Welfare Reform Bill

We agree that blurring work and work-related activity is very confusing. I think this was the noble Lord’s point. "Work for your benefit" is a tough slogan, whereas "work-related activity for your benefit" does not work nearly so well. If this is what is meant, we should know this. In the Peers’ information pack about the Bill, we see the sentence: ""Customers will be required to take part in full-time activity for up to 6 months"." Full-time activity is a new phrase. It would be nice to know what it means. It might be the right time to bring up another matter. Will the Minister answer a question that I asked at Second Reading? Will he say whether a claimant could be required to work full-time for six months at the JSA rate? I did not receive an answer from him at that point, but it would be useful to know whether that could happen or was very unlikely to happen. While we are on this subject, the Peers’ information pack raises another matter: personal advisers are to be allowed the flexibility to refer claimants earlier than at the two-year point if they feel that this would be beneficial for the claimant. I assume that these claimants will be in the pilot areas only. Will this be by mutual agreement, or will the adviser be able to issue a direction? The department seems to be moving the goal-posts at will, which makes scrutiny rather difficult.