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Benefit Fraud

3. Mr. Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire) (Con): What his most recent assessment is of the level of benefit fraud. [181889]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): We are winning the war against benefit fraud. Since 1997, we have reduced fraud in the two main working age benefits by 38 per cent., which is equivalent to £280 million. We are now in the middle of our latest "Targeting Fraud" advertising campaign, and we have just launched a new series of hard-hitting radio adverts. I am confident that that will help us to meet our challenging target of a reduction in fraud and error of 50 per cent. by 2006.

Mr. Luff: I am glad that the Government think that they are winning their war on benefit fraud—we all want them to do so—but at what cost is that war being won? May I read to the Secretary of State the comments of my constituent, Max Harper, about whom I wrote to the Minister for disabled people on 16 June? He says:

"I live in fear now that if I lift a camera I will be reported to the DWP and will lose benefit or worse."

He is a severely depressive individual whose only pleasure is photography. The combination of the abolition of the therapeutic work rule and the introduction of the permitted work rule and notional earnings rule has destroyed his life. Will the Government reconsider the way in which the rules work, and make sure that they work in favour of the mentally ill, whom the Government say they want to get back into work?

Mr. Pond: We are reviewing those rules. The hon. Gentleman will know that we do not seek to target individuals in those circumstances through our anti-fraud campaigns and new investigative measures. I am sure that he would agree, as do nine out of 10 of the British public, that tackling benefit fraud—I am talking about fraud—is extremely important. That is why so many of them are joining us in fighting fraud, and using
 
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the fraud hotline—0845 854440. I am sure that if the hon. Gentleman has any information about true fraudsters, he will give us a call.

Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend agree that a universal ID card could assist in the battle against benefit fraud? It might also help those with proper and legitimate claims to access services and benefits.

Mr. Pond: Yes, the Department supports the identity card proposals. We believe that it would help not only to root out identity fraud, for which we already have successful measures in place, but to make sure that in the longer term people who are entitled to benefits receive them. It might also improve take-up.

Disabled People

4. Vera Baird (Redcar) (Lab): What progress has been made in enabling disabled people to play a full and active role in society. [181890]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Eagle): Good progress is being made. By the end of this Parliament, the Government will have achieved the biggest improvement in civil rights for disabled people in the history of this country. We established the Disability Rights Commission to act as the official champion of disabled people. From 1   October, we will extend employment rights to 7   million additional jobs, in which 600,000 disabled people already work. The draft Disability Discrimination Bill will further improve the position.

More disabled people are now in work than ever before. In 1998, 43 per cent. of disabled people had a job: in 2003, the figure was 49 per cent.

Vera Baird : Outside the world of work, what impact does my hon. Friend imagine those changes, and the establishment of a commission for equality and human rights, are likely to have on the social lives of people such as my constituent, Jamie Hood, a tetraplegic young man who has had some difficulty in gaining access to a wide enough range of social facilities to suit his young age of 32? From time to time, he has become depressed because of that. I am sure my hon. Friend agrees that it is essential for disabled people to have lives as full as all the rest of us, in every way.

Maria Eagle: I strongly agree with my hon. and learned Friend, who works very hard on this issue, particularly in her new role as chairman of the all-party group on equalities.

I believe that the new commission for equality and human rights will lead the fight to turn rights into a reality for people such as my hon. and learned Friend's constituent. Provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the new Bill will guarantee access to goods and services, so that people such as my hon. and learned Friend's constituent have the chance not just to go to work but to access life in full, which is what we want them to be able to do.
 
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Mr. Julian Brazier (Canterbury) (Con): I have several disabled friends, including two former members of the Army who are wheelchair-borne, and I strongly endorse work on behalf of the disabled. Is it not a fact, however, that disability benefits have become a dumping ground for people who would otherwise be unemployed? Does the Minister accept claims by charities such as the Shaw Trust, which does excellent work placing disabled people, that approximately a third of those currently claiming disability benefits could be in the work force if they were given proper encouragement?

Maria Eagle: I believe that many people on incapacity benefit who in the past have been written off and deemed incapable of work can work, with the right support and help. That is why we are developing our pathways to work programme, which will help them in that way. It is also why we can say that 6 per cent. more disabled people are now in work—the greatest number ever. The Conservatives put 1.9 million extra people on to sickness and incapacity benefit; we have created 1.9 million extra jobs, and I think that the hon. Gentleman should welcome that.

Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen, South) (Lab): One way in which disabled people can get involved in society is by getting involved in voluntary work. A few years ago, Aberdeen Action on Disability was given a lottery grant to encourage voluntary work among disabled people. Will the Government consider piloting a similar arrangement to encourage disabled people to enter the volunteer work force, which might eventually lead them into full-time work?

Maria Eagle: My hon. Friend is right: volunteering can make an important difference to individuals who are trying to become more active in all kinds of ways. The Joint Committee considering the draft Disability Discrimination Bill has made recommendations in that regard, and we will respond to them within the time scale that the Committee has set.

Mr. Paul Goodman (Wycombe) (Con): The Minister has now mentioned the draft Disability Discrimination Bill three times, I think. As she will know, disabled people are seriously concerned about its future. Many of them believe that if it is not introduced in the current Session, it will not reach the statute book. The Joint Committee's report, signed by six of the Minister's colleagues, states:

"We believe that the full Bill should be introduced this Session."

Will the Minister guarantee today that it will be?

Maria Eagle: We will respond to the Committee's report within the time scale set by the Committee. We will also ensure that we fulfil our manifesto commitment to see the Bill on to the statute book during the current Parliament. The hon. Gentleman should not make the mistake of assuming that we are like his party, which spent 16 years trying to stop disability civil rights. We will fulfil our commitment, and we will do so during this Parliament.
 
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Pensions

7. John Robertson (Glasgow, Anniesland) (Lab): What plans he has to protect the pension rights of workers transferred from one employer to another. [181893]

The Minister for Pensions (Malcolm Wicks): Measures in the Pensions Bill will protect the pension rights of employees where there is a TUPE transfer. No longer will employees who have access to an occupational pension scheme with employer contributions risk losing their benefit when a transfer occurs. Our Bill will ensure a decent level of pension provision by their new employer.

John Robertson: I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. During consideration of the Pensions Bill, he expressed concern that obliging transferee employers to provide pension schemes broadly comparable to existing ones could encourage such employers to pull out of pension provision altogether. On the basis of what advice and evidence does he make that assessment, and does he believe that it constitutes the right balance between giving flexibility to business and providing genuine and worthwhile protection to employees on the transfer of an undertaking?

Malcolm Wicks: We wanted to get the balance right because often it is in the interests of a company and its work force that the work force be transferred to another company. We require the new employer to provide transferred employees with a defined benefit occupational pension, or a defined contribution pension with a matched employee-employer contribution of up to 6 per cent., or a stakeholder pension with a matched contribution of up to 6 per cent. That provides a decent minimum standard for such employees.

Mr. Bill Tynan (Hamilton, South) (Lab): My hon. Friend will recognise that sometimes employees transfer to inferior schemes. Will he support re-examining compulsion—whereby the employer has to put in 10 per cent. and the employee 5 per cent., for example—to ensure that we create an occupational pension scheme that is fair to all in the event of a transfer?

Malcolm Wicks: We will look at the more general question of a voluntary-versus-compulsory approach when we receive the advice of Adair Turner's Pensions Commission. The Government are committed to a voluntary approach, which has many advantages. However, it is right and proper that the Government—a Labour Government—have for the first time legislated to give private-to-private transferred employees a decent minimum pension standard. As my hon. Friends the Members for Glasgow, Anniesland (John Robertson) and for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan) know, in the light of the good service that they have provided on the Pensions Bill Standing Committee, that is what we intend to do.

Kevin Brennan (Cardiff, West) (Lab): Last week, my hon. Friend published some details on those who have lost their pensions rights through insolvency and who may be entitled to make use of the financial assistance
 
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scheme. He said that the scheme's generosity will be affected by a number of factors, including whether there is funding from industry. What progress has been made in persuading industry to contribute to the scheme?

Malcolm Wicks: As the House knows, we have decided that £400 million of public money should be provided for the assistance scheme. That was the right thing for the Government to do because, apart from the justice of the case, we have an interest in restoring confidence in pensions, as does the pensions industry. We have written to a number of organisations and we will soon have meetings. I very much hope that the industry will make its contribution to the assistance scheme.

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