UK Parliament / Open data

Welfare Reform Bill

Debate on bills on Tuesday, 9 January 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Jim Murphy. The answering member was David Ruffley.
Welfare Reform Bill. Report stage and Third reading debate. Agreed to on question and Passed.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

455 c156-254 

Session

2006-07

Department

Department for Work and Pensions

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Welfare Reform Bill . As amended in Public Bill Committee
Thursday, 30 November 2006
Bills
House of Commons
Incapacity benefits and pathways to work. Government response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee third report of session 2005/06 (HC 616).
Monday, 19 June 2006
Command papers
House of Commons
Incapacity benefits and pathways to work. Work and Pensions Select Committee third report in 3 volumes with proceedings, evidence (HC 616 i-iv not printed separately) and appendices.
Wednesday, 26 April 2006
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Danny Alexander | 455 c156-8 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to be here to move new clause 3, which relates to the personal capability assessment fo...
Speaker | 455 c156 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 71, in clause 17, page 14,...

Show all contributions (166)
Danny Alexander | 455 c156 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Anne McGuire | 455 c158 (Link to this contribution) For the record, the Office for Disability Issues is in the Department for Work and Pensions, not the...
Danny Alexander | 455 c158-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the intervention, but in that case it is possible that the Office for Disability I...
John Bercow | 455 c158 (Link to this contribution) The observation made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) also highlights ...
John Redwood | 455 c158 (Link to this contribution) Is not the period of transition the most dangerous time for the vulnerable people about whom we are ...
Danny Alexander | 455 c158 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Two things need to happen. First, a much more com...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c162-3 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. There is a whole range of conditions of which Tourette’s is a very good example. My hon....
John Bercow | 455 c163 (Link to this contribution) Before my hon. Friend develops that argument, I wish to press the rewind button and take him back to...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c165 (Link to this contribution) In a way that he may not have intended, my right hon. Friend has touched on a point that I was about...
Roger Berry | 455 c165-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt). Although I added my nam...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c163-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. That variety of means by which people may supply the inform...
John Redwood | 455 c165 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful point about the gradations involved, and more of the detail will...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c168-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. There are issues of interaction where a physical condition giv...
Gordon Marsden | 455 c168 (Link to this contribution) On the complex nature of disabilities that involve mental and physical aspects, is the hon. Gentlema...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c167-8 (Link to this contribution) I welcome very much the new clause, the measured tones with which the hon. Member for Inverness, Nai...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c159 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to learn that I agree very much with what he is saying. Is ...
Danny Alexander | 455 c159 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Regional disparities can arise in the wider debate abou...
Mike Weir | 455 c159 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware of a report from Citizens Advice which draws attention to the difficulti...
Danny Alexander | 455 c159-60 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman rightly refers to problems that have been identified in the existing system. In f...
David Ruffley | 455 c160 (Link to this contribution) What does the hon. Gentleman think of the fact that the rise in the number of people who will be abl...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c160-1 (Link to this contribution) I support new clause 3. Some of my arguments will echo those made by the hon. Member for Inverness, ...
Danny Alexander | 455 c160 (Link to this contribution) The way in which the Government have described their intentions in relation to the revision of the p...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c161-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for those comments, and with his usual foresight he makes some of th...
Adam Afriyie | 455 c161 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that my hon. Friend raises the matter of assessments and what might be termed the 50 pe...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c162 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that that also applies to people with Tourette’s syndrome, who might well ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c169 (Link to this contribution) I see the hon. Gentleman who moved the new clause nodding in acceptance of my concerns. It is import...
