Contributions
959 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my right hon. Friend for his helpful question and for all the work that he did while at the Department. He, like me, believes that work should always pay, and that we need…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutThe hon. Gentleman raises a pertinent point. I am looking at that very issue. I would be happy to meet him to discuss it further; it does concern me. On his first point, I will…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutMy hon. Friend raises a good point. When I speak to and visit jobcentres and work coaches, they always tell me that the one thing they want to change is reputation. While…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI do not recognise those statistics, or indeed the correlation. I do not know when the hon. Gentleman last visited his jobcentre, but I would strongly recommend he does so to…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutMy hon. Friend is right for all the reasons that he points out, but I would go further and say that it is the personal relationship with a work coach that makes it so very…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutUniversal credit is an evolving system and it is a relatively new system. I meet with stakeholders and Members from both sides of the House on a regular basis, and where there are…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my hon. Friend for that question and for his work on the Select Committee. He is right: help to claim, commissioned via the Department and run by Citizens Advice and…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI am a little confused, because my understanding is that those performance stats are indeed available. The Department has a very good record on payments and payment timeliness.…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my hon. Friend for his question and the constructive way in which he put it, but I must respectfully disagree with him. There is no five-week wait. People are able to…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutIt is a system based on arrears, not on advances, unlike the legacy benefit system. The hon. Gentleman knows that people are able to access an advance on day one repayable over 12…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my hon. Friend for that question, and I welcome her to her place and indeed to her position on the Select Committee. Most claimants will not notice any difference…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my hon. Friend for that question. He is absolutely right: it is a far better system than the previous legacy benefit system. We know it is working better at helping people…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI do not want anyone in our country to have no choice but to use or visit a food bank. I visit food banks regularly, and I want to get a clear understanding of food insecurity in…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my hon. Friend for his very helpful question and for his support of universal credit and his local jobcentre. I am full of praise for those staff working in the jobcentre…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI think I have already answered this question. Around 1 million disabled households will receive an average of £100 more per month under universal credit. Importantly, the…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutMy hon. Friend asks a pertinent question that was raised by six separate colleagues at oral questions only last week. I am looking closely at this area and intend to organise a…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI have huge respect for the hon. Lady, and I would be happy to visit her constituency to meet some of the organisations she references. It is important to state that nobody has to…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI thank my hon. Friend for that question and for his support for universal credit and, indeed, his local jobcentre. We believe that work should always pay, and we need a welfare…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI hope you recall, Mr Speaker, that I did make a full, frank and unreserved apology in this Chamber. As for the case that the hon. Lady raises, if she would like to write to me…04 Feb 2020HANSARDUniversal Credit: Delayed Roll-OutI can of course give that commitment, but I stress that this is a change in policy based on forecasts. Forecasts do change, and it is responsible of Ministers to look at them and…04 Feb 2020