Scotland Bill

This afternoon, we are competing with the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon; I hope we do not damage it...

There are reports in the press that Labour and the SNP are proposing to introduce higher welfare ...

We have a number of proposals relating to the Bill, including devolving housing benefit, which we...

I know that the hon. Gentleman is a reasonable man, and I do not want him to get too carried away...

That might be the experience in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency surgeries on a Friday and Satur...

The hon. Gentleman’s preamble was slightly depressing, because it failed to wake up to a fact tha...

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman was listening to my preamble, as he puts it, because I was...

Is my hon. Friend suggesting that, although the baseline will always be the UK welfare system, li...

I shall come on to that. Indeed, new clause 31, which SNP Members have signed, too, incidentally,...

Does my hon. Friend agree that as well as being an unnecessary restriction in the legislation, th...

I agree, and we should be removing as much ambiguity as possible from the Bill. If the Scottish P...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the overall approach being taken in the UK now is of concentra...

It is not the purpose of our amendments to create some kind of dependency culture. Indeed, in my ...

One of the key aims of the UK Government is to ensure work always pays better than being on benef...

I do agree, but I find it a little ironic that the hon. and learned Gentleman says from the Conse...

These amendments might not be controversial but does my hon. Friend agree that they send the impo...

That is right, because the commitment that was given to the Scottish people after the no vote at ...

On the exchange my hon. Friend had with the hon. and learned Member for North East Hertfordshire ...

New clause 31 allows the Scottish Parliament to top up any reserved benefit in the UK and create ...

This is an interesting debate and a wide range of points have been made on welfare and benefits i...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will, although I must say, through the Chair, that if the hon. and learned Gentleman wants a de...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that his amendment 132, like the SNP’s amendment 117, undermines th...

The hon. and learned Gentleman may be holding his amendment paper upside down, because it does no...

On a point of order, Ms Engel. The hon. Gentleman described me as illiterate, but he is in fact d...

That is a point of debate, and we are slightly veering away from the amendment that the hon. Memb...

I wish that it were a point of debate, but it is a point of accuracy and I am sorry that the hon....

On whether or not people should suffer a further sanction, I want to ask the hon. Gentleman about...

The whole sanction regime needs a proper and thorough review, and it should be based on evidence ...

My hon. Friend is making an incredibly important speech, and I just wanted to clarify something f...

I totally understood that and I see why my hon. Friend has done what he has done. I hope we will ...

The Scottish National party has always spoken of powers for a purpose. The reason why we are havi...

Unlike the hon. Lady, I never mistake the interests of the Scottish people for the interests of t...

I find the hon. Lady’s speech very illuminating, particularly on carers, an issue close to my hea...

The Minister says that the Government do not want to place unnecessary restrictions on the Scotti...

I am talking about the definition of a disability benefit, which we want to ensure provides ample...

The Minister has explained the restricted definition of carers, but if the Scottish Parliament ha...

As I have said, the clause will allow the Scottish Parliament to decide on the details of who car...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I will briefly give way.

I am grateful to the Minister; I think there is some problem with Ministers getting to the House....

That is subject to the discussions taking place on the fiscal framework.

Returning to carer...

The Minister is right that the Oakley report made a number of recommendations about process, but ...

I am aware of the Select Committee’s report, and the Department will put its views on the record....

rose—

I will not give way, because we are running out of time.

Members mentioned clause 23, on di...

Will the Minister give way?

No. I have taken interventions and I want to make my point. Time is running out.

On a point of order, Mr Crausby. The Minister has repeatedly said that she cannot respond to the ...

For the record, let me say that we have other groups of amendments to discuss this afternoon. I w...

I appreciate that the Minister has come to the Dispatch Box to respond to the amendments, but I a...

I beg to move amendment 118, page 26, line 20, leave out from “unless” to end of line 25 and inse...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 5, page 26, line 23, le...

I am pleased to move amendment 118 and to speak to our amendment 119 and new clauses 40, 44, 45 a...

I am paying close attention to the hon. Lady’s remarks. If, as the previous Government did, we st...

If the hon. Gentleman is proposing that we start paying people a living wage and ensuring that pe...

I am impressed by the hon. Lady’s speech and am obviously listening to it intently, but is it tru...

The hon. Lady is mistaken. The procurement legislation was hampered by EU legislation. In recent ...

If the Scottish Government did have wider-ranging powers on welfare, as the hon. Lady would like,...

The right hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. It is worth pointing out that, over the pas...