Speaker | 455 c169 (Link to this contribution) Order. I trust that the hon. Gentleman is referring to new clause 1 only briefly because it has not ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c169-70 (Link to this contribution) That was exactly why I was moving on from my point with the closing words that the client should be ...
Jim Murphy | 455 c178-9 (Link to this contribution) I was not aware of that. I had been labouring under the illusion that those fine members of Her Maje...
Mike Weir | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) Review does not necessarily mean change. It means ascertaining whether something works. That is impo...
David Ruffley | 455 c178 (Link to this contribution) I have no desire to interrupt the hon. Gentleman’s flow, but in a spirit of bipartisanship, may I as...
Jim Murphy | 455 c177-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to respond to what has so far been a typically constructive debate. It has been con...
Adam Afriyie | 455 c176-7 (Link to this contribution) There is no doubt that hon. Members of all parties generally welcome the Bill, which acknowledges th...
Chris Bryant | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) Reports, reviews—there is not much difference between them. My point is broader and concerns the rol...
Lynne Jones | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) New clause 3 does not call for an annual review but an annual report, which is different.
Chris Bryant | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) There is a general rule that one should use the word ““final”” only once in a speech but I shall now...
Chris Bryant | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes his point but I would prefer a review every five years because when reviews...
Jim Murphy | 455 c179-81 (Link to this contribution) I will come to those points later. In general, however, the right hon. Gentleman is correct. Without...
John Redwood | 455 c179 (Link to this contribution) One of the problems that will doubtless emerge is that different assessors, even in the same localit...
Jim Murphy | 455 c181-2 (Link to this contribution) I will be happy to do so. We will certainly publish the report of the initial dry run before the Lor...
Danny Alexander | 455 c181 (Link to this contribution) I welcome what the Minister says about a further and more detailed evaluation and the involvement of...
John Penrose | 455 c182-3 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has already said that he is willing to make public the assessments between now and the ...
Jim Murphy | 455 c181 (Link to this contribution) As I said, I shall also give way to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.
Jim Murphy | 455 c181 (Link to this contribution) I shall address the independent nature of the assessment and monitoring shortly, but I anticipate th...
Speaker | 455 c181 (Link to this contribution) Order. The Minister must respond to the first intervention before he takes the second one.
Mike Weir | 455 c175 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a fair point, but is he not also illustrating how the current system ha...
Chris Bryant | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the first half of the hon. Gentleman’s comments, but disagree with the second half. It ...
John Penrose | 455 c175 (Link to this contribution) I would back up the hon. Gentleman by saying that not only Labour Members feel that. I appreciate th...
Chris Bryant | 455 c175 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman makes an important point. However, he will make a mistake if he pr...
Lynne Jones | 455 c174 (Link to this contribution) In citing that example, does my hon. Friend agree that it is important not to give the impression th...
Chris Bryant | 455 c174-5 (Link to this contribution) I agree that it would be utterly inappropriate for us to suggest that the vast majority of people wh...
John Redwood | 455 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) When I first read new clause 3, I had two worries about it. First, I was concerned that the system w...
Chris Bryant | 455 c173-4 (Link to this contribution) I am sure it is true that all hon. Members have some experience of the operation of incapacity benef...
Chris Bryant | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) I shall, but my last sentence was to have been the final one in my speech.
Mike Weir | 455 c176 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Danny Alexander | 455 c170 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is equally important to put it on record that the sa...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c170 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. Others wish to speak, so I will move on quickly. I am glad tha...
John Robertson | 455 c170-1 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak to amendments Nos. 98 and 99, which I tabled. I will be brief because I, if not ever...
Adam Afriyie | 455 c171 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not acknowledge that if an annual report is requested, and there is a requir...
Lynne Jones | 455 c171 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend not concerned, however, that evaluations are carried out by Atos Origin, and it is...
John Robertson | 455 c171 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but my experience is that people pick whatever they...
