Contributions
1,125 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is asking specifically about carer’s allowance or about other benefits, but if benefits have been overpaid, the Department has an…11 Nov 2024HANSARDDiscrimination against Disabled PeopleWe want a more inclusive society with less discrimination, and our election manifesto committed us to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all we do. As…09 Oct 2024HANSARDDiscrimination against Disabled PeopleI am delighted to congratulate Joseph, and I welcome my hon. Friend’s drawing his achievements to our attention. I spent an inspiring few days at the Paralympics in Paris not long…09 Oct 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsYes, we will. Accessibility is at the heart of the Government’s passenger-focused approach, and with a unified rail network, we will be able to meet accessibility needs more…09 Oct 2024HANSARDVulnerable People: Support into WorkWe are committed to supporting vulnerable customers into work. At jobcentres, for example, we can identify the support needed and signpost people to courses or organisations to…07 Oct 2024HANSARDVulnerable People: Support into WorkI very much welcome my hon. Friend’s positive report of the work in her local jobcentre. She highlights a major challenge behind a significant proportion of increased inactivity…07 Oct 2024HANSARDVulnerable People: Support into WorkThe hon. Gentleman draws my attention to a concerning development. My view is that we need more support for people with learning disabilities to get into work, not less. If he…07 Oct 2024HANSARDVulnerable People: Support into WorkI thank the hon. Lady for her welcome. I am looking forward to a meeting with Sir Robert later on this month, and we will be talking exactly about that matter.07 Oct 2024HANSARDVulnerable People: Support into WorkWe will be saying more and we will provide an update in the forthcoming “Getting Britain Working” White Paper. If the hon. Lady would like to drop me a line about the Special…07 Oct 2024HANSARDJobcentre Claimants: Travel CostsProvider guidance, which is published on gov.uk, makes clear that contractors on all our employment programmes must reimburse customers’ reasonable travel costs.07 Oct 2024HANSARDJobcentre Claimants: Travel CostsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. Performance is reviewed regularly and there are customer satisfaction surveys, but unlike the previous Government, this Government want to…07 Oct 2024HANSARDJobcentre Claimants: Travel CostsI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I am not familiar with the arrangements in Northern Ireland, but certainly in the rest of the UK it is very clear that contractors ideally…07 Oct 2024HANSARDCarer’s Allowance OverpaymentsThe work of unpaid carers is vital and often heroic, and we are determined to give them the support that they need. We are currently looking at options for tackling the problem of…07 Oct 2024HANSARDCarer’s Allowance OverpaymentsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I agree that we need to support carers properly. We want to get to the bottom of what has gone wrong with these overpayments and why so…07 Oct 2024HANSARDCarer’s Allowance OverpaymentsMy hon. Friend has written to me about this matter, and I welcome her commitment to making progress. In an excellent piece of work, the former Work and Pensions Committee made a…07 Oct 2024HANSARDCarer’s Allowance OverpaymentsI very much hope that we can, because the hon. Gentleman is right: there is a good deal of anxiety about these overpayment problems. We hope that the alert service will at least…07 Oct 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am not familiar with the report to which the hon. Member refers, but we committed in our manifesto to reviewing universal credit, nearly 15 years after it was first launched.…07 Oct 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend asks an extremely good question. The policy of the previous Government was to publish all such commissioned research reports within 12 weeks of receiving them. That…07 Oct 2024HANSARD Disabled People on Benefits: EHRC InvestigationDisabled people’s confidence in the Department is at a terribly low ebb. We were originally told that these negotiations would be concluded within a few months, but in fact, as…23 May 2024HANSARDWomen’s State Pension Age: Ombudsman ReportI agree that we need to get on and resolve this issue after a very long period. The ombudsman suggested a remedy based on level 4 of its severity of injustice scale, given the…16 May 2024