Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Priti Patel and Peter Dowd

Monday 7th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

I welcome the work that my hon. Friend is doing through the APPG. We recognise that we can never stand still in this area. There is always more to be done to support young people through work experience, traineeships and, importantly, working with employers to encourage them to take on more young people and get them into the labour market, invest in them and train them so that they have skills for the future.

[Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)]

T5. A devastating announcement has been made in the days before Christmas by Shop Direct, which covers the Littlewoods and Very brands, and its partner, Webhelp, that 400 call centre jobs in my constituency are to be lost. Those jobs are to be transferred 6,000 miles away to South Africa. What assurances can the Secretary of State give me that the people affected by those redundancies will get all the support and help they need from his Department?

Welfare Reform and Work Bill

Debate between Priti Patel and Peter Dowd

Tuesday 27th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Peter Dowd]

It is often my lot to be well down the batting order, although I prefer bowling.

Until last night, when they were fortunately brought down to earth by the other House, the Government were pushing on with their tax credit proposals. They are still pushing on with them, despite the fact that the Chancellor is, he tells us, in listening mode, and the fact that there is no palpable or sustainable action to move to a higher-wage economy. They are tinkering at the edges. This proposal affects working mums; as I said earlier, 70% of the burden is falling on them. It affects low-income families. It damages work incentives, despite what the hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins) said. It affects the working poor. It will have a dire effect on those with chronic illnesses, particularly with mental health problems.

The question we have to ask is whether this proposal will make work pay and help people back into work. Many say no. Some have suggested alternatives for where the extra funding can be found. I am not saying whether I agree or disagree with them, but it gives the lie to the claim that there are no alternatives. Despite issues of phased implementation, inheritance tax, relocation of planned spending on the personal allowance, marriage allowance changes, help with childcare costs, working tax credit and universal credit, there is still no guarantee of higher wages.

The provisions on ESA and the WRAG were introduced specifically to assist with support for disabled people who were assessed as not being fit for work according to the Government’s own assessment regime. Some people, such as those with chronic mental health problems, find it difficult to work. The Work programme has supported only 9% of participants on ESA with mental and behavioural disorders into sustained employment. We have parity of esteem, but not for those on welfare. Support for those people has to be tailored to their needs. There can be a slow journey back to health. People need advisers with particular skills and they are not getting them, so how do they possibly get back into work?

As for the sanctions regime, a Church group in Scotland identified that 100,000 young people were affected by sanctions, that they were being debilitated by them and that the sanctions undermined their humanity. Yes, sanctions have existed since 1913, but they have to be humane and those under discussion are not.

[The Minister for Employment (Priti Patel)]

We have had a long and interesting debate on a range of amendments. I thank every colleague who has contributed to it, particularly my hon. Friends the Members for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately), for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart), for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans), for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy), for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) and for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins).

Given that time is short, I will speak very briefly to some of the amendments. On amendments 35 to 48, we introduced the benefits cap in order to increase work incentives, to promote fairness between those in work and those on benefits, and to not only help to address the deficit but to support people back to work. The benefits cap has been a key part of our reforms to the structure of the welfare system and to attitudes towards getting back into work.

It is clear from the evidence that the cap is working. Since the cap was introduced in 2013, more than 6,000 previously capped households have moved into work and more than 41% of capped households are likely to go into work. That trend did not exist before the cap, and those with higher weekly benefit payments used to be less likely to move into work. We have had some great results and we intend to build on them and to align the cap with the circumstances of many hard-working people throughout the country. We firmly believe that the new, tiered benefit cap will continue to build on those successes and that it will do more to improve work incentives throughout the country while promoting greater fairness when it comes to work and employment.

There was an extensive debate on amendments 56, 20, 57 and 31 on universal credit and the employment support allowance. The removal of the work-related activity and limited capability for work component will apply only to new claims. There will be no cash losers among claimants already receiving the rate, and clauses 13 and 14 do not affect the support group component.

In 2008, when the then Labour Government introduced ESA as a “radical reform package”, the work-related activity component was originally intended to act as an incentive to help people into work and to return quickly to work. However, the original estimates were incorrect and only 1% of people in the work-related activity group left the benefit each month. It is clear, therefore, that the existing policy is not working and that it is failing claimants.

