Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, that is encouraging and reassuring. I draw particular comfort in relation to my first and third questions from the Minister’s assurance that people will be migrated on a protected income equivalent to their existing cash benefit. The sting in the tail came when he said, ““provided that they qualify for ESA””, although there was further assurance when he said that the assessment of whether they continued to qualify for ESA would come at the first review after migration. I understood that to mean that there would be migration on existing cash benefit, which would be subject to review at a later stage. These are technical matters, so I will reserve judgment until tomorrow, when I have studied carefully all the Minister’s words. For now, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.