I am familiar with the hon. Lady’s point on this issue, but even the First Minister acknowledges ...

The Secretary of State and I have a different perception of time frames and what they mean to peo...

My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. Is it not amazing to hear the nanny-esque statements...

My hon. Friend makes a very pertinent point.

During the intervening months between the simp...

Does the hon. Lady accept that there is a potential constitutional point, too, in that what is be...

That is an astute point. It shows that if we get ourselves into a muddle with the legislation and...

rose—

I am not giving way, as I am about to wind up my remarks.

This group of amendments comes do...

I think that the Committee wants to implement the spirit and the letter of Smith, and I look forw...

I am sure the right hon. Gentleman is not suggesting that there is an in-line benefits system acr...

I think that welfare has quite a lot to do with austerity, and I think that we agree. I think tha...

I almost feel sorry for interrupting the right hon. Gentleman when he is advancing a good argumen...

I am not prepared to go that far. I think that there can be problems in the euro currency zone be...

Surely the point is that it is for the Scottish Government, whatever their colour, to decide how ...

That brings us back to an important and interesting question. At what point does the transfer of ...

I should be fascinated to know the size of the changes in welfare spending that the right hon. Ge...

I do not think that it would be necessary to go that far. At present, there is clearly a dispropo...

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that parts of the United Kingdom are already more unattractive ...

I fully understand the arguments against the spare room subsidy, or the bedroom tax. I understand...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is being very kind. On welfare, we already sh...

I am afraid that that is a bad example, because it proves my case. Ireland broke from the pound, ...

I want to follow on from some of the issues touched on by the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Jo...

I should like to speak to new clause 55. The explanatory statement tells us:

“This new Clau...

It is interesting to hear the hon. Gentleman talk about the angst over the connection with India ...

I think we have to act responsibly and to remember that, unfortunately, only three Unionist MPs a...

I thank the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) for introducing his new clause. I wan...

Not this one.

No, not the current Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; my hon. Friend would not do anything so...

I am delighted to speak in favour of amendment 118 and new clause 45, which call for the removal ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, thank you. [Interruption.] I have already responded informally to the hon. Member for Edinbur...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I give way to the hon. Gentleman.

I am listening with great care to the hon. Lady, as I hope are my right hon. Friend the Secretary...

We will be proud to take responsibility for investing in the growth of Scotland’s economy, in our...

We are considering a lot of amendments, and some of them cover quite technically detailed matters...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I was just going to quote the right hon. Gentleman, but I will take his intervention.

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s description of what we want from our welfare system, b...

The right hon. Gentleman has on several occasions in this and previous debates talked about cost ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am anxious not to get into a debate with the right hon. Gentleman, but I will take one more int...

This is a debate, and I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman is prepared to get into such a debat...

I am happy to have a debate; I just do not want to have it with the right hon. Gentleman by himse...

During the last Parliament and the election campaign, Tory Members chuntered on about the Labour ...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. It is because of the iniquity of the current system, and...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the tone of his contribution. It is important that he recogn...

I absolutely understand that. If we get a chance in the years ahead, while welfare remains the re...

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard), and he was right to point o...

Is not another compelling reason for the effective devolution of housing benefit to the Scottish ...

I have a touch of déjà vu, as that is twice my hon. Friend has intervened with the next sentence ...

In the past, my hon. Friend has spoken passionately about the need to pool resources and risks ac...

My hon. Friend must have brilliant eyesight. I am not sure whether it is the glasses, whether he ...

On this occasion, I am afraid I will disappoint the hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray) ...

Does the Secretary of State not accept that, if we read further in the letter, we find that the D...

I think that the hon. Gentleman has got the order of the statements in the letter wrong. Mr Swinn...

If the Secretary of State is listening to civic Scotland, third sector organisations, the Scottis...

I will repeat what I said earlier: I have agreed a programme of work to be undertaken before Repo...

Could the Secretary of State give a practical example of a policy that the Scottish Government ma...

I do not yet know what proposals the Scottish Government will make. I have made it clear that I w...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that explanation, but the point that he is missing is...

This is a matter for the hon. Gentleman’s and my colleagues to raise in the Scottish Parliament. ...

We have had an interesting and wide-ranging debate on the amendments this afternoon, perhaps more...

rose—

I will not give way just at the moment, because I think we have talked quite enough about Greece....

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I am just summing up. We will press new clause 39 to a vote later, and in the meantime we also wa...

