Welfare Reform Bill

I, too, support the amendment. I have tabled a later amendment in regard to people with fluctuating conditions and the training necessary to deal with them. I was horrified to hear the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, say that there would be three days’ training. I told the Committee last week that I worked in the Ministry of Pensions 50 years ago. I had six weeks’ training, and things were much less complicated in those days. I therefore hope that the noble Lord is wrong. I am particularly concerned about the over-50s