Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Monday 13th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I absolutely agree. Let me be clear that I believe it is extremely important to get health and safety right. As the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) suggested, we need to protect people against real dangers in the workplace. However, we have to understand that if the system is over-bureaucratic, it will lead to the closure of businesses and cost jobs, and that does nobody any favours. The job of Government is to find the right balance, and that is what we seek to do.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

5. What arrangements he plans to put in place for transitional payments for those who will be affected by the introduction of universal credit.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

A package of transitional protection is being developed to ensure that there will be no cash losers as a direct result of the move to universal credit where circumstances remain the same.

[Mr Bain]

I note the Secretary of State’s reply, but has he not taken into account the criticisms made of the policy by Family Action? They are, first, that it will not apply to new recipients; secondly, that changes in circumstances leading to the loss of cash protection have not been sufficiently defined; and most importantly, that the failure to give a commitment to uprating cash protection in line with inflation could mean up to 400,000 people losing out in real terms as a result of the policy.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but I would have thought he would welcome the idea that as we move to the new benefit, we are planning to cash-protect those who are already in receipt of other benefits. I do not think I really need to take too many lessons from his party, because when it scrapped the 10p tax band, it did not cash-protect anybody.