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6.3 pm
Mr. Steve Webb (Northavon): I beg to move, To leave out from "That" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:
- "this House declines to give a Second Reading to a Bill which, while including measures which will reduce delays in, and increase the fairness of, the appeals process in social security and related areas,
- or which will reduce unnecessary public expenditure, will result in a slower appeals process, with more appeals being the subject of judicial review, will make the appeals process less fair, and will discourage lone parents from working and thereby increase public expenditure on benefits."
That, I am afraid, is the nature of the Bill: it is a leftover, a hand-me-down, something that must be got out of the way before the new Government can get on with their own priorities. I find it hard to believe that the new Labour Social Security Ministers, for whom I have a good deal of respect, would have chosen as their first Bill such a ragbag of measures.
Let us consider the Bill's main features. It introduces sweeping changes in the process of appeals in social security and child support. That process was the subject of a Green Paper and a so-called consultation exercise last summer and autumn. The previous Government had already implemented some of the Green Paper's proposals within two days of the end of the consultation; the Bill implements many more.
I hope that the Liberal Democrats will not be misunderstood: we welcome any measures that would streamline social security appeals and make them fairer, but we are far from convinced that the Bill will achieve that objective. We have fundamental reservations on the three grounds of fairness, speed and independence.
On fairness, several of the proposals seem to offend against the principles of natural justice. The first is the possibility that appeal panels may be headed by only a single decision maker, possibly without formal legal expertise. Given that even legal experts find the benefits system bewildering, that is a worrying development. Furthermore, what safeguards are in place to ensure that any prejudices of a single decision maker are not given free rein?
Unfairness may also result from the provision that requires appeal panels not to consider matters other than the specific subject of the appeal. That will mean that even when obvious errors or misjudgments are discovered during an appeal, as happens at present, the panel will have no right to amend them. That cannot be the mark of a fair system.
What about speed? Clearly, we would all welcome a swifter appeals process, and a few of the Bill's provisions could help with that, but for some claimants the Bill could slow the process down. Consider, for example, the Secretary of State's new power to delay the award of benefit to a successful claimant if a relevant test case is pending. How does that speed up the process of assessment?
Consider the possibility that the new appeals process may no longer be seen to be objective, fair and independent, especially as the chief adjudication officer's
position is to be abolished. According to the Law Society, a body that would presumably not normally object to such measures, the Bill could lead to an increase in the number of cases referred to judicial review. That is surely not a recipe for quick decision making.
We have grave misgivings about many of the proposed reforms of the appeals process.
Mr. Desmond Browne (Kilmarnock and Loudoun):
The hon. Gentleman refers to a provision in the Bill that he describes as requiring appeal panels not to consider any issue not raised in the appeal. I take it that he is referring to clause 13(7). In fact, that subsection does nothing of the kind that he suggests, although we have all been sent documents trying to persuade us that it does. The wording makes no such requirement.
Mr. Browne:
Does the hon. Gentleman accept that my intervention arose from his observation that there was a requirement? My reference was designed to point out that no such requirement existed. Does he accept that no such requirement exists?
Mr. Webb:
If the hon. Gentleman's interpretation of clause 13 is correct, I am happy to accept his point.
We have a range of objections to the principles of the Bill in relation to the appeals process, but our greatest reservations concern the provisions on backdating and benefit levels. On backdating, it is extraordinary that people with good cause for making a late claim will be entitled to backdate their claims by only one month, compared with the present 12 months for housing benefit and three months for many other benefits. The fact that someone has got by without benefit for more than a month is no proof that that person did not need the money.
In the case of housing benefit, a coping strategy may be to build up rent arrears until benefit comes through. Until the benefit system is perfect, that will continue to happen. If backdating of no more than one month is allowed, any longer-term arrears will go uncleared and claimants will run the risk of losing their homes. That could lead to increased, not reduced, costs to the public purse.
Most of all, we object to the provision to allow the Secretary of State to scrap the lone-parent addition to child benefit, a policy inherited from the previous Government. That flies in the face of statements by many Labour Members in opposition and of the direction of Government policy. For example, the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Bradley), told the House:
I recognise that the Government, as the Secretary of State said, have taken other measures to improve the child care options open to lone parents. They are welcome, but their total cost of about £200 million is significantly less than expenditure on the one-parent benefit that the Government plan to abolish. Taking money out of the pockets of working lone parents to pay for child care subsidies is an odd strategy for a Government committed to welfare to work.
Mr. Colin Burgon (Elmet):
I am grateful to be able to make my maiden speech on so important an issue as welfare reform, which is a key priority of the new Labour Government. Both Government and Opposition Members recognise that such reform is long overdue. All of us who are in touch with the public know that the social security system is regarded as complex, inefficient and unfair. We have all been involved with constituents who cannot make sense of decision making and appeals or who are frustrated with the repetitious and bureaucratic information-gathering process, and with staff who despair at translating the rules into reality for the people with whom they deal.
The Secretary of State is therefore to be congratulated on bringing forward measures that will make the social security system modern, efficient and fair: modern in the sense that, through better use of information technology, each claimant will have to give information only once; efficient in that the way in which decisions will be made will be simplified and the appeals system streamlined; and fair because loopholes will be closed to limit avoidance of the payment of national insurance contributions.
I especially welcome new criminal penalties for serious cases of deliberate evasion and fraud. I hope that all hon. Members recognise that we need to win public support for the new social security system. Without it, any welfare scheme is bound to fail. Every pound lost through fraud is a pound less for people in real need. The billions of pounds lost through fraud short-change the taxpayer, take resources from the most needy in our society and undermine confidence in and support for our welfare system. Labour Members believe that the welfare state should act as a springboard, not a safety net.
