Welfare Reform Bill

Amendment 4 simply takes out the word "designed" and replaces it with "personally tailored" so that new Section 17A(1) would read: ""Regulations may make provision for or in connection with imposing on claimants in prescribed circumstances a requirement to participate in schemes of any prescribed description that are personally tailored to assist them to obtain employment"." The purpose of the amendment is simple. It is to ensure that claimants would be required only to undertake "work for your benefit" schemes that were personally tailored to assist them to obtain employment, and would not be expected to take part in any old scheme, however unsuitable. The Minister will, I am sure, say that the word "designed" does the same thing, but it is in reality a long way from "personally tailored". In the other place, the then Minister—various Ministers have gone in the other place—stated that appropriate safeguards would be incorporated, presumably in regulations, to ensure that the work experience offered was suitable and relevant to an individual’s circumstances. In which case, why not put this undertaking in the Bill to allay the fears of many people that claimants will be placed in inappropriate, one-size-fits-all "work for your benefit" schemes? If we are to have this approach, we need to make sure that it will really help someone find a suitable job, and is not going to be looked on as some kind of punishment. I beg to move.