John Robertson | 455 c171-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I agree with it, but the Data Protection Act 1998 opened the ...
Speaker | 455 c243 (Link to this contribution) Order. Would Members who do not wish to participate on Third Reading please either leave quietly or ...
Jim Murphy | 455 c243-4 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the many individuals...
Anne McGuire | 455 c239 (Link to this contribution) I want to move on, because I want to give my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton the opportunity to ...
Anne McGuire | 455 c238 (Link to this contribution) I hope that I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. He is right to say that, under the old system,...
Jim Murphy | 455 c243 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. The Bill implements one of the most ambiti...
Andrew Love | 455 c239-40 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for the way in which she has responded to the debate. I am disappointed that ...
Nick Raynsford | 455 c237 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an interesting point about the possible disincentive to work that accessibility...
Anne McGuire | 455 c237 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the intensity with which my hon. Friend holds these views, but I should like to move on...
Andrew Love | 455 c238 (Link to this contribution) Although in theory the median is defined as having 50 per cent. below and 50 per cent. above, one ha...
Anne McGuire | 455 c237-8 (Link to this contribution) I hope that my right hon. Friend asked the same question when we considered many other aspects of ou...
Betty Williams | 455 c254 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. Without going into great detail, we took evidence from many people. In Bangor in my constitu...
Lyn Brown | 455 c244 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share my concern that many people moving away from receiving benefits often find...
Julie Morgan | 455 c253-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend quotes from a report published in 2000, when we were both on the Welsh Affairs Commit...
Betty Williams | 455 c253 (Link to this contribution) As a long-time supporter of the campaign to end the single room rent—the SRR—restriction on housing ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c252-3 (Link to this contribution) The Bill will be memorable to me for three reasons. The first is, as has already been said extensive...
Roger Berry | 455 c252 (Link to this contribution) Given the limited time, I shall make two brief comments. First, my hon. Friend the Minister is corre...
Danny Alexander | 455 c250-1 (Link to this contribution) As has been said, there has been a great deal of cross-party, or all-party, consensus on the princip...
Terry Rooney | 455 c249-50 (Link to this contribution) Congratulations are due, especially to the Secretary of State, who walked into a quagmire about 15 m...
David Ruffley | 455 c245-9 (Link to this contribution) The Bill has noble aims: to get 1 million of our fellow citizens off incapacity benefit. That is ach...
Jim Murphy | 455 c244-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has raised that matter before, and I shall be happy to look into the specific problem...
Terry Rooney | 455 c231-2 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak to amendments Nos. 70 and 67, which I tabled. Amendment No. 70 relates to rent offi...
David Leslie Taylor | 455 c232 (Link to this contribution) Is it not also the case that a rent officer does not have to explain, justify or provide evidence to...
Terry Rooney | 455 c232-4 (Link to this contribution) Sadly, my hon. Friend’s experience is all too common in all too many parts of the country. I underst...
Madeleine Moon | 455 c234 (Link to this contribution) Is it not the case that discretionary hardship payments should not be used to make up permanent hous...
David Lepper | 455 c228 (Link to this contribution) On the point that my hon. Friend has just made about tenants shopping around and the experience of t...
Andrew Love | 455 c227-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is undoubtedly correct. For those and other reasons, landlords are increasingly reluc...
Madeleine Moon | 455 c228 (Link to this contribution) In a similar vein, I have been talking to local housing providers—Llammau and Hafod’s Yellow project...
Andrew Love | 455 c228 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I agree entirely. Where there is a lack of supply and ...
Danny Alexander | 455 c229-31 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love), who has rightly stated the stron...
Andrew Love | 455 c228-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely. I was about to come to the wider Government objectives that will be achieved by th...
Lynne Jones | 455 c237 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the Minister’s proposals will deal with the problem that I identified when I cha...
Anne McGuire | 455 c237 (Link to this contribution) That is an issue for young people irrespective of whether they are on housing benefit or in work and...
Danny Alexander | 455 c235 (Link to this contribution) In Committee the hon. Gentleman abstained when we voted on the abolition of the single room rent. Ha...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c234-5 (Link to this contribution) This important set of amendments deals with the serious problem of access to housing for young peopl...
