy living wage just does not do that; it does not help them when they become sick and have to rely on an absolutely ludicrous statutory sick pay, and it does not help if they are a pensioner on the most meagre pension in the western world, or a WAPSI woman waiting and waiting for her pension to arrive.

The UK is one of the richest countries in the world, but the gap between the richest and poorest in our society continues to grow. Many of my constituents in Motherwell and Wishaw suffer under this Government. Energy bills will rise by 45% from April. “That is a worldwide issue,” say this Government. That is true, but what makes the difference is what a Government do to mitigate poverty. What do this Tory Government do? Very, very little. As my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran said, National Energy Action estimates that 6 million UK households will be living in fuel poverty by April—a 50% increase from April last year. I ask the Minister: what will be done about that? Inflation is rising, but the headline figures of predicted rises do not give the full picture. The think-tank Reform has said that inflation is hitting poorest families hardest.

Lorna Cooper from Paisley, the author of “Feed Your Family For £20 A Week”, prepared a shopping list and meal plan for January 2021 and then made a comparison this month. In 2021, the shopping list for the meal plan cost £20.21. This year, the cost is £25.88, which is a 23% increase. As we all know, many supermarket basic ranges no longer exist, and there cannot be many of us who have not already heard of the 141% rise in the cost of basic pasta.

This UK Tory Government have failed to address a cost of living crisis that will disproportionately affect disabled people. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that 49% of those living in poverty in the UK are either disabled people, or live in a household containing a disabled person. The Disability Benefits Consortium estimated that 2 million eligible claimants have missed out on support due to the decision to exclude legacy benefits claimants from the £20 uplift—a decision that now faces legal challenges. It also found that even if disabled people had received the £20 uplift that they were denied, it would still not be enough to meet the real needs of disabled people who rely on benefits.

Research by Scope says that life already costs those who are disabled £583 more a month on average, and that families of disabled children

“On average, face extra costs of £581 a month”.

It adds that

“For…24%...of families with disabled children, extra costs amount to over £1,000 a month.”

Disabled people have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and the covid restrictions, from rising food and energy prices to the emotional toll of shielding, but disabled people have been forgotten about in this Tory covid recovery plan.

Providing unpaid care is pushing thousands of families into poverty, and will have a lasting impact on their finances and quality of life. That was the case before covid-19, but the situation has now been exacerbated by the pandemic. Now such families face a cost of living crisis.

The Family Fund found that in 2021, 75% of families with disabled children reported that the overall support available to them had decreased since the beginning of the pandemic, and 76% reported that their overall financial situation had become worse as a result of the pandemic—and now the cost of living is increasing daily.

Carers UK has found that carers are using their own income or savings to cover the cost of care, equipment or products for the person they care for. On average, carers spend an estimated £1,370 a year on services or equipment for the person they care for. It also found that 35% of carers who provide 35 or more hours of care a week have been or are in debt. These are the words of a carer:

“I don’t have luxuries, can’t afford life insurance, car insurance or house insurance. At 60 I shouldn’t be using food banks and made to feel inadequate because I can’t afford petrol.”

Another carer has said:

“Crippled further by heating/electric going up even further to £177 a month. We have managed without heating in the past, I suspect we will again now”

Think about that—it is 2022. This situation is appalling.

What can be done about all this? The UK Government must introduce an emergency financial package to support the most vulnerable and to help families to cope with the Tory cost of living crisis. Here are some suggestions, based on what the SNP Scottish Government are doing, using their devolved powers to support disabled people—and, as my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran has said, they are doing so on their fixed budget.

The Scottish Government have extended child winter heating assistance to include young people aged 16 to 18. In total, they will support severely disabled children, and young people and their families, through a £202 payment to help with heating bills. This benefit is unique in the UK.

The Scottish Government’s child disability payment opened for new applications in November last year. It is the first of three complex disability benefits to be introduced nationwide by the Scottish Government; the adult disability payment will be introduced at the end of this year. This new payment replaces the UK Government’s disability living allowance for children and provides money to help with the extra care and mobility costs that children and young people with a disability may have. The Scottish Government will provide disabled people with a fundamentally different experience, based on dignity and respect. They will also ensure that individuals who face the greatest inequalities and risk of long-term unemployment are at the forefront of those benefiting from support.

What will this UK Tory Government do to help those most in need? Will they roll back the benefits cap, the two-child limit and the cut to universal credit of £20 per week—removed as the cost of living rises and never given to those on legacy benefits? Will they cut back on the rise in national insurance contributions from April, which will affect the lowest paid, but not those living off dividends and property rentals? Will they provide real help with energy costs and housing costs, which have been mentioned a lot in this debate? I should like to think that they will, but I doubt it.

As a bonny lass from Ayr, it would be remiss of me to let today go without a bit of Burns, so here is the “Selkirk Grace”:

“Some hae meat an canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

And sae the Lord be thankit.”

It was true in Burns’ day that there were haves and have-nots; it is a disgrace that this state of affairs still exists in the UK in 2022. People and organisations across Motherwell and Wishaw, and the whole UK, are fighting the effects of poverty day and daily. It is time for this UK Government to step up and do the same.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, and to a degree, I agree with him: any of us could end up needing to go to a food bank. This can happen to any of us, but important though food banks have become, I want a Government that seek to end the need for them. Is that too much to ask? Do we just have to accept food banks as a permanent feature of our country now, or might we one day have a Government that set out to end the need for them?

