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Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst): Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but he has used up his time. In view of the House's crowded schedule for the rest of the day, I must ask him to finish.
Mr. Kemp: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Let me simply say that carbon monoxide can come in many forms. I ask for the House's support.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Fraser Kemp, Mr. Alan W. Williams, Mrs. Llin Golding, Mr. Vernon Coaker, Mr. Neil Gerrard, Mr. Paul Keetch, Ms Jackie Lawrence, Mr. David Ruffley, Mr. John Swinney, Mr. Stephen Hepburn, Mr. Roy Beggs and Mr. John Cummings.
Mr. Fraser Kemp accordingly presented a Bill: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 16 April, and to be printed [Bill 49].
[Relevant documents: The Fifth Report from the Social Security Committee, Session 1997-98, on Pensions on Divorce (HC 869) and the Government's Response thereto (HC 146 of Session 1998-99.]
Order for Second Reading read.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst):
I should inform the House that Madam Speaker has selected the amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition, and that Madam Speaker has imposed a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches.
The Secretary of State for Social Security (Mr. Alistair Darling):
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
The Bill marks another step in our modernisation of the welfare state to ensure that it can meet the needs of the next 50 years. Across Government, we are taking action to tackle the causes of social and economic failure. We are investing £40 billion extra in health and education, reforming the tax and benefit system to make work pay and tackling the scandal of poverty pay with the first ever national minimum wage. We are also helping 6.5 million families with the biggest ever rise in child benefit. In short, we are taking action today to deal with immediate problems, but our central objective is to confront the causes of social and economic failure in the future.
In this last year of the 20th century--50 years after the start of the welfare state--it is a scandal that a child can still be born poor, live poor and then die poor. We are tackling the poverty of expectation that leaves a generation of children expecting nothing better for themselves than a lifetime on benefit. We know too well the effect that years of unemployment can have on individuals. It demoralises them, and it is debilitating. That is why we need a radical change in culture, both for individuals and for Government. We are tackling the poverty of opportunity that allows people to be written off, or, sometimes, to write themselves off.
The Bill is an essential part of our strategy. Benefits alone cannot tackle this failure. It is easy for the Government to send out a giro, but a giro will not get anyone a job, or improve their skills. Benefits can, of course, treat the symptoms of poverty, but they cannot tackle its causes. Complacency--an acceptance of social and economic failure as part of the natural order of things--would be a betrayal of the generations that follow us. We are determined to act, to make a difference and to be judged on our actions.
Today, we take reform a step further in four key areas. It may be helpful to the House if I set out how I intend to deal with the Bill.
First, we are introducing a radical package of measures to keep people in touch with the labour market, including the single gateway and the new employment zones. Secondly, we are modernising disability benefits so that they will provide more help for disabled people in greatest need, as well as providing opportunities for disabled people who want to work.
Thirdly, we are modernising and extending entitlement to bereavement benefits to help families with children who need it most. Fourthly, we are starting the process of pension reform, to ensure that the system provides security in retirement for future pensioners and allows pension sharing on divorce.
In addition, the Bill provides for a number of other measures, including a new housing benefit pilot and a power to incur expenditure to enable my Department to acquire the information technology equipment that it will need if it is to deliver a modern service and to undertake preparatory work for the possible introduction of the euro, as outlined by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister earlier this afternoon.
Mr. Jonathan Shaw (Chatham and Aylesford):
My right hon. Friend mentioned the single gateway, which has been received by constituents whom I have consulted and representative groups in my area with considerable enthusiasm. Will people with disabilities who attend the interviews be treated with dignity and respect, so that we do not have a repeat of the approach taken under the Tory benefit integrity project? Can he also give an assurance that the staff doing the interviews will be properly trained?
Mr. Darling:
Yes. Lest my hon. Friend and others thought that I had finished with the Bill, having gone through the four main points, and was going to talk about the euro for the rest of the afternoon--no matter how tempting that would be because of the reaction of Conservative Members--I was about to turn to the single gateway. I will deal with the points that he raised and, if I miss any of them out, I will certainly give way.
However, I do not want to be denied my pleasure on the subject of the euro. One final point is that preparation for it and the delivery of a host of other measures within the Department clearly will depend on our having the IT equipment. The reform of child support, which will come forward in the next year or so, the single gateway and so forth will all require new IT equipment. At this stage, I will merely say of the clause that not only is Treasury approval required before detailed work is undertaken, but expenditure can be undertaken only if approved by the House.
Mr. Clifford Forsythe (South Antrim):
Will the Secretary of State give way?
Mr. Darling:
I promise the hon. Gentleman that I will deal with the rest of the Bill, but if he wishes to intervene on this point, I will certainly give way.
Mr. Forsythe:
It is an important point for Northern Ireland. Does the Bill in its entirety extend to Northern Ireland?
Mr. Darling:
The hon. Gentleman will see at the end of the Bill those parts that apply to Northern Ireland. He will also be aware that, as part of the Government's settlement following the Belfast agreement last year, it is
Mr. John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings):
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Darling:
Not at the moment.
Large parts of the Bill, excluding the single gateway, apply to Northern Ireland. Only certain parts of pension sharing on divorce, which I will deal with later, will apply there as family law in Northern Ireland is different from that in Scotland and in England and Wales.
I am conscious of the fact that a time limit has been imposed and that a large number of hon. Members want to speak, so I will deal with the single gateway, which is in many ways one of the most important features of the Bill. It reflects a radical change in approach and culture in the benefits system.
Clause 47 introduces the new single gateway for people of working age. As I said, far too many people are written off or have allowed themselves to be written off and have resigned themselves to a lifetime on benefit. Too many children are growing up in workless households and have come to expect nothing better for themselves. The Government need to tackle that poverty of expectation.
For example, the present system assumes that in many cases lone parents will stay on benefit for 16 years or longer. If a lone parent wants to work, she is on her own--without access to training, support or advice. The new deal takes a new approach. It provides active support not merely for lone parents, but for people with disabilities, as well as for the long-term and young unemployed. It is worth noting that more than 210,000 young people are already on the new deal and that 60,000 people, who would have been on the dole if we had not taken that action, are now in paid employment.
Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst):
What will happen if the lone parent refuses to work, or does not want to do so?
Mr. Darling:
One thing is clear: we will not compel lone parents to work--
Mr. Darling:
That should not be news to the right hon. Gentleman. He is in the House often enough, although he may not listen to what is said. We have made it abundantly clear that, as regards the gateway, everyone of working age coming through the benefits system will be required to attend an initial interview to be told their options. However, we have made it clear that lone parents and the disabled will not be compelled to take a job.
5.32 pm
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