Contributions
1,730 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftMy hon. Friend is right to raise that issue. The warm home discount is administered through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in conjunction with the…13 Sept 2021HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftAs the hon. Gentleman will know, at the time of the Budget the uplift was always advocated to be temporary, recognising that the pandemic’s lockdown elements were not over. We did…13 Sept 2021HANSARDSupport for Vulnerable ChildrenI am conscious, especially with my right hon. Friend’s leadership of the Select Committee on Education, of how passionately he feels about this particular area. My Department is…13 Sept 2021HANSARDSupport for Vulnerable ChildrenMinisters are meeting this week to discuss the success of the holiday activity fund, and good progress has been made on the digitalisation of Healthy Start vouchers. We will…13 Sept 2021HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend is so right; it has been a successful recruitment programme. We wanted to reintroduce the face-to-face interventions because we know that that direct intervention…13 Sept 2021HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Lady is wrong to suggest that our Government have not supported the people of Luton throughout this difficult time. The furlough scheme was unique; it was not introduced…13 Sept 2021HANSARDTopical QuestionsThis summer, we launched our national disability strategy, setting out more than 100 practical actions and a long-term vision for reform that will make a real difference to…13 Sept 2021HANSARDTopical QuestionsI do not know the basis of the hon. Gentleman’s calculation and his suggestion, but what I do know is that the Labour Government did nothing to help people in the midst of the…13 Sept 2021HANSARDTopical QuestionsEvery single universal credit payment depends on the individual, so I cannot articulate that, but it is fair to say that a number of different levers appear when people work more…13 Sept 2021HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftThe estimated cost for a year of the extension of universal credit is about £5 billion. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has set out, and we have updated the plan for jobs…13 Sept 2021HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftAs the Chancellor set out in the Budget, when we had the discussion of what we are doing, it was about continuing to extend the support beyond the time of the lockdown that…13 Sept 2021HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftMy understanding is that, as we always knew the uplift was going to be temporary, an impact assessment was not undertaken because we knew it would be for a limited time.13 Sept 2021HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftThe hon. Lady may be aware that more than £400 billion of support has been given more broadly to the UK economy and to people. We are conscious that more than £7 billion was…13 Sept 2021HANSARDUniversal Credit: Removal of UpliftThe hon. Gentleman may not be aware that we have been funding Citizens Advice to assist people in making potential claims for universal credit. To that end, we estimate that about…13 Sept 2021HANSARDPensions UpdateBefore I answer my hon. Friend’s question, I need to correct part of my last answer: the earnings link is not in the Pensions Act, but in the Social Security Administration Act…07 Sept 2021HANSARDPensions UpdateWith permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on the annual uprating of state pensions and survivors’ benefits in industrial death benefit. Each year, as the…07 Sept 2021HANSARDPensions UpdateI thank the hon. Gentleman for having read the statement and for recognising some of the challenges that we face. I accept that it is his role and that of the Opposition to…07 Sept 2021HANSARDPensions UpdateMy right hon. Friend is right that the triple lock policy was never anticipated for these extraordinary times. He will know that, as a former Secretary of State. The Lib Dem…07 Sept 2021HANSARDPensions UpdateThe one year will be set out in the Bill, which I expect to be published tomorrow. As I have said, Steve Webb—the former Lib Dem Pensions Minister, who probably knows more about…07 Sept 2021HANSARDPensions UpdateI appreciate that this is a statement about the uprating, but let me just remind the hon. and learned Lady of the situation relating to the change in state pension age. It was…07 Sept 2021