Welfare Reform and Work Bill

So some of the five said that it did not comply but the fact is that the UNCRC is not incorporate...

I take the noble Baroness’s point but that was not the view of Lord Reed, which I read. I can see...

I do not want to provoke the noble Lord any further, but would he not accept that Lord Carnwath, ...

I thank the noble Baroness. I think that the comments of Lord Justice Carnwath are what the lawye...

The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, prayed in aid the state of public opinion about the benefits system...

May I tell the noble Lord my view, which is appropriate on occasions such as this? The longer a l...

If I may say so, that takes for granted the propensity of Governments in general, and this Govern...

My Lords, Amendment 72, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, and the noble Lord, Lord McK...

When we debated the regional cap at that time, did the noble Lord support it?

Of course I did not support it; I am on the record as not supporting it. This is not an absolute ...

My Lords, does the Minister not also accept—I am sure that his memory stretches back this far—tha...

I am delighted to have a trip down memory lane, but since we have changed the basis of the measur...

Has the noble Lord assessed the figures for their income rather than their earnings?

I do not have that to hand. As a noble Lord said, we are now reaching a judgment on how to arrive...

My Lords, the Minister is not addressing the issue. What matters is income versus income, not inc...

Yes, I am just looking here at the level of earnings and that is the figure that we are taking. T...

This question session has not got anywhere. Those families do not have an income that is higher t...

I have tried to make it as clear as I can that we are looking at the level of earnings here. It i...

May I try to make sense of this? I do not think that the Government know what the disposable inco...

I accept that that is a point about which noble Lords opposite are concerned, but I can only reit...

Is the Minister not, then, concerned about disposable income and the impact on children? He said ...

We are very concerned about the interests of children, and I will come on to that. Let me summari...

I said to the Minister that I am quite happy for any estimates of the impact on child poverty to ...

I am clearly not in a position to comment on the work that we do, but I can say that estimating d...

How does this fit into the annual uprating statement? The Minister has just said that the Secreta...

The established procedures, of course, are basically to go in line with CPI; this is a much broad...

If the Minister says—quite rightly and decently, and I am sure that the whole House will support ...

There is a difference between having a specific provision that does not require people to work an...

Will the Minister accept that he has just proved my point that children get ignored? I asked him ...

I apologise to the right reverend Prelate. The only reason why I have not answered by now is that...

Pass.

Thank you.

The revised cap levels are being set to create a strong work incentive to ensure...

My Lords, I will do so on the question of the welfare of children. First, there is no difference ...

On the last point, there are always particular cases such as those referred to by the noble Baron...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for the care with which he is responding to these concern...

It was a small report on, I think, 14 children, and we aim to look at things on a much safer basi...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this extensive debate. There are three ...

Moved by

Lord Best

73: Clause 7, page 8, line 37, at end insert—

“(5C) Regulati...

My Lords, the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, and the noble Baroness, Lady Manzoor, have added their n...

My Lords, I declare my interests as chair of Peabody and president of the Local Government Associ...

My Lords, I speak to Amendment 86, which is in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Sherlock....

My Lords, these amendments seek to exempt people in temporary accommodation from the benefit cap....

My Lords, I would be grateful if the Minister provided a little detail on the research that will ...

The noble Earl will be aware that an enormous amount of research is conducted in this area. I wil...

I thank all noble Lords who have participated in this mini debate, and particularly the noble Lor...

Moved by

Baroness Meacher

75: Clause 7, page 9, leave out lines 1 and 2

My Lords, in moving Amendment 75 I shall speak also to Amendments 78, 80, 81 and 83. The amendmen...

My Lords, I rise to strongly support the amendment moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher. We ...

In the interests of saving time, it may be worth me saying one of the key things that I will say ...

I am grateful to the Minister and will happily truncate and wait with bated breath for his respon...

I rise to speak to my Amendment 90B which would exempt kinship carers from the benefit cap. I am ...

I shall be very brief. I support what the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, said about kinship carers. I...

Perhaps I might just add to that. I ask the Minister to bear in mind that we have already heard t...

I rise briefly to oppose the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, because her amendment would remove the...

Very quickly, I just want to raise the question of whether the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, think...

The noble Baroness makes an interesting point. We addressed the capacity for work test at an earl...

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 87 to 90 in our name, and to comment briefly on the other...

My Lords, I rise to express my support for the intention behind the amendment in the name of the ...

My Lords, I too support Amendment 90B, which seeks to exclude kinship carers from the benefit cap...

My Lords, Amendments 75, 78, 80, 81 and 83 seek to exempt specified benefits from the list of tho...

I accept the point about income support covering a wide category of claimants, and I know that we...

I have already answered that question in the first of these amendment groupings. I repeat: there ...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken very powerfully in support of these incredibly ...

Moved by

Baroness Sherlock

76: Clause 7, page 9, leave out lines 3 and 4

My Lords, I shall also speak to Amendments 77, 79, 82, 84 and 85, which are in my name and that o...

My Lords, I rise to speak in support of Amendments 76 and 77, to which I have added my name. I ap...

My Lords, this group of amendments seeks to exclude specified benefits payable for children and w...

I am very sorry to intervene. I may have missed it, but I do not think that the Minister addresse...

We did apply the family test; I had better write to the noble Baroness with the details because I...

Forgive me, my Lords, but an assertion is not an explanation. What we are getting is an assertion...

I have done my best to lay out that this is based on equivalent pre-tax incomes of £25,000 and, i...

I do not want to be discourteous to the Minister. He is much respected in the House, and many of ...

I will try one last time. If noble Lords are dissatisfied, that is the reality.

We currentl...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for trying, if not succeeding, to answer the questions. He must ap...

I say only that I remember with some fondness—not entire fondness, because 17 Sittings in Committ...

I thank the Minister for reminding me of that joyous period; I think of it often.

The Minis...

Moved by

Baroness Sherlock

95: Page 11, line 30, leave out from “to” to end of line 3...

My Lords, a change of subject. I am pleased to say that these amendments are not about the benefi...

My Lords, I will speak in support of all of the amendments in this grouping. The only reason that...

My Lords, I will add a few comments to what has already been said. I think that Clauses 9 and 10 ...

My Lords, I support these three amendments. I do not wish to repeat what has already been said bu...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Sherlock and Lady Lister, and the noble Lord, Lord M...

The Minister has said that this is very helpful to benefit recipients because they now have certa...

I have said that we have had to make some difficult decisions.

Difficult for whom? To use the phrase used by the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, I suspect that every...

As I said, by being upfront about the freeze, we are trying to ensure that people in receipt of t...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this short debate. I thank my noble friend L...