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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

Paul Rowen

68

Page  43,  line  13,  leave out Clause 40.

Paul Rowen

72

Page  87,  line  20,  leave out Schedule 5.

Paul Rowen

69

Page  47,  line  22,  leave out Clause 41.

Mr James Clappison

Mr Mark Harper

Mr John Baron

83

Clause  43,  page  49,  leave out line 8.

Mr James Clappison

Mr Mark Harper

Mr John Baron

36

Schedule  6,  page  91,  line  42,  leave out paragraph (d).

Mr James Clappison

Mr Mark Harper

Mr John Baron

37

Schedule  6,  page  91,  line  46,  leave out ‘reason’ and insert ‘reasonable grounds’.

Paul Rowen

105

Schedule  6,  page  91,  line  47,  after ‘child’, insert ‘or other children living with her’.

Paul Rowen

103

Schedule  6,  page  94,  line  2,  at end insert—

‘(c)	where the mother acknowledges the person as the father of the child, but

has reason to fear for her safety or that of the child if the father were to

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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

acquire responsibility by virtue of section 4(1)(a) of the Children Act

1989’.

Mr James Clappison

Mr Mark Harper

Mr John Baron

38

Schedule  6,  page  94,  line  19,  leave out subsection (3).

Paul Rowen

104

Schedule  6,  page  98,  line  19,  at end insert—

‘(8)	This section does not apply where the mother acknowledges the person as the

father of the child, but has reason to fear for her safety or that of the child if the

father were to acquire parental responsibility by virtue of section 4(1)(a) of the

Children Act 1989’.

Tony McNulty

114

Schedule  6,  page  98,  line  40,  leave out from ‘child’ to end of line 41 and insert—

‘( )	where the alleged father acknowledges that he is the father of the child,

require the alleged father to give prescribed information to the registrar,

and

( )	where the alleged father gives that information to the registrar,’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment relates to the process for re-registering a birth to include the father’s details.

Where a man acknowledges to the registrar that he is the child’s father, it ensures that he can be

required to provide the registrar with the information needed to re-register the birth.

New ClauseS

Ambit of appeals under section 20 of the 1991 Act

Mr James Clappison

Mr Mark Harper

Mr John Baron

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	Section 20 of the Child Support Act 1991 (c. 48) (appeals to appeal tribunals) is

amended as follows.

(2)	Subsection 7(b) (appeal tribunals not to take into account any circumstances not

obtaining at the time when the Secretary of State made the decision or imposed

the requirement) is omitted.’.

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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

Disability living allowance: mobility component

John Robertson

Paul Rowen

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	Section 73 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (c. 4) (the

mobility component) is amended as follows.

(2)	In subsection (1), after paragraph (b) insert—

“(ba)

he falls within subsection (2A); or”.

(3)	In subsection (1A)(a), after “(b)”, insert “, (ba)”.

(4)	After subsection (2), insert—

“(2A)

A person falls within this subsection if—

(a)	he is blind; and

(b)	he satisfies such other conditions as may be prescribed.”.

(5)	In subsection (5), after “(2)(a)”, insert “or subsection (2A)(a)”.

(6)	In subsection (11)(a), after “(b)”, insert “, (ba)”.’.

Review of carers’ benefits

Paul Rowen

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Secretary of State must undertake a review of the benefits to which carers are

entitled, reporting to Parliament on the outcome of this review no later than six

months after the Welfare Reform Bill receives Royal Assent.

(2)	The Secretary of State must involve carers in this review and must publish a

report on the findings of the review.’.

Devolution to local authorities and groups of local authorities

Paul Rowen

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Secretary of State may by Regulations—

(a)	allow local authorites or groups of local authorities to exercise his

functions under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973

where they seek the full responsiblity to assume these functions.

(b)	provide local authorities or groups of local authorities with the funding

and authority to vary these programmes to meet local need.

(2)	The Secretary of State shall consult with and have regard to the view of local

authorities or groups of local authorities on the exercise of his functions under

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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 including the contracting out

of employment support and the information relating to all aspects of the

perfomance of employment programmes in the area.’.

Entitlement to tailored employment and career support

Mr James Clappison

Mr Mark Harper

Mr John Baron

NC5

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	All new ESA claimants and existing Incapacity Benefit claimants who are

migrated to ESA, who have a diagnosed mental health problem which impacts on

their ability to undertake work, will be entitled to an assessment carried out by,

or linked to, Access to Work to determine what reasonable adjustments may

improve the likelihood of retention should they find employment. This

assessment must be carried out before the claimant may be compelled to

undertake any compulsory work-related activity.

(2)	The assessment will include evidence gathering from agencies responsible for a

person’s employment support and for the provision of health services where

appropriate and must include at least one interview with the claimant themselves.

(3)	Any reasonable adjustments, recommended by the assessment, will be funded

through Access to Work and will be available to any employer wishing to employ

the claimant. Available funding for reasonable adjustments will be

communicated to employers by a claimant’s employment adviser and will be

transferable to a new employer in the event that the claimant moves jobs or

employers.

(4)	The assessment will be reviewed regularly and/or when the claimant moves jobs

or employers to identify any changes to the adjustments required by the

claimant.’.

Mininum income level for persons subject to sanctions

John Mason

NC6

To move the following Clause:—

‘Regulations made by the Secretary of State shall set minimum income figures

per week which no individual or family in receipt of benefits, and subject to any

sanction under this Act, is permitted to fall below following the imposition of any

sanctions.’.

