Delivery, not tough talk, the test for welfare reform - Laws

Commenting ahead of today's Government announcements on welfare reform, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, David Laws MP said:

"These announcements on welfare reform are bizarrely timed - almost 10 years after Mr Blair came to power, and slap bang in the middle of an existing welfare reform bill.

"David Freud has produced more radical proposals in nine weeks than the Government has produced in over nine years. But we have heard a lot of this before. The Government will be judged on delivery and not just on more tough talk.

"Far too many British people are still not in employment - including a male employment rate which is 10% lower than it was in the mid 1970s. There are also 2.7 million people on incapacity benefits.

"We welcome the proposals to use the voluntary and private sector to help more people back into employment, but this must be properly financed, and include provisions to help those with serious problems such as low skills or mental health problems. The Layard proposals to provide proper condition management for those with depression should be implemented in full.

"The Government seems to be willing to spend billions on benefits to keep people in dependency, but it has so far failed totally to provide the money to support the existing reforms to incapacity benefit.

"We also welcome the proposals to bring the rules for lone parents more into line with those in other developed countries. It cannot be in the interests of children or parents to be out of the jobs market for 16 or even 20 years.

"But the Government will have to ensure that there is proper childcare provision, and that there are safeguards for parents of children whose disabilities make working impossible."