Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Monday 16th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

5. What plans she has to review universal credit.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

We are committed to reviewing universal credit to ensure that it is doing the job that we need it to. We have started by announcing the fair repayment rate in the Budget, and we will keep Parliament updated.

[Antonia Bance]

Twenty-seven per cent of working-age people in Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley rely on universal credit. I welcome the fair repayment rate announced in the Budget, but a major reason for benefit debt is the design flaw in universal credit, which means that claimants must wait five weeks for their first payment. Will the Minister confirm that the five-week wait will be considered in the review of universal credit?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

I can assure my hon. Friend that advances of up to 100% of potential universal credit entitlements are available urgently during the first assessment period of a claim, but she is right to raise concerns about the five-week wait. I commend to her the excellent report on this subject published by the Work and Pensions Committee in the last Parliament. The point she has raised is definitely one that we need to consider.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

Some of the farmers who work so hard to put food on our tables find it difficult to put food on the table themselves, and need additional Government support. That used to happen via tax credits, but the transition to universal credit has been hugely challenging for farmers, given the seasonal nature of their work. Will the Minister meet me to hear some of their concerns, so that we can incorporate those concerns into the Government’s review?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

We are watching very carefully the progress of migration from tax credits to universal credit, which will be complete in the early part of next year, but I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady and discuss some of the difficulties she is seeing.

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to help reduce levels of poverty.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

11. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the rates of universal credit.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

No assessment along the lines that the hon. Gentleman asks about has been made. Benefit rates are reviewed each year, increasing by 6.7% last April and by 1.7% from next April, in line with inflation.

[Bobby Dean]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but I would like to focus on the age differential in the rates. He will be aware that people under 25 receive a different rate of universal credit. The Government announced that they will try to abolish the age differential for the national living wage. If it could also be abolished for universal credit, that would be really good for young care leavers. Will the Minister look at potentially phasing out the age differential in universal credit?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting suggestion. That is not something I am considering at the moment, but as he will have heard me say earlier, we will be reviewing universal credit over the course of the next year or so. We certainly want to support young care leavers—he will know of the recent announcement that we made about changes to carer’s allowance—and we are keeping all those matters under review.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

12. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the youth guarantee on young people in Harlow constituency.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jack Rankin (Windsor) (Con)]

13. What steps she is taking to reform the health and disability benefits system.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

We want to reform the system to do a much better job in helping people to enter and stay in work. We will publish a Green Paper next spring and we will be discussing our proposals with disabled people.

[Jack Rankin]

To protect those in need and to deliver for taxpayers, we need to take tough decisions. Reforming health and disability benefits will require Ministers to make difficult choices, but so far the plans rely on reducing NHS waiting lists, which the Office for Budget Responsibility has said will have hardly any effect on economic activity. Are Ministers willing to make unpopular decisions to solve this issue and, if so, when?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we will make the right decisions, and they will be set out in our Green Paper in the spring. There is a need to reform the health and disability benefits system—there is no question about that—and we want to talk to disabled people themselves about the details, in order to make sure that we get it right.

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

14. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the “Get Britain Working” White Paper on people with a long-term health condition or disability.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tom Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Lab)]

T5. I welcome the review into the overpayment of carer’s allowance, which will come as a huge relief to many people in East Worthing and Shoreham. Can the Minister confirm that the Department will do everything it can to prevent family carers unnecessarily getting into debt?

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

Yes, I can confirm that. We place a very high value on the contribution of family carers. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, the Budget announcement on the carer’s allowance earning threshold will help avert inadvertent overpayments, and will make an additional 60,000 carers eligible for carer’s allowance. We are determined to do everything we can.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)]

A report by the National Audit Office last week highlighted how cliff edges in the care allowance system have resulted in 136,000 people owing £250 million. In the light of that, will the Minister ensure that we stop this injustice and stop the demands until a fairer system is introduced?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

I welcome the NAO report, which I asked for last May, when I was Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee. We are determined to address the problem of carer’s allowance overpayments. The cliff edge could be dealt with through the introduction of a taper instead of the current arrangements, as the Chancellor mentioned in her Budget speech in the autumn. If we do that, it will not happen quickly, because it will be quite a major project, but it is something that we are looking at closely.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

T8. My constituent Gary has seen his real-terms income fall because the pension he built up before 1997 in a defined-benefit scheme is not subject to indexation, even though 80% of defined-benefit schemes are in surplus. Will my right hon. Friend ask the Pensions Regulator to look at this issue?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Richard Quigley (Isle of Wight West) (Lab)]

Young people in supported housing, including in my constituency, effectively pay a marginal rate of tax of 55% on their universal credit when they start work, meaning that earnings of just £133 a week see their housing benefit tapered to nil. That means that work does not pay. Will the Minister look at the economic benefits of reducing that taper and increasing the applicable amount, ensuring that work does pay and improving housing security?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. There is a problem in the interaction between the universal credit taper rate and the housing benefit taper for people in supported and temporary accommodation. We are, at the moment, looking at options for how to tackle that quite serious work disincentive problem.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

T7. This Christmas, over one in four children in this country will be living in poverty. That could be partly addressed by scrapping the two-child benefit cap and paid for simply by reversing the Tory tax cut on the banks. What is more important: hungry children or bankers’ bonuses?

--- Later in debate ---

[Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)]

In Epsom and Ewell, local charities such as the Sunnybank Trust are seeing a lack of employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities. In fact, only 6.9% of people with learning disabilities are currently in paid work. What measures is the DWP taking to support employers to help individuals with learning disabilities to get into work?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

The hon. Member raises a very important point. She will probably be aware of the Buckland review, published before the election, which looks specifically at employment support for people with autism. The Minister for Employment and I met Sir Robert Buckland recently, and we are looking at how we can take forward the ideas he proposed in his report.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Aphra Brandreth (Chester South and Eddisbury) (Con)]

My inspirational constituent, Bells Lewers, has terminal bowel cancer. When she was first undergoing treatment, she was initially turned down for personal independence payment, despite the significant impact on her ability to work and carry out basic daily activities. Has the Minister considered incorporating clinical diagnosis alongside function in eligibility assessments, and will he meet Bells to discuss the assessment process?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

We do keep the asylum process under review, but I would be happy to look at the details of this particular case and perhaps meet the hon. Lady and her constituent, if that would be helpful.

[Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

An astonishing £35 billion has been lost to benefit fraud and errors since the pandemic. Will the Minister outline the plans and the timeline for recouping that money?