Welfare Reform Bill

I support the proposal for bells and whistles so eloquently proposed by my constitutionally expert noble friend. She knows more about procedure in this place than anyone else I know. I want to make a very simple point. There is a lot of scepticism—I guess that that is the best word—outside this place about exactly how the whole Bill is going to work. The Minister has been doing well so far in providing some reassurance by giving us careful statements from the Dispatch Box on behalf of the Government, which is all very useful. However, it would go a long way to increase people’s confidence if they knew that there were no hidden agendas and that this was not workfare by the back door and so on. That is all floating around in the pressure groups and communities that seek to serve the Members of this Committee and generally do so very well. If the Government said, "Yes, we will adopt the 60-day period. We will look carefully at the research work, the resolutions, Select Committee reports and other things", that would cost the Government next to nothing but it would send a very strong signal to people who are watching the proceedings of this Grand Committee rather closely that the Government have nothing to hide.