Terry Rooney | 455 c234 (Link to this contribution) What I am about to say will probably result in someone being sacked tomorrow, but if a vulnerable pe...
Anne McGuire | 455 c237 (Link to this contribution) On Second Reading, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State stated that we would review the rolli...
David Lepper | 455 c236-7 (Link to this contribution) From my experience of the pathfinder area in Brighton and Hove, I do not believe that the local hous...
Anne McGuire | 455 c236 (Link to this contribution) As I said in Committee, I am pleased that we have had the opportunity to discuss issues relating to ...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c235-6 (Link to this contribution) My argument is that the problem with the shared room rate, as it will become, arises from the way it...
Danny Alexander | 455 c220 (Link to this contribution) I shall be very brief, as I know that the Minister wants to respond to the debate. The amendments so...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c218-20 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure and privilege to follow the hon. Member for Kingswood (Roger Berry), who is extreme...
Roger Berry | 455 c217 (Link to this contribution) Yes, indeed; I am saying precisely that. I will come in a few moments to the amendments that deal pa...
John Robertson | 455 c217 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend saying that in changing the words from ““health assessment”” to just ““assessment”...
Roger Berry | 455 c217-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know that I have raised the issue of resourcing this programme both in the C...
Mike Weir | 455 c217 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman and his amendments seem sensible, but given that his examp...
David Ruffley | 455 c211 (Link to this contribution) I agree with one thing that the Minister said: in his opening remarks, he observed that I had been p...
Speaker | 455 c215-6 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 80, in page 6, line 37, le...
Roger Berry | 455 c216-7 (Link to this contribution) All 16 amendments are in my name and the names of my hon. Friends; that is, I suppose, the parliamen...
Lynne Jones | 455 c227 (Link to this contribution) In some areas there has been a substantial increase in the availability of HMO accommodation, but it...
Andrew Love | 455 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) The amendment would end the shared room rate at the age of 21 rather than at 25, as at present. It i...
Speaker | 455 c225-6 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 5, in page 20, line 33, at...
Speaker | 455 c222 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the hon. Gentleman; he was not called during the time allotted by the programme motio...
Roger Berry | 455 c221 (Link to this contribution) I was just about to withdraw the amendment.
Jim Murphy | 455 c221 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond briefly to this important debate on the 16 amendment...
Charles Walker | 455 c220-1 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that I was not present for the whole debate, but I congratulate the hon. Member for Kings...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c200 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the most important reasons for making it explicit in the B...
Danny Alexander | 455 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention. The Minister was not as clear as that in Committee. If he endor...
Terry Rooney | 455 c201-2 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak to amendments Nos. 57 and 58, which stand in my name and that of my hon. Friend the ...
Adam Afriyie | 455 c203 (Link to this contribution) I was tapping my feet and gritting my teeth earlier because it is not clear whether someone from the...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c203 (Link to this contribution) I rise in support of new clause 7, to which I have attached my name. The earlier part of the discus...
Natascha Engel | 455 c204-5 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell), with whom I enjoyed serving in Co...
Danny Alexander | 455 c198-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden), who is eloquent and w...
Natascha Engel | 455 c199-200 (Link to this contribution) It is important to realise that the decision-maker is so called because he makes the decision. If th...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c208 (Link to this contribution) That goes to the heart of the concerns that some Members have expressed. Can the Minister give an ab...
Jim Murphy | 455 c207-8 (Link to this contribution) I have pleasure in responding to this very productive and, on most occasions, constructive debate. O...
Adam Afriyie | 455 c206-7 (Link to this contribution) I had not intended to speak to new clause 7, because I thought that it was self-evident that it made...
Natascha Engel | 455 c205-6 (Link to this contribution) Again, I feel as if I am banging my head against a wall. I believe that the hon. Gentleman’s point i...
Lord Murphy of Torfaen | 455 c209-11 (Link to this contribution) It would not, of course, be the Government, a Minister such as myself or any politician who would ta...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c209 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister confirm that he has just said that if someone in the support group volunteers to t...
