Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 9th January 2017 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Gerald Jones. Where is the feller? He is not here.

[Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of self-employment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Fabricant]

Can you issue a papal bull, Mr Speaker, stating that we do not have to say happy new year—but happy new year anyway?

[Mr Speaker]

That is very welcome. We do not need to take up unnecessary time, but I appreciate the spirit of the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Damian Green)]

I shall not say happy new year again, Mr Speaker.

Evidence shows that being in the right work is good for health, and that being out of work can have a detrimental effect on health. That was why I launched the “Work, health and disability” Green Paper jointly with the Secretary of State for Health. The Green Paper expresses our intention of working with healthcare professionals to help people into employment, and our current consultations ask how we can best achieve that goal.

--- Later in debate ---

[Damian Green]

The Government have a responsibility to make sure that as many households as possible have work, particularly households with children. Working-age adults in non-working families are almost four times more likely to be living on a low income. The “Child Poverty Transitions” report of June 2015 found that 74% of poor children in workless families who moved into full employment exited poverty. That is what we can do, and are doing, for children who have been in poverty.

The hon. Lady neglected to say it, but there are now 500,000 fewer people living in absolute poverty than in 2010. The key point is about getting people into work. As a reasonable Opposition Member, I hope she would acknowledge that achieving historically low levels of unemployment is actually the best thing we can do for children—it is the best way to get children and the households they live in out of poverty. I am happy to tell her that, in her constituency, the claimant count is down by 47% since 2010 and the youth claimant count has fallen by 2% in the past year.

[Mr Speaker]

All of us in the Chamber can learn about the merits of brevity from the right hon. Member for New Forest West, who will not disappoint me.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

However the problem presents in my surgeries, scratch the surface and, nine times out of 10, the swiftest cause of poverty is family breakdown, which will be a much harder nut to crack.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. On this question, I would call on the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Corri Wilson) if she were standing, but as she is not, I cannot.

[Corri Wilson (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

As she is standing now, I will call her.

[Corri Wilson]

23. I am afraid that many of my constituents have been refused home assessments for personal independence payments, and others have been unable to have their assessments recorded at home with the DWP. Given that it was recently reported that 61% of 90,000 claimants who appealed against a PIP decision at the tribunal period up to September 2016 won their case, will the Minister today commit to a root-and-branch review of the assessment process?