Welfare Reform Bill

Yes, my Lords, indeed we are, on a whole range of provisions. I remember that when we dealt with the child maintenance Bill, rather than the Welfare Reform Bill, the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, in particular was diligent in ensuring that we were well aware of the differences in the Scottish legal system. The noble Baroness, Lady Murphy, asked about the research showing that sanctions for IB and JSA claimants work. Yes, our independent research shows that a mandatory work-focused interview regime backed by sanctions has a positive impact on the employment rates of customers. That conditionality changes behaviour. On joint birth registration, we heard a range of views. Most noble Lords were supportive, including the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, and I welcome that. My noble friend Lady Kennedy asked about victims of domestic violence and how they would be treated under these arrangements. I understand that registrars are already trained to spot signs of a forced marriage, to ensure that women are made aware of relevant support services and to seek to identify where there has been violence against women. We will be working with the General Register Office and linking into the consultation on violence against women and girls to explore how registrars could, as with forced marriage, help to ensure that victims can access appropriate support services. I would like to pick up the point touched on by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor. If the women and/or the child suffer violence or threats, then policing via the birth registration system is not the right way. It is a matter for the courts because obviously there is a broader issue. However, I will certainly reflect on that point and hope that we will have a chance to discuss it in Committee. A number of noble Lords spoke on the issues around mental health and learning disabilities. The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, spoke about the importance of strong safeguards before sanctions are imposed. I absolutely agree. We need to make sure that they are there. The noble Baroness, Lady Murphy, talked about training and I will come on to that in a moment. We will monitor contracts to make sure that we get the outcomes we want. The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, referred to the Sainsbury Centre report. He said that it is due soon and I look forward to it. He spoke powerfully and knowledgeably about people in prison and about double jeopardy and the challenges faced by those people. I believe we are focused on that but we will have a chance to delve into that in Committee. So far as training on mental health is concerned, an important part of personal adviser training is awareness of working with people with disabilities. We have added specific training on mental health and the barriers faced by people suffering from these conditions. While advisers cannot all be experts on the subject, they have a good base knowledge and can draw on a range of tools and guidance plus the advice of more specialist advisers and work psychologists. I think it was the noble Baroness, Lady Murphy, who said that the reaction of staff in Jobcentre Plus was not always what she would want and clearly we need to make sure that there is consistency across the piece on this. The noble Lord, Lord Rix, spoke with great knowledge about people with learning disabilities. We acknowledge that that group has not moved closer to the labour market. Of all the groups that we have sought to help through our programmes it is probably people with learning disabilities who are the furthest away and have made the least progress. That is why in April last year we published a series of public service agreements which recognised the very low employment rates of people with a moderate to severe learning disability. Earlier this year we announced our intention to publish a cross-government employment strategy for people with learning disabilities. The noble Lord asked if we would propose amendments to make sure that there is proper monitoring of the outcomes of the arrangements for people with learning disabilities. We would not actually need primary legislation to do that. Again, it is important that we make sure that there is proper monitoring so that we get the outcomes we want. The access to work programme is already well used by people with learning disabilities, including communicator support at interview, special aids and equipment and support work, including job coaching and travel to work. The noble Lord asked whether we will evaluate the progress to work pathfinders. We are breaking new ground in this area; there is limited experience, even in Scandinavia, so it is important to learn from our own experience as well as from that of others. My noble friend Lady Wilkins asked about a customers’ charter. We are committed to this and developing with stakeholders, but we do not think that statute is the right place to provide for that. Indeed, the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions hosted a seminar a few weeks ago on that very issue. The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, asked what safeguards are in place to ensure that vulnerable customers are not sanctioned inappropriately. We will continue to ensure that each individual’s circumstances are carefully considered before imposing any sanction and to maintain the safeguards already in place to prevent the unfair use of sanctions. The new work-focused, health-related assessment will help the adviser better to understand the challenges facing the customer. The noble Countess, Lady Mar, asked how the system will work to assess people with fluctuating conditions. I know that she feels strongly about that issue and has raised it before. There will be circumstances where mandatory intervention is clearly inappropriate. Those with the most severe disabling conditions will be in the support group and personal advisers will have the ability to defer work-focused interviews where a person is clearly not able to attend or to take part effectively. That will be particularly useful with regard to conditions such as MS which fluctuates in its effects. It is part of the standard safeguards that the personal adviser will consider in the context of each work-focused interview and whether the interview should be waived or deferred. My noble friend Lady Kennedy asked about easements for parents who have experienced domestic violence. Jobcentre Plus advisers now have additional discretion in these circumstances to treat a lone parent as being available for work and therefore meeting the JSA requirement for up to a maximum of eight weeks continually. This period counts as one of four permitted periods when the lone parent may be treated as available for work. For lone parents claiming income support, there is currently no requirement for the individual to be actively seeking and available for work. In the discussion document, Realising Potential: Developing Personalised Conditionality and Support, which we published on 28 January, we set out that part of the requirements for parents with younger children in the pathfinder areas will require lone parents with a youngish child aged three to six to work closely with their adviser and design their own route back to work. When considering what actions are appropriate for a parent the adviser will always consider the parent’s individual circumstances and will obviously include where domestic violence has been experienced.