Welfare Reform Bill

I want to make some progress, if I may, as I do not want to strain the patience of the House. The new progression to work category will be about saying to people not that they have to work immediately but that they have to prepare for work. That will apply to people on employment and support allowance and to workless parents. At the moment, people on incapacity benefits have to turn up for work-focused interviews but, if they do not want to carry out the activities that they have agreed to, there is nothing that we or our providers can do. The Bill will change that system. People will have to come in for interviews, but they will also have to draw up an action plan and carry it out. We think that that is the right thing to do. We will retest everyone on incapacity benefit to ensure that they are on the right benefit, and if they are not, they will go on to jobseeker's allowance. Again, that is something that the Conservatives say should be done; we are actually doing it. We expect the vast majority of people to take up this support but, for those who do not, we think it right to have a backstop power to require people to carry out their action plans.