Welfare Reform Bill

These amendments cover issues that are common to Clauses 2 and 4, which relate to the structure of the contributory allowance and the income-related allowance. The amendments would remove our ability to prescribe further conditions of entitlement to the work-related activity and support components. I stress that at present we have no specific intention to prescribe further conditions of entitlement, but the power to do so in the future is essential to enable us to respond to new developments and reflect changes in the light of operational experience in administering ESA. We need to have the flexibility to take account of wider societal changes in an appropriate way so that the benefit does not fail to serve our customers’ needs or the needs of the public purse. My colleague Jim Murphy, the Minister of State in another place, went back in Committee through some of the history of the past 10 to 15 years pointing out what had changed over that period. That is the environment in which the ESA will operate in the future. We need to have the flexibility to deal with that. Failure to respond to such changes could result in entitlementto the ESA components for customers for whom the benefit was not originally designed. Conversely, the benefit could be denied to those for whom we wish it to be available. However, we recognise the concerns raised bythe Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, and we accepted its recommendation that the regulations made under these powers should be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. I have tabled amendments to that effect for the purposes of this Committee. That will ensure that Parliament has the chance to debate appropriately any future use of these powers and it will also maintain the flexibility that we need to respond to future circumstances. I hope that that satisfies the noble Lord. Certainly the affirmative process for dealing with regulations should be a further comfort to him. It is not unusual to have such provisions in legislation of this kind.