Jim Murphy | 455 c208-9 (Link to this contribution) The answer is yes—I do not think that I can be clearer than that. The hon. Member for Windsor (Adam...
Natascha Engel | 455 c205 (Link to this contribution) I am worried and feel as if I am banging my head against a wall—perhaps I am not being sufficiently ...
Jeremy Hunt | 455 c205 (Link to this contribution) We all agree that the purpose of the Bill is not to write anyone off. We also agree that different g...
Natascha Engel | 455 c192 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that build-up. I think that he slightly misses the point about the sa...
David Ruffley | 455 c192-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Lady on many things, but I must disagree with her last observation. The purpor...
David Ruffley | 455 c192 (Link to this contribution) I am very happy to give way to the hon. Lady. Her contributions in Committee were terrific and I am ...
Speaker | 455 c190 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 3, page 8, line 1, leave o...
David Ruffley | 455 c190-2 (Link to this contribution) New clause 7 relates to an extremely important group of individuals: those in the support group, who...
Danny Alexander | 455 c185-6 (Link to this contribution) This has been a good debate, especially in respect of the need to secure continued independent asses...
David Ruffley | 455 c190 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Natascha Engel | 455 c193 (Link to this contribution) Let me make two brief points. First, the hon. Gentleman’s comments presuppose that a work-focused in...
David Ruffley | 455 c193 (Link to this contribution) We will have to agree to disagree on this. The hon. Lady is a vigorous and vibrant debater, and I le...
Danny Alexander | 455 c193-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, which is why I support the new clause. He is not saying...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c197 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that there is genuine concern about the natural justice of such de...
Gordon Marsden | 455 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) In his usual balanced and fair way, the hon. Gentleman puts his finger on the dilemma. Of course, th...
Roger Berry | 455 c198 (Link to this contribution) The House will be grateful for my hon. Friend’s kind comments about amendment No. 97, as he has save...
Gordon Marsden | 455 c198 (Link to this contribution) I am always happy to act in the service of the House.
David Ruffley | 455 c194 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has just repeated what I said earlier. Of course, people in the support group wou...
Jim Murphy | 455 c194 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for North-East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel) does not need me to support her...
David Ruffley | 455 c194-6 (Link to this contribution) Of course I remember that we discussed the matter in Committee, but we did not get the assurances th...
Gordon Marsden | 455 c196-7 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak in favour of amendment No. 116, which stands in my name and those of hon. Friends. I...
Speaker | 455 c198 (Link to this contribution) After that little interchange, I take it that the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden) has...
Jim Murphy | 455 c183-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has helped with our deliberations on the Bill at all stages and he has offered an...
Speaker | 455 c221 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is too late for the hon. Gentleman to withdraw his amendment. The question has to be put.
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 455 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) That is the nature of my concern. There is an underlying fear that, if people who have been put, for...
Danny Alexander | 455 c158 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention—[Interruption.] I think that the answer to the hon. Gentleman is...
Roger Berry | 455 c215 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment No. 79, in page 6, line 28, leave out ‘medical examination’ and insert ‘asse...
Andrew Love | 455 c225 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment No. 48, in page 20, line 16, at end insert—
Danny Alexander | 455 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman includes among his many qualities that of being a clairvoya...
Adam Afriyie | 455 c205 (Link to this contribution) We are attempting, through new clause 7, to untwist the Government’s knickers by making it clear tha...
Roger Berry | 455 c181 (Link to this contribution) At what stage in the process would my hon. Friend argue that what is occurring is an independent eva...

Subjects

Council tax benefits
Disability
Disability living allowance
Contracts
Compensation
Care homes
Accountability
Benefits rules
Administration
Age
Communication
Fraud
Employment
Equality
Housing
Disqualification
Interviews
Income
Incapacity benefit
Local government
Medical examinations
Overpayments
Pilot schemes
Monitoring
Mental health
Pneumoconiosis
Social security benefits
Social Fund
Reform
Testing
Vaccination
Rents
Unemployed people
Widowed people
Local housing allowance

Legislation

Welfare Reform Bill 2005-06 to 2006-07

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
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