Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 14th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for agreeing to host her own Disability Confident event. More than 50 MPs from all parties are doing that, supporting our work to halve the disability employment gap, and promoting services such as access to work, where we now have funding for an additional 25,000 places on top of the near-record 38,000 that we are currently helping.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Naz Shah.

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Question 21.

[Mr Speaker]

No, on this question. Do you wish to come in on this question?

[Naz Shah]

No.

[Mr Speaker]

We may or may not get to question 21. Patience may be rewarded. We shall see.

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

Last Friday we heard that an additional £1.2 billion is to be cut from the PIP budget. That translates into £2,000 a year less for more than 60,000 claimants. What method or madness led the Minister to think that cutting support could help PIP claimants into work or to achieve independent living?

--- Later in debate ---

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Given the rhetoric in the recent Opposition day debate about the state pension age changes, does the Minister share my surprise that the six options put forward by the shadow Secretary of State would not make much difference at all to many women born in the 1950s? Does he agree that it is time for the Opposition to be clear about the choices they would make and how they would pay for them, and also to be clear about the changes they would not make?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I know that the Minister will want to focus exclusively, and doubtless with loving care, on his own policy, and will not dilate on that of the Opposition, which would be disorderly. Knowing the hon. Gentleman, I do not think he does disorderly.

[Mr Vara]

You put that so eloquently, Mr Speaker, but I hope you will allow me to make the odd comment. It would be impractical to follow the Opposition’s policies because they have no sense of arithmetic.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. From all the evidence, we know that children in workless households grow up without the aspiration to achieve, something they might have if they grow up in driven families who are in work. They are almost certain to repeat the difficult lives of their parents and we want to turn those lives around. Since 2010, the number of workless households in the social rented sector has fallen by more than 280,000 to a record low. It is worth remembering that when we took office in 2010 the number of households where no one had ever worked had nearly doubled under the previous Labour Government.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Angus Brendan MacNeil. He is not here. Where is the fellow? I call Naz Shah.

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

21. What assessment his Department has made of the effect of recent changes to benefits on levels of child poverty.