Welfare Reform Bill

I support the principle and aims of this Bill. I hope it will be a Bill to enable employment, and not be a barrier to those who need benefit and help. That is most important. I wish to begin by echoing some of the sentiments of the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on the timing. I suppose that there is no right or wrong time, but as I represent a constituency with one of the highest incapacity rates in the country, I am concerned that all this will happen at a time when it is very difficult to get people into employment. The statistics for December for Blaenau Gwent were that 2,638 people were out of work claiming jobseeker's allowance and 6,560 were on incapacity benefit, while there were only 218 listed job vacancies. Therefore, although taking people off incapacity benefit and getting them into work is the right principle, it is not an easy task. One of the measures we must look at is flexible working. We have talked today about the employment bracket as a whole, but there is opportunity through shared work and shared hours to open it up for those on benefit and the disabled. It must not be employment at any cost, however, or training for training's sake. We have a scheme in my borough called job match, which looks at the requirements of the borough and those of the individual. We need to match their skills with real employment. Some years ago, we had schemes in which people shared employment, but on different rates of pay. Another worry I have is that if we put people into employment on benefit rates working alongside someone on a higher rate, that will cause huge problems. The gap between earnings and jobseeker's allowance is significant, and that should be reviewed, as the TUC has requested. Another major concern at a time when so many people are losing their jobs is mental health. When we talk about mental health, we forget about conditions such as stress, depression and anxiety—conditions we cannot see or put a plaster on, but which are extremely important. We have heard again tonight about how we will help people into employment, and support is critical. The worry I have is that the support services are not readily available. We have seen funding withdrawn from many services and social services in the borough council, and we have also recently seen the threat to Remploy, which could play a huge part in helping people into real employment—not to stay within the Remploy circuit, but to go out into the jobs market. We need support for counselling services. Those who suffer from mental health conditions need a lot of support, and that must be funded. Another worry I have mentioned many times in the House is to do with the medical board that people are called in front of. It cannot be target driven. If the board is given targets to hit, the wrong people will be put into a very dangerous position. Things must be done correctly and each case must be dealt with on its merits. Who are the experts in the relevant field? Do those on that board offering medical opinions know everything—are they mental health experts, or physical health experts? They need to take advice before they make decisions, and perhaps even consider speaking to GPs and specialists, because we will have constituents who want to appeal against a decision, and their GP supports them but the board says they are fit for work. We have real problems in this area. If there is a conflict between the two, where does the appeal go? If it stays at that board level, that is not the answer. I asked a question in the House some weeks ago about a guarantee of payment because of the worries about what might happen as people move from one benefit to another, and whether there would be any loss of that benefit value. Other benefits, such as housing benefit and things that people can claim through borough councils, fall into that category, so we need to ensure that the value of money received by the individual is not reduced. The drugs problem has been mentioned, and I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State say that it does not include people who are having problems with prescription drugs, tranquilizers or even alcohol. Again, support services need to be provided for those individuals. It is not good enough just to say, ““Well, they can continue on benefit.”” They need the same help as those who are on the harder drugs. We must remember that many individuals on harder drugs also are ready to come off them—they just need the support to do so—so to punish them further or to punish their families would not help in any way. Each case must be considered with compassion and on its merits. We have heard a lot about single parents tonight, but carers fall into the same bracket; this is a huge area where a lot of employment could be created. We need to consider equal parenting and equal responsibility. We tend to blame one side or the other—the father or the mother—so there must be a move towards equal opportunity for both and both taking their responsibility. We must ensure that the increase in the benefits structure to move people into employment does not move people into poverty, and the value of the money must be retained. On the privatisation of some services in the Jobcentre Plus area, I hope that such things will stay within the control of the state, but on the understanding that the relevant bodies must work with the voluntary sector and private partnerships to deliver the best for those who wish to get back into employment. I have concerns, too, about the office structure of Jobcentre Plus facilities; I recently visited one with a client of mine, and I felt that the open-plan structure is not necessarily the best for everyone. The last thing that someone who has been made redundant or someone who is suffering from ill health, especially mental ill health, wants is to be spoken to in a room full of people. We need to look sympathetically at how we deal with such individuals. My other worry on Jobcentre Plus is that in the area I represent, at least, it has been unable to answer a number of benefit questions. Benefits are being dealt with at a central location by telephone, and people cannot ask questions in person. Again, that does not help many of our constituents. No one should be taken off benefit until their appeal is heard; stopping someone's benefits when they have an appeal in the system cannot be right. The welfare state was created to help those individuals into employment and to support them when employment was removed; it must not involve an alienation or stigmatisation of the individual. I know that we have all received a significant amount of paperwork, either by post or through e-mail, over the past few days; this has probably been one of the biggest postbags that I have received on one issue. I urge the Committee to examine all the information coming forward and to take into account the concerns of all the organisations that want to work with the Government to deliver the best system for these individuals to get them back into employment. This Bill is probably one of the most important that we will ever deal with, and I wish the Government well in its progress.