As much as I agree with some of the points made by colleagues from the SNP, I have to challenge them. How are they going to meet their own goal set in 2017 of child poverty reduction? It was made without qualification. We all want to see an end to child poverty and therefore it is important that that goal is met. I feel strongly that the Tories in Westminster made the wrong choice in getting rid of Labour’s national goal to end child poverty and wiping the Child Poverty Act 2010 from the statute book. It is equally important that those who have made commitments to the people of Scotland stick to them.

[Marion Fellows]

The way the Scottish Government will do this is through independence and the control of our own economic levers—it is as simple as that. We make commitments and we hope to be able to achieve them, because then we can do things the way they should be done and in the way that is best for people in Scotland.

[Alison McGovern]

I look forward to hearing how that is going to work. I think the way to tackle poverty everywhere in the United Kingdom is through co-operation and the use of the redistributive force of the United Kingdom Treasury. Members rightly mention the bad impact of the botched Brexit deal on our country’s economic fortunes. I would hate to see any part of our country go through the same thing with the loss of access to the United Kingdom single market, so I look forward to hearing more in future debates about how that will work.

I turn to the UK Government and the issue of inflation. Members have mentioned that the headline inflation rate in no way represents the specific forces of inflation that are faced by those with the least. I think people who suffer poverty must be some of the finest economists in the country, because they are able to monitor prices and make every penny they have stretch further when they need to. The Government should take some responsibility here. What has the Minister asked of the Office for National Statistics, in respect of its measuring and reporting, so that we can know exactly what situation is faced by the people who have the least in this country?

I point the Minister to the comments of the chief executive of Iceland, who says that he is losing customers not to his competitors but to food banks. That should tell the Minister that we really do have a problem with prices in this country that cannot simply be understood from the headline rate of inflation.

Secondly, on work, does the Minister accept that whatever the intention of a jobs plan that set aside £9 billion for a job retention grant that was then cancelled; whatever the intention of a jobs plan that had a kickstart programme that was supposed to get jobs for 250,000 of our young people but failed to do so; and whatever the intention of a jobs plan that was supposed to bring older people back to the workforce, given the level of vacancies in our country now, that jobs plan was a failure?

Does he further accept that when it comes to people’s wages—the other side of the cost of living crisis—a crucial part of the problem is that people have too little choice about the job they do? The OBR says that one in five people is working below their skill level. They could get a better job, but they have not. The Government have much more to do to improve people’s prospects at work. I would bet the Minister agrees that the best route out of poverty is work. Why do we have a Tory Government that are failing to get people jobs that can pay for their bills and shopping? It is an outrageous situation.

Finally, I turn to some of the other ways in which people need help. If we think about people’s ability to earn more, some of the things that are holding them back are those facts about our economy that we have known about for far too long. The childcare system in this country is expensive and complicated. What steps has the Minister taken to simplify it? People trying to make ends meet on a lone parent’s income, for example, are limited by the cost of childcare and whether it is available at all. I think again of the one in five people who work below their skill level. A lot of them have caring responsibilities for children or older relatives and cannot work longer hours in their jobs because they do not have care support. What conversations has the Minister had about solving that?

I also want to mention the simple fact that in too many parts of our country it is hard to get around on public transport. The price of buses has gone through the roof in recent years, and in some parts of the country people cannot travel to a job because there is no public transport. Yes, the price of motoring has gone up, but it is hard to get a better job if someone relies on public transport in areas that have too little.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the fact that too few people are members of trade unions in this country, and that limits their ability to bargain for better wages.

The Labour party has put forward some simple, compelling and obvious ways in which the Government could take steps today to tackle the cost of living crisis. Whether it is cutting VAT on fuel or extending the warm home grant through a windfall tax on oil and gas, we know there are steps that we can take now. However, I want to hear from the Minister about the bigger structural changes that we need to fundamentally shift our economy so that every family in this country can truly make ends meet.

Oral Answers to Questions

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

What recent assessment she has made of the potential effect of reintroducing benefit sanctions on vulnerable claimants.

[Dr Coffey]

As we approach 19 July, we have to have a business-as-usual approach in how we traditionally respond to the needs of our claimants, but I want to stress that, as ever, the claimant commitments are perfectly tailored to different benefit recipients. We also take into account the different vulnerabilities that people face. That is why, just over a year ago, we changed the process so that decisions would be made in a more centralised way to get a consistent approach, recognising that we want to ensure that people fulfil their commitments and the requirements made by DWP in order to continue to receive the benefits that they have.

[Marion Fellows]

As the DWP resumes face-to-face assessments, we know that more people will be hit with sanctions. We also know that this will disproportionately affect care leavers, as they are more likely to be sanctioned. Beyond scrapping sanctions altogether, will the DWP set up an internal marker and a single point of contact in each jobcentre to assist care-experienced claimants?

[Dr Coffey]

I will be open: I do not know how the law applies in Scotland. I know that in England and Wales there is a duty on councils to continue to have an element of responsibility for people who have left care until they reach the age of 25. I want to encourage the hon. Lady by saying that, right around the country, our jobcentres and work coaches are mindful of the extra demands, and that we continue to make sure that people’s individual vulnerabilities are accounted for.