Contributions
1,152 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDUniversal Credit BillMy Lords, on top of the usual joys of a debate such as this, we are blessed today by the unusual combination of a maiden and a valedictory. I look forward very much to the maiden…22 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit BillThat the Bill be now read a second time. Northern Ireland legislative consent sought.22 Jul 2025HANSARDNational Accident Prevention StrategyMy Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend Lady Crawley for her powerful introduction to this short debate and to all noble Lords for their contributions. What a lot of…17 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitMy Lords, the Government do not routinely publish costings of policy alternatives. However, estimates have been produced by independent think tanks, including the IFS, the…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitMy Lords, my noble friend mentioned the Children’s Commissioner. She will be aware that the Government commissioned the Children’s Commissioner to look at the experience of…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitI am sorry to hear about the noble Lord’s health; we are very pleased to see him here today, and as often as he is able to make it. I wish I could be in two places at once,…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitIf the noble Lord is referring to the two-child limit, he will be aware that the policy was introduced not by a Labour Government but by a Conservative Government, and it is not a…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitThe noble Lord raises a really important point. I am not aware of any evidence connecting those but, if he is, I would be interested in it. I periodically survey the global…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitMy Lords, since the noble Viscount’s Government brought in the policy, he probably does not need me to remind him there are exceptions—for example, those involved in kinship care…09 Jul 2025HANSARDUniversal Credit: Two-child LimitI thank the right reverend Prelate for that, and, indeed, for the work that he and his colleagues do in this area. Like him, one of the reasons I was so glad to see the report,…09 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI assure the noble Baroness that the department is absolutely focused on this. There is not one single aspect of these changes. We are trying to turn around the entire department,…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI apologise. We consulted on support for young people in the Green Paper and will look carefully at the results. This Government are committed to making the lives of sick and…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Browning. The House has benefited, as have I personally, many times, from her expertise and the care with which she expresses what…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI am grateful to the noble Lord, because that is a really important point. We should all be worried about the number of young people who are not in education, employment or…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI am sure that the noble Baroness knows, given her connection to the sector, that we specifically consulted on the future of Access to Work in the Green Paper. We are now working…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI probably have not explained this as well as I could have—I apologise to the noble Lord. We absolutely regard as the single biggest challenge the fact that the incentives are in…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI thank my noble friend, and I am really grateful to her for clarifying that. Those of us who spend a lot of time in the weeds of social security policy have to remember to be…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformMy Lords, I thank both noble Lords for their contributions. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman-Scott, for the tone of her contribution. She and I may sometimes disagree on…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformMy Lords, the noble Baroness raises a very important point about face-to-face assessments. There used to be face-to-face assessments; they were stopped during Covid and restarted…02 Jul 2025HANSARDWelfare ReformI thank my noble friend for appreciating the decisions that we have taken. In terms of co-production, the Secretary of State and my colleague, the Minister for Social Security and…02 Jul 2025