Welfare Reform
Mohammad Yasin Excerpts(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Liz Kendall
My hon. Friend is right: there are more disabled people in work than ever before, and we need to recognise that and go further. We are launching a consultation on Access to Work to ensure that more people are able to secure that vital support, and that it goes to the right place at the right time.
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
I agree with the Government that welfare reform is necessary, but many of my constituents are very worried about the removal of support on which they rely. Fourteen years of austerity under the Conservatives took its toll on our nation, with public service cuts and the cost of living crisis pushing people to the brink. What are the Government doing to address the root causes of people’s inability to work, rather than just focusing on the symptoms?
Liz Kendall
We are focusing precisely on the root causes. We are focusing on what more we can do to change the world of work, get people back to health and back to work and give them the skills that they need, and on tackling the disincentives in the benefits system. I am not interested in tinkering around; it is too important for people, and life is short. I want to get it right, tackle the root causes, and put the country on a pathway to success.
Women’s Changed State Pension Age: Compensation
Mohammad Yasin Excerpts(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer.
I thank all those who signed the e-petition that led to this important debate. I have long supported the WASPI campaign and will continue to offer my support. The WASPI women have been repeatedly let down by decisions made under Conservative Governments, so I welcome the Government’s apology for the maladministration that led to the delay in notifying 1950s-born women about the increase in the state pension age. Accountability and redress for those failings is essential.
A near-six-year investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found an urgent need for a remedy and took the rare but necessary step of laying its report before Parliament. It is in our hands. I recognise that this is a difficult issue for a Government who inherited a country in deep distress, with public services and the economy in dire straits, so I have sympathy with the Government’s argument that a flat-rate compensation scheme may not be justified. But I firmly believe there should be more effort to explore alternative remedies.
One of my constituents wrote:
“Acknowledgment and apology are of no use to us, and even less to the thousands of women who died during this process.”
After her pension age was moved once, she assumed that was the end, but in 2011 David Cameron moved it again, a year after she had planned to retire, and after she had already left work. The impact on her life has been significant, but WASPI women understand that any compensation would be for maladministration, not lost pensions.
Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)
One of my constituents fully believed that justice would be done, to the extent that she planned to put the compensation money aside for her own funeral. Of course, compensation has not been given. I have more than 6,000 WASPI women in my constituency, and they all rely on me to speak up for them. I will continue to support them, look out for them and raise their stories in this place so that their voices are heard. Do you agree that we need to find a way to seek justice for these women?
Mohammad Yasin
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend’s views.
The WASPI women support pension equity, but not the disruption of their retirement plans by Government maladministration. There is a strong case for offering compensation to the worst-affected women, given the severe hardship many have endured as a result of this failure. The pension triple lock does not address the losses faced by many 1950s-born women, who, due to familial responsibilities, often do not receive the full state pension, and thus benefit less than men.
An injustice has occurred, and it is now a matter of principle to uphold the remedy recommendations in the PHSO report. There is room for debate about what a compensation remedy would look like, and the women in my constituency, who I have supported on this issue for years, are open to alternative solutions. For instance, some would accept compensation payments over time through a scheduling agreement.
The WASPI women have been respectful, resolute and very patient, even when they are at the stage in life where there is more time behind them than ahead. For many, it is too late. Let us revisit this issue and find a remedy by focusing on what we can do, not on what we cannot.
Oral Answers to Questions
Mohammad Yasin Excerpts(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Emma Reynolds
We were pleased to see 160 local authorities respond positively to our call for action. They are working with us to drive the boost in uptake of pension credit. Apart from the national campaign that we have been running, we will bring together the administration of housing benefit and pension credit in a way that the former Government failed to do.
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Emma Reynolds)
I was the first Minister for eight long years to meet Women Against State Pension Inequality campaigners to hear their experiences directly. However, we do need time to carefully consider the ombudsman’s report and evidence before we can outline our approach.
Mohammad Yasin
I have long supported women in Bedford born in the 1950s who have been failed by the DWP. We must do right by the WASPI women, some of whom are struggling to make ends meet. Will the Minister tell them today when the Government will respond to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which recommended a compensation scheme?
Emma Reynolds
The ombudsman’s report is a serious report that took six years to complete and deserves serious consideration. We are carefully reviewing the details of that complex report and will come to a conclusion in the round.