Helping people back into work benefits all

Lib Dems support a move to get more people off incapacity benefit and into work but the Government have to ensure that such a scheme is properly supported.

Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat Dept for Work and Pensions spokesperson

Speech in the House of Commons

Debate on incapacity benefits

Monday 24th July 2006

[NB. This is an edited version of Danny Alexander's speech. To read the full speech, including interventions, click here.]

Debate on this subject has been delayed for far too long. The fact that more than 2.5 million people remain on incapacity benefit is unacceptable, and it is a disgrace that that group has been so long neglected by Governments of both parties.

The Minister will be pleased to hear that we strongly agree with the principles behind this reform - principally, that society should play a much more active role in enabling the sick and disabled to take the opportunities afforded by participation in the labour market. That objective is vital not only for the individuals concerned but for society as a whole. As has been said, work is the best route out of poverty, and we all benefit, as a society, from higher levels of economic activity.

While supporting the principle of welfare reform and many of the measures in the Welfare Reform Bill, we are concerned because the Government's proposals are short on detail, because there is a shortage of funding in some respects, and because they rely for delivery on a Department that is under massive pressure. Liberals have long believed that freedom is curtailed by poverty and disadvantage. Sir Menzies Campbell has again made tackling poverty a top priority for Liberal Democrats. Welfare reform is central to that objective.

The voluntary and private sectors can be highly successful in getting people back to work. In some ways and some places, they have been more successful than Jobcentre Plus. I highlight the work of the SHIRLIE project in Inverness, in my constituency. It helps especially those with learning disabilities back to work. The working neighbourhoods project in Parkhead in Glasgow has received several visits from politicians, but has also been successful in targeting not only those on incapacity benefit but a range of disadvantaged groups, through one joined-up project.

However, it is important to ask how the experience of the voluntary sector will be used throughout the country. The current plan is a bit of a dog's breakfast, with Jobcentre Plus delivering 40 per cent. of provision and the voluntary and private sectors being used for the remaining 60 per cent. If the voluntary sector is as effective as the Government say it is - we agree about that - why will their expertise not be on offer throughout the country?

I want to turn now to the conditionality arrangements in the Bill. The principle of responsibility is an essential part of liberalism. Provided that comprehensive support is available to help individuals to get back to work, and appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the most vulnerable, the idea that people should take responsibility for engaging with the available support is one that we encourage. Indeed, it must surely be a central objective of policy to reach a position where disabled people are supported to the extent that they can play their role as full and active citizens, with all the rights and responsibilities that that entails.

The Government should use the Bill as an opportunity to invest in the promotion of the access to work scheme, particularly to small businesses, and to make changes to the way in which access to work decisions are made, so that people will know their access to work entitlements before they approach an employer. Also, I hope that the Minister will review the decision to remove the access to work scheme from central Government Departments. The DWP's poor performance in employing disabled people sets a bad example.

The proposed local housing allowance has some positive features, but the evaluation has shown that although some benefits have emerged, there have been fewer than had been hoped. The Bill provides welcome simplification of the process of obtaining extended payments when a claimant enters work or has a significant rise in income. The Liberal Democrats welcome the steps to encourage greater financial responsibility. I am pleased that the worries about increases in rent arrears - which the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) mentioned - and about evictions have so far not been realised in the pilots.

The Liberal Democrats have always opposed the single room rent, as did the present Secretary of State, and the Prime Minister, when the Conservative party introduced it. It will continue under this Bill, however, in a slightly different form - the shared room rate. While the shared room rate is slightly more generous, the basic unfairness and large rent shortfalls will continue. We will introduce amendments to scrap it, which we hope will have the support of all those who voted against the single room rent when it was introduced in 1996.

The objective of the Bill is to help more people off incapacity benefit and into work. We support that objective. I hope that the Bill will receive its Second Reading, so that it can proceed to Committee and the issues and flaws that I have identified can be addressed. We will work constructively to improve the Bill. Whether we support it when it returns to the Floor of the House, however, will depend entirely on the extent to which Ministers are willing to listen to the many concerns that exist both in the House and outside.