Oral Answers to Questions

Michael Connarty Excerpts

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance, but first I am sure that the whole House will want to send the deepest condolences to the husband and family of my hon. Friend’s constituent, Penny Hegarty. I know that the Minister of State, Department of Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), has met local MPs on a number of occasions to keep them updated. Clearly, patients have the right to expect far better standards of care. I know that the Care Quality Commission and Monitor have both raised concerns about standards at the trust. As my hon. Friend says, it is being turned around, but that work needs to be undertaken with all speed.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

Q12. Is the Prime Minister aware that Graeme Brown, who is the director of Shelter Scotland, described the proposal for a bedroom tax as“grossly unfair and shows the UK Government is simply failing to listen to the voice of reason being put forward by housing professionals, social landlords, MSPs and individuals”?Does the Prime Minister accept that widows and widowers left in their family home when their children leave and on a low income can lose up to 25% of their housing benefit support if he continues with this? Is he unfeeling, or is he just determined to get his way?

[The Prime Minister]

The issue is this: we desperately need to reform housing benefit. If we had not done anything about housing benefit, it was expected to cost over £24 billion a year. As the hon. Gentleman’s own welfare spokesman, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne) said, Beveridge

“would scarcely have believed housing benefit alone is costing the UK over £20bn a year. That is simply too high.”

I am getting slightly frustrated with these statements in principle about reform. The Opposition say they are in favour of a benefit cap, but they vote against it. They say they are in favour of welfare reform; they oppose it. They recognise that housing benefit is out of control, but they frustrate every attempt to deal with it.