Contributions
443 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPovertyNext year, the benefit freeze will leave the poorest 20% of families with children £900 worse off on average. In January, the Secretary of State said that the benefit freeze was…18 Mar 2019HANSARDUniversal CreditFour single mothers won a legal challenge against the Department for Work and Pensions in January because their universal credit payments did not take into account the way in…18 Mar 2019HANSARDApplication of the Family TestI am very short of time, so I will continue. Sadly, Government policy is putting intolerable strain on some families. Under this Government, mixed-age couples will be denied…13 Mar 2019HANSARDApplication of the Family TestIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir David. I congratulate the hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) on securing this debate. He rightly pointed…13 Mar 2019HANSARDApplication of the Family TestWill the Minister give way?13 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityI thank the hon. Lady for making the point so powerfully. The benefit freeze increases poverty. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the freeze is set to drive almost…04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityThis uprating order increases a range of social security entitlements. However, it does not uprate those included in the Government’s freeze to working-age benefits enacted in the…04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityMy hon. Friend makes an absolutely pertinent point, and she does so with her usual alacrity and attention to detail. These vital social security payments should lift people out of…04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityWell, let me explain. In this context, destitution means that a person has lacked two or more of the six essentials in the last month— [ Interruption. ]04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. To put this in perspective, destitution in this context means that a person has lacked two or more of the six essentials in the last…04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityMy hon. Friend makes an absolutely pertinent point, and I thank her for it.04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityI will come on to pensions further on in my speech, if the hon. Gentleman will wait for that. Some 8 million people are in poverty and live in families where at least one person…04 Mar 2019HANSARD Social SecurityMy hon. Friend is absolutely right, and there is a real sense of betrayal that that myth has been perpetrated by Government Members. It is clear that universal credit is not…04 Mar 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsSocial security sanctions can be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of claimants, and, in extreme cases, push people into destitution. The Government’s response to the Work…11 Feb 2019HANSARDUniversal Credit Roll-outNo, you’re not.11 Feb 2019HANSARDUniversal Credit Roll-outOn the evening of 14 January, the Government announced that, from this May, mixed-aged couples on a low income will no longer be able to claim pension credit when the older…11 Feb 2019HANSARD Universal Credit(Urgent Question): To ask the Minister to make a statement on universal credit.14 Jan 2019HANSARD Universal CreditOn 6 January, it was reported in The Observer that the Government had decided to ask for powers from Parliament for a pilot of the managed migration of 10,000 people from legacy…14 Jan 2019HANSARD Universal CreditOn 6 January, it was reported in The Observer that the Government had—14 Jan 2019HANSARD Universal Credit: Managed Migration(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make a statement on the Government’s plans for the managed migration of people claiming legacy…08 Jan 2019