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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

Implementation of sanctions in relation to income

John Mason

NC7

To move the following Clause:—

‘External providers and jobcentres shall not apply sanctions under this Act when

the job offered to a claimant provides a lower income than that provided by

unemployment benefits.’.

Means inquiry before sanctions imposed

John Mason

NC8

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	In any case where regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act or

other powers contain provisions for the imposition of sanctions resulting in the

loss or reduction of any sum in benefit, the regulations shall contain a duty that

before any sanction is imposed—

(a)	a means inquiry is conducted as to the means of the person on the day;

(b)	regard shall be had to the welfare of any person residing with him;

(c)	regard shall be had to a medical report as to his/her physical and mental

well-being and any person residing with him/her;

(d)	any sanction resulting in loss or reduction of benefit will be reasonable in

the circumstances;

(e)	regard shall be had to the impact of any deduction on the ability of the

person to pay costs in respect of the accommodation which he/she may

occupy.

(2)	Following consideration of the matters prescribed in paragraph (1) the decision

maker shall then determine whether the income remaining to the person who will

be subject to the sanction falls below the minimum figure for income in one week

which is set by the Secretary of State.

(3)	If any sanction is imposed following the inquiries in (1) above of any sanction,

the decision-maker shall ensure that no person will be left either with a total

income which is either below the minimum figure for income set by the Secretary

of State or in any other case is no more than two thirds of the amount in benefit

payable to the person in any one week during which it is proposed that the

sanction shall operate, unless the relevant amount of benefit payable in any one

week is £5.00 or below.

(4)	Where the means inquiry establishes that a person is already subject to deductions

from benefit which but for the effect of this subsection would result in the amount

of benefit available to the person in any one week falling below the amount set

by the Secretary of State, the imposition of any deduction shall be suspended.

(5)	Any regulations made by the Secretary of State permitting or allowing any

sanction resulting in loss or reduction of benefit to any person shall be subject to

a right of appeal.

(6)	Any person affected by a sanction imposed may appeal to the Secretary of State

for a variation of the amount, provided that no variation however occasioned shall

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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

as a result leave the person with less than the sum prescribed in regulations under

paragraph 2.’.

Grandparents national insurance credit

John Robertson

NC9

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (c. 4) is amended as

follows.

(2)	In section 23A(3)(c) (Contributions credits for relevant parents and carers), after

first “in”, insert “unpaid care for 20 hours in that week or more of a grandchild

under the age of 12 or of an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner,

or (d) otherwise in”.’.

Claimants’ Charter and Employment Services Ombudsman

Paul Rowen

NC11

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	Regulations under this section shall make provision for the extension of the

powers of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman under the

Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (c. 13) to administer disputes between

claimants and bodies exercising powers under this Act, with particular reference

to the Claimants’ Charter as under subsection (2) below.

(2)	Regulations under this section shall make provision for a Claimants’ Charter to

set out the rights and duties of Claimants under the provisions of this Act.

(3)	Regulations under this section must, in particular, make provision for the

following—

(a)	a copy of the Charter must be given to each claimant upon initial contact

with providers exercising powers under this Act, together with

information concerning the independent employment services

ombudsman,

(b)	claimants not in employment should not be forced to live below the

poverty line which shall be defined in further Regulations under this

section,

(c)	claimants must be treated with dignity and respect by all providers

exercising powers under this Act,

(d)	claimants must not be subject to degrading or discriminatory treatment in

all of their interactions with providers exercising powers under this Act,

(e)	following initial contact with providers exercising powers under this Act

claimants must be fully informed of, and provided with written

confirmation of, the conditions of their benefit claim in addition to the

consequences of failing to meet those conditions,

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Welfare Reform Bill, continued

(f)	provision of services by providers exercising powers under this Act must

be timely and accurate,

(g)	monitoring of claims by claimants under this Act shall be available via

telephone services free of charge, if claimants have difficulties using

telephone services they must be entitled to face-to-face services,

(h)	claimants must have an opportunity to appeal against any decision under

this Act leading to a reduction in benefits; clear advice to this end must

be provided to the claimant before a sanction is applied,

(i)	claimants are entitled to high-quality, individually tailored support and

must be given access to services that will improve their ability to access

decent work, including education, training, condition management and

legal support in instances of employer discrimination,

(j)	claimants must be made aware of, and advised on, all of the support for

training, childcare and transport to interview costs they are entitled to by

providers exercising powers under this Act,

(k)	no claimant shall be required to participate in activity which would

otherwise be a condition of benefit entitlement under this Act if

appropriate childcare, or other reasonable support required to enable

participation, is not available,

(l)	no claimant shall be required to take part in an activity under this Act for

which it would be reasonable to expect payment, unless they are in

receipt of compensation for that activity in line with the National

Minimum Wage, and

(m)	claimants must be able to access free, independent and appropriate advice

in relation to all aspects of the Act.’.

Employment retention

John Robertson

NC12

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) is amended as follows.

(2)	After Part 8A there is inserted—

“Part 8B

Employment Retention

80J	Employment retention assessment

(1)	The Secretary of State shall make regulations—

(a)	entitling a disabled employee who satisfies specified conditions

to an employment retention assessment;

(b)	prescribing the nature of the employment retention assessment.

(2)	This assessment must be carried out by a health care professional

approved by the Secretary of State.

80K	Interpretation

For the purposes of this Part—

---

Revised 26 February 2009