Universal Credit: Delayed Roll-Out Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Delayed Roll-Out

Mark Hendrick Excerpts
Tuesday 4th February 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts

Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

Will Quince Portrait Will Quince
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

My hon. Friend is right for all the reasons that he points out, but I would go further and say that it is the personal relationship with a work coach that makes it so very different to the legacy benefits system. Work coaches will work with people to help them get work ready, to get into work and then to progress into the job that they want and that suits their family.

Mark Hendrick Portrait Sir Mark Hendrick (Preston) (Lab/Co-op)
- Hansard - -

My constituency was one of the trials for universal credit, and all we have seen since its introduction is debt, poverty, hunger and homelessness. How is that putting the claimant first?

Will Quince Portrait Will Quince
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I do not recognise those statistics, or indeed the correlation. I do not know when the hon. Gentleman last visited his jobcentre, but I would strongly recommend he does so to discuss with work coaches the difference that universal credit is making in his constituency. If he has specific concerns, I invite him to write to me and I will look at them in detail.