Social Security (Claims and Payments) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2006

My Lords, it has been a long and busy week for the Minister and for the rest of us who are active on DWP matters in this House, so I will be brief. It is right that we draw this to the attention of the House. The Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee has some pretty trenchant criticisms of this measure. They boil down to saying that both the regulations and their Explanatory Memorandum are very sloppy pieces of work. The memorandum contains pious aspirations, but no proper assessment of how this measure will prove a cost-effective way of dealing with debt for vulnerable people. If I were to give it an old-fashioned school report, I would summarise it with a C for effort and a D for attainment. A cost of £3 million initially and £100,000 to £150,000 a year for a maximum of 5,000 cases looks like pretty poor value for money to me. I agree with the Social Security Advisory Committee and with the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, that the obvious way to achieve these same ends more effectively would be to boost the Social Fund. It seems to me, having studied the Chancellor’s statements over the years, that to set up the new procedure is another case of new-initiativitis, rather than funding existing policies and institutions properly. The conclusion to the Explanatory Memorandum states that the Government are grateful to the Social Security Advisory Committee and the agencies which responded to consultation for their consideration of the scheme and resulting comments, but it does not add, ““but we’re going ahead anyway””. What is the point of expert scrutiny by the Social Security Advisory Committee and the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee if the Government do not take their strong reservations seriously, especially on an issue such as this, which does not raise major issues of public policy—it is essentially practical and technical? What does it cost for the Government to be a bit more humble and to take these serious practical considerations properly on board?