I beg to move amendment 120, page 27, line 22, leave out from beginning to “for” in line 23 and i...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 121, page 27, leave out...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Amess. I am delighted that we have support ...

The hon. Lady makes a compelling case for employment support to be devolved to Scotland, but does...

The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point and I agree with him to some extent. We have had significan...

The hon. Lady is making a marvellous speech about the devolution of the Work programme. I had a p...

I would certainly be interested in taking a closer look at that and discussing it with my colleag...

I will speak particularly to amendments 113, 9, 114 and 10, and much of what I will say will echo...

As a Greater Manchester MP like myself, my hon. Friend will know that as part of the cities and d...

I agree. The intention stated in the Labour manifesto was to devolve labour market programmes to ...

I am listening carefully to what the hon. Lady is saying, but does she not recognise the difficul...

I readily accept that a local authority area may be too small. What is important is to get the ge...

Is it not better for people to find the right job for them than to find just any job?

There is certainly good and long-standing evidence, for example from the United States, that if m...

I was a Unison activist and I found that the Access to Work programme not only helps people get i...

The hon. Gentleman is right. The Access to Work programme is a device to help people enter, stay ...

Perhaps I should sit down and allow my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwyn...

I’m not that good.

He might not be that good. If he had won the lottery he would not be wearing that suit—I can be n...

Can the hon. Gentleman expand on the position of local authorities? I made the point to the hon. ...

I agree to a certain extent. In the area the hon. Gentleman represents, many of the local authori...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will give way to my hon. Friend, who will probably tell me what I am about to say.

I can tell him that the bonus ball will be 32.

The issue of local authorities is important....

I hope the bonus ball this week is not 32, otherwise we will be in trouble.

My hon. Friend ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Opportunities for All programme, which was mentioned earli...

I did not want to turn this into a political argument: I merely wanted to point out that work pro...

I am not trying to be difficult, but it seems to me that the hon. Gentleman’s amendment would pro...

In all the time I have known him, the hon. Gentleman has never been difficult. We are debating a ...

rose—

I am delighted that I have been able to give the hon. Gentleman a little exercise by making him b...

The hon. Gentleman and I have crossed swords on many Bills. He is misrepresenting what I said—not...

We are in trouble: I cannot even persuade the people who agree with the broad principle, and I am...

indicated dissent.

The hon. Gentleman is shaking his head, so it must be true. We would then be able to resolve the ...

I begin by commending the contributions not just on this group but throughout the day. It has bee...

We have had a fascinating debate, and it has been a pleasure to participate in it. It seems to me...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I do not normally make points of order, but I wonder whet...

As the hon. Gentleman well knows, that is not a point of order. I know he would not question the ...

I shall speak to amendments 115, 116, 117 and 131, tabled in my names and the names of my colleag...

I welcome what the hon. Lady is saying. Looking at amendment 117, is the SNP really turning its f...

On the very last day of the last Parliament, if the hon. Gentleman remembers, the Work and Pensio...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not give way again because I want to make some progress.

Paragraph 51 of the Smith a...

Is not the important issue that for as long as they wish to remain within the United Kingdom, the...

I entirely agree. The democratic will of the Scottish people over the past few years from the 201...

The hon. Gentleman’s intervention demonstrates that he has completely failed to understand my poi...

Order. Let us have one debate at a time. If hon. Members wish to intervene, they should indicate ...

The point I was trying to make is that when carers’ own health is compromised, that puts an enorm...

I welcome the huge transfer of welfare and tax powers set out in the Bill, but I want to make one...

Does the hon. and learned Gentleman not accept these two points? First, 55% of people in receipt ...

As the hon. Gentleman knows, I served on the Select Committee for many years. I accept that the s...

During the election campaign I met a man in my constituency called Dave Grieve. He had found very...

The Select Committee visited Scotland on occasion—[Interruption.] No, it is a UK-wide Committee, ...

I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It seems to me that the Secret...

On that point, my hon. Friend will know that patients who are terminally ill with less than six m...

That is an extremely good example. Those with a terminal illness and less than six months to live...

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Motor Neurone Disease Association has cited cases in which peopl...

That is insulting, obviously very distressing and quite unjust. I hope that the Secretary of Stat...

This has been a full debate on a range of important issues in which there is a great deal of inte...

This is now day three in Committee on the Scotland Bill, and thus far the Government have refused...

It does not say that.

Will the Government now agree to accept some of the amendments? I tell the right hon. Lady that s...

As the hon. Gentleman will have heard the Secretary of State say, the Library simply does not say...