As discussed in Committee and this afternoon, we believe that it is the duty of Government to support those who want to work to do so, particularly those with disabilities and health conditions who want to work, including the majority of ESA claimants. We know that 61% of those in the WRAG want to work. We will do everything we can to support them in that ambition, and it is right that we do so.

Universal credit supports people with small or fluctuating amounts of work. That is why it is particularly helpful that we look at the ESA component and universal credit together. It is that alignment that will help to bring people closer to work while tailoring the support they need to move into work. As part of the package of savings in the summer Budget, the Government were able to allocate new spending to ESA that would not otherwise have been available. That support is now funding up to £100 million per year to help claimants with limited work capability but who have potential, because they want to move into work, to get closer to the labour market. We will provide all the support necessary to make sure that they can get back into work.

Comments have been made about work coaches and jobcentres. May I reassure the House that all work coaches are trained to help claimants and that that is not based on the benefit they are on, but, importantly, on the actual support they require? That is particularly true for universal credit. The training for staff working with ESA claimants focuses on raising awareness of their individual circumstances and recognises that disability and health conditions affect individuals in different ways. Such factors change over time but, importantly, we will support claimants in their journey to get back into work.

We have had a debate about sanctions. Of course sanctions exist for a reason. Importantly, however, they also exist to support people into work. I recognise that many Members from both sides of the House have specific cases to which they have referred. I again extend my offer to look into such cases. The Government keep the operation of sanctions under constant review. We have clearly made a number of improvements to sanctions, including in relation to the Oakley review. Last week, we gave a very clear response to the Work and Pensions Committee report. Our response outlined the work that the Department has already undertaken to review the sanctions system and the changes we intend to make. The response was welcomed by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field), the Chair of the Select Committee.

Our response to the Committee includes the announcement that we will trial a sanctions warning system, which will give claimants a further opportunity to work with jobcentre work coaches to provide evidence before a sanction is applied. We will consider extending the definition of at-risk groups for hardship purposes, including those with health conditions—particularly those with mental health conditions—and those who are homeless, which means that they can seek access to hardship payments from day one of the sanction.

We want the sanctions system to be clear, fair and effective in promoting positive behaviours. Importantly, however, it should also support individual claimants, which is why we will continue to keep the system under review. I will make it very clear: there are no targets for sanctions, a point made on the Floor of the House this afternoon. I say to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) that she was wrong in her remarks not just about sanctions but about employment levels in this country and clearly about the economy.

On new clause 3, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness, the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Neil Coyle)—he was consistent in making points in Committee—and my hon. Friends the Members for Bury St Edmunds, for Gloucester (Richard Graham) and for Weaver Vale for their contributions. The PIP assessment is designed to treat all health conditions and impairments fairly. I assure all hon. Members that we consider the needs of those who are terminally ill in developing the assessment, and that we absolutely remain committed to providing support to disabled people and those with illnesses in all their circumstances. We know that such claimants, especially those who are terminally ill, have particular challenges.

I listened to all the contributions in Committee. As the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark knows, I am meeting him tomorrow, with the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield), to discuss this matter further. I look forward to working with him on the points he has made, as well as on those expressed by my colleagues. The hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark was right to refer to the fact that rules have been introduced to ensure that the PIP system handles terminally ill claimants efficiently and sensitively, reducing the need for face-to-face assessments—we discussed that at length in Committee—and the degree of intrusion on claimants and their families, while, importantly, focusing on delivering vital support to claimants as quickly as possible.

It is very clear, as we discussed in Committee, that the Government are focused on rolling out PIP in a very safe and steady manner, ensuring that the claimant experience is protected and that the PIP system is as straightforward as possible for the user, particularly those who are terminally ill. PIP has been and will continue to be subject to independent reviews—we have committed to that in legislation—which, as ever, will help us to make continued improvements to what is a dynamic benefit. We are fully committed to ensuring that there is a positive evidence base for all changes that we make and that users understand their impact so that we can deliver the best possible service for claimants.

We will continue to work with all hon. Members, as I have said in Committee and this afternoon, as PIP is rolled out. I will continue to work with colleagues and to take on board their points. I thank them for their valuable contributions. The hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark has expressed some concerns, but I will take away his points for our meeting. I look forward to taking forward such considerations.

In summary, the Bill brings forward important changes that are designed to create the right incentives within the welfare system, and I urge hon. Members to withdraw their amendments.

