Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Webb and Pauline Latham

Monday 20th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Steve Webb]

I do not recognise that number at all. In fact, many of the scare stories that have come from the hon. Lady and others have proved not to transpire. When we capped rents in the private rented sector, we were told that there would be mass evictions and that vast droves of people would be moving all over London, but the evidence has not borne that out.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

7. What recent estimate he has made of the number of people in full-time employment.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Webb and Pauline Latham

Monday 5th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

17. What progress his Department has made on its plans to support separated families.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb)]

The Government have already announced a £20 million investment in the development of support for separated families in the current spending review period. This will include provision of an online distributable web application to be launched later in the autumn, and up to £14 million for the new innovation fund to support separated families.

[Pauline Latham]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Will he reassure the House that the £14 million innovation fund will be spent on projects that will ultimately benefit children, and will he explain how that will be achieved?

[Steve Webb]

Yes. We have had 100 expressions of interest from voluntary groups and charities, and we have whittled that down to about 30. All are trying to build on existing work that enables parents, when they are separating, to deal with each other in a mature way in the interests of the children. That is the central aspect of our new strategy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Webb and Pauline Latham

Monday 5th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

T9. What progress is being made to encourage people to get the best value for money when buying an annuity?

[Steve Webb]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. When people have saved for a pension, it is vital that they get the best possible pension out of it, and that may not be from the company they have saved with. That is why I very much welcome today’s Association of British Insurers code, which will be mandatory for members of the ABI and will make it much more natural that shopping around becomes the default, rather than something that one has actively to seek out.