The Labour Government realise that social security should mean more than a system of benefits. We also believe that we must provide true security through employment, growth and better education. The Bill recognises those aims and should be regarded as an essential interlocking element in the raft of reforms that will help us to build a fairer, more dynamic and more cohesive society. That is why the Bill will be welcomed in my constituency of Elmet.
I must pause at that point because I have found since entering the House that I am always asked two questions: where is Elmet, and how did it get its name? It is not what you put on your 'ead. If there was cash for answers, I would be a wealthy man. I can tell interested parties that Elmet takes its name from the last Celtic kingdom in England. The constituency falls entirely within the boundaries of the great city of Leeds, in which I am proud to have been born. It lies on the eastern edge of Leeds and is, by any standards, a diverse constituency.
Created in 1983 by the boundary commission, which seemed determined to weld together what might appear to be disparate parts, the seat was, until May 1997, represented by one party and one hon. Member. Spencer Batiste, the Conservative Member for 14 years, had a special interest in science and technology, and was well respected in that sphere. Although he never held major office, he was a loyal supporter of his Government. With his legal background, he prided himself on his debating skills. I am sorry that we did not meet very often in that arena. He was a courteous opponent, given the nature of politics in Yorkshire, and I wish him good health and success in any activity that he undertakes outside the political sphere.
I have a confession to make. Mr. Batiste may have become tired of seeing and hearing my name over the years, for I fought the seat three times before being successful. Indeed, given my advancing years, some might say that May 1997 represented my last chance to enter the House. I am grateful to the voters of Elmet for combating agism and for finally recognising my worth before it was too late.
In all those difficult years, I had the good fortune to be sustained by true and trusty friends in Elmet Labour party, whom I thank for their support. To help people locate my constituency, I should like to thank the Members for the neighbouring constituencies, Geoff Lofthouse, and my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Mudie), who, along with their supporters, gave me so much help.
Some hon. Members use their maiden speeches to boost the tourism prospects of their constituencies. I advise a walk along the Leeds country way, which criss-crosses my constituency; people would soon realise how pleasant Elmet is.
Visitors to the northern part of my constituency will find the market town of Wetherby, through which the River Wharfe flows. Surrounding the town are some affluent villages, but this relative economic affluence causes one of the major problems in the area--the lack of affordable housing for young people who were born in the area but who can no longer afford to live there.
In the centre of the constituency is the Whinmoor ward--once represented by Denis Healey--which consists predominately of council houses built in the 1960s and 1970s surrounded by substantial private development. The core area of the ward has seen better times and, I hope, will experience those times anew under the Labour Government. The quality of housing and youth unemployment are the most important problems that the Labour Government will have to address, confront and remedy.
The southern end of the constituency is dominated by the town of Garforth, the largest centre of population in Elmet. It is a former mining village whose character has changed over the years as it has expanded, but it has not lost its work ethic in the process. The surrounding settlements of Micklefield, Kippax, Swillington, Methley and Allerton Bywater are villages that prospered and grew as a result of the coal industry and are now undergoing change. At the end of this week, I shall meet residents of Allerton Bywater to discuss the possible development of the colliery site, the last to close in the constituency. I am anxious that change should take place in the interests of local people, whose values and wishes must be respected. In a complex and changing world, we should all value a sense of identity and place and I hope that many in the House share that view.
The old coalfield area at the southern end of Elmet is the area from which I draw historical, political and sporting inspiration. I mention sport because my area is rugby league territory, and loyalties are split between Leeds and Castleford. It may interest the House to learn that, last week, I made my debut in what my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) calls "the people's game". The occasion was a match between the House of Commons and the under-16 Yorkshire rugby league team, held to publicise the fact that the team was anxious to raise money to enable it to visit South Africa to act as ambassadors for the sport. [Hon. Members: "Who won?"] I ignore the result at this stage. If the game had gone on for half an hour more, we would have won. One of the lads in the team was from Kippax in my constituency, so I was prevailed upon--I use the term advisedly--to play in the game.
One thing became clear during the game: I should stick to football, which I must admit is my first love. I therefore add with some pride that Elmet contains the training ground of Leeds United, the team I have supported since I was a boy. I wish my team well--as I am sure all hon. Members do--in the coming season and I hope that we can somehow rediscover our ability to put the ball in the opposition's net, thus giving Bryn Law, my favourite Radio Leeds sports commentator, something to shout about.
"an appeal tribunal need not consider any issue that is not raised by the appeal."
If that means that the tribunal may, but need not necessarily, consider such an issue, I am happy to accept what the hon. Gentleman says.
"one-parent benefit--because it is not means-tested--helps lone parents out of the poverty trap and into work."
Now he proposes to abolish it. In the same debate, the right hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury
(Mr. Smith), who then spoke for Labour on social security, said:
"One-parent benefit in particular is a key part of any benefit-to-work strategy because it is carried through when a lone parent takes work".
Similarly, the hon. Member for Newport, East (Mr. Howarth), who is now responsible for welfare-to-work policy, said:
"That policy of freezing one-parent benefit runs against any rational welfare-to-work strategy and will compound other labour market difficulties faced by lone parents."--[Official Report, 20 February 1996; Vol. 272, c. 205-58.]
Many other Labour Members said things in opposition that they would not wish to disown now that they are in government. It is clear that they understand only too well that the lone-parent addition to child benefit, which the Government propose to abolish, is a benefit only to working lone parents. For those on income support, it is deducted pound for pound and, for that reason, many parents on income support do not even bother to claim it. That weekly sum gives lone parents who have got themselves off welfare and into work, which is surely the Government's objective, a little more spending power to ensure that they are better off in work and have a little more cash to spend on child care or other costs of working.
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