Welfare Reform and Work Bill (Tenth sitting)

Debate between Priti Patel and Peter Dowd

Thursday 15th October 2015 Public Bill Committees

[Peter Dowd]

That is a well-made point. The more we get into this debate, the more we have to move from the philosophical and the abstract to the practical. This is a practical example of where we can say to people, “You’ve got so many pressures on your life at the moment, the least we can do is try to take away just a little of the pressure on you and your family.” If we can just do that, it would be a small step, but a great achievement.

[Priti Patel]

Let me start by thanking the hon. Members for Bermondsey and Old Southwark and for Bootle for their contributions, and particularly the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, who has experience in this area from his professional background. For the record, I also thank the third party organisations that have submitted written statements to the Committee and its members. The hon. Gentleman gave some examples—not attributable ones—but I repeat my offer to the Committee: if there are cases that he or any other member would like me to look at, I would be happy to do that and to meet them to give support and assurance.

New clause 18 seeks to create a duty to increase the rates of disability living allowance and PIP by the highest of the CPI, the rise in average earnings or 2.5%. DLA and PIP are benefits that offer support, as we have heard, for those needing care or supervision as a result of their disability. New clause 18 would require the Secretary of State to review those rates every tax year, considering the effect on them if they were increased by earnings, prices or 2.5%, and, within three months of concluding that review, to lay an order increasing them by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5%.

Making this change to the Welfare Reform Act 2012, rather than to the Social Security Administration Act 1992, would create a second review process of DLA and PIP rates, which would overlap with the general review of benefits conducted by the Secretary of State every tax year. That would create uncertainty for benefit recipients, who may find their benefit rates reviewed and announced at different times. Furthermore, the change would remove the alignment between the rates of the care components of DLA and the daily living components of PIP, and those of the attendance allowance, causing further confusion for recipients between working and pensioner age.

This discussion has been highly relevant, however, because we all understand and share the desire of hon. Members who have contributed to the debate to protect and to support those in receipt of DLA and PIP. That is why we have in place many protections, which I would like to set out. We already continue to uprate DLA and PIP by price inflation; specifically, we have exempted certain benefits relating to the additional costs of disability and care from the benefits freeze. Those include DLA and PIP, as well as carer’s allowance, attendance allowance and the support group component of ESA. We have also exempted recipients of DLA and PIP from the benefits cap. The welfare system continues to provide support and to protect those recipients. As we have heard, there are families who cannot work and require the support of DLA and PIP, which is why we have these exemptions. We have also ensured that both DLA and PIP remain universally accessible benefits and have committed not to means-test either. We have also committed to keep them non-taxable. We have built extra protections into the system for claimants who may need extra support.

That brings me on to new clause 4. During the course of our welfare reform programme, the Government have always made it clear that, in our steps to achieve a higher-wage, low-tax and low-welfare society, we will always provide support for those with the greatest needs. In particular, PIP recognises the unique challenges of claimants who are terminally ill. Special rules and criteria for the terminally ill have been introduced to ensure that the PIP system handles such cases both efficiently and sensitively to reduce burdens on individuals and their families at what is inevitably a difficult time. PIP has a fast-track system to allow us to process special rules claims more quickly, with claims, on average, being cleared within six working days. Some 99% of those who apply under the special rules are awarded the benefit, and we have ensured that each of those individuals is guaranteed the enhanced rate of the daily living component.

Evidence for special rules cases is reviewed on a paper basis, and we do not expect individuals applying in such circumstances to undertake any face-to-face assessments. We have worked closely with stakeholder organisations to design a system that allows us to make the correct decisions in such instances without the need for a face-to-face assessment, thereby reducing intrusion and stress for claimants and families. It also helps us to deliver vital support for claimants in the most practical way as soon as possible.

In many cases where an individual may not be aware of their prognosis, or where that might be a particularly distressing subject to discuss, we have worked to design the system to support family members, or representative third party organisations, through the claims process to ensure that individuals can still access the support to which they are rightly entitled in a way that is sensitive to their needs. Through those steps, we have a clear focus on delivery for the individual. It is also important that case managers still have sufficient time in which to consider an individual’s case to ensure that they are being awarded the correct level of support and benefits. Reducing that time, as suggested, would potentially increase the risk of an incorrect payment being made. In such cases, the claimant would either be left with less support or little support. Obviously, we want to ensure that we are not creating any arduous or difficult processes. We are focused on supporting individuals.