Extracts from Business Questions: Universal Credit - Oct 11
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Dame Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op) Many of my
constituents are suffering because of the way in which assessments
for personal independence payments are being made. There is growing
concern as universal credit is to be rolled out across Liverpool.
Will a Minister make a statement about what is actually happening
on the ground, rather than taking cover in generalised statements
that often hide the reality of acute hardship...Request free trial
Dame Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op)Many of my constituents are suffering because of the way in which assessments for personal independence payments are being made. There is growing concern as universal credit is to be rolled out across Liverpool. Will a Minister make a statement about what is actually happening on the ground, rather than taking cover in generalised statements that often hide the reality of acute hardship for people in need? The hon. Lady raises an incredibly important issue. She will be aware that Work and Pensions questions will take place on Monday 15 October, and there will be an Opposition day debate on universal credit on Wednesday. She will also be aware that the Government are spending more than £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. That is a record high, and up more than £9 billion in real terms since 2010. However, we all have constituency cases on these issues and we seek to raise them directly with the Department, which is always responsive. I encourage her to raise particular issues directly with Ministers. ...Surely any debate on universal credit should, given current circumstances, be in Government time, not Opposition time. We are all dealing with its deleterious consequences, which are affecting the poorest and most vulnerable of our constituents. Will the right hon. Lady give one assurance that any regulations relevant to UC will be debated here on the Floor of the House, not upstairs? First, I think all hon. Members must acknowledge that universal credit is a better, simpler, more flexible system that is helping more people into work. It is absolutely the case that many people found the old system incredibly complicated, involving numerous claims to repay benefits that they had received. This is a simpler system that supports people getting into work, and the evidence is that it is succeeding. The hon. Gentleman asks whether any statutory instruments can be debated in the Chamber. He will be aware that there are procedures for the Opposition to work within the usual channels to seek such an agreement. He will also be aware that this Government have given more time in the Chamber for debates on statutory instruments than any Government since the early 1990s. Given today’s intervention by Sir John Major, the former Conservative Prime Minister, which absolutely slams the roll-out of universal credit in spite of what the Leader of the House has said, will the Leader of the House reveal if the draft regulations—not what is in the press—will be amended before they come to this House, when exactly they will be coming to this House, and whether, as my hon. Friends have asked, they will be debated on the Floor of the House? The damage being done now, let alone the damage that will be done next year, cannot be overestimated.
I say again to the hon. Lady that the
Government are determined to continue with the
roll-out of universal credit because it is
helping more people back into work.
[Interruption.] The Government have also,
however, been determined to improve system as
we roll it out, which is why it has been
piloted. Following lessons learned from the
pilot roll-outs, we have raised advances to
100% of the first month’s payment; we have made
it quicker and easier to get those payments so
that anybody who needs it can get paid on the
very first day of their claim; we have scrapped
the seven-day waiting period; and we have
formed a new partnership with Citizens Advice
to help people to claim universal credit. All
these measures have been taken as a result of
the sensible proposals made in this place and
by constituents. Nevertheless, the roll-out
will take place, and we are making sure that no
one sees a reduction in their benefits when
they are moved on to universal credit. Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)On a more serious point, my constituent has been in and out of work, so he has now been told he has exhausted the number of universal credit advance payments he can receive. He is out of work now. He received his last pay cheque two weeks ago. He has even exhausted all his food bank vouchers. The Department for Work and Pensions has told him he will have to wait seven weeks for any sort of payment. Thanks to interventions from my office, he has been awarded £350 towards paying his rent—that is not enough. May I ask the Leader of the House, most sincerely, for an urgent debate, in Government time, on the horrendous realities of the UC roll-out and the impact it is having on constituents of Members from both sides of the House? Please do not just refer me to DWP questions next week: we need a debate, because the realities of UC are truly abhorrent. I am extremely sympathetic to the hon. Gentleman’s points, but he will be aware that the Opposition day debate on Wednesday is to be on the subject of UC and he will have the opportunity to raise this issue then, as well as at DWP questions on Monday, which is the appropriate place to raise it. I wish to repeat that we have been clear that UC is designed to simplify benefits for people. There are many examples—I can give him actual examples—of recipients of UC who have found it to be much easier to manage. We are making sure that no one sees a reduction in their benefits when they move on to UC. He raises a really important individual constituency issue, which he should raise directly with DWP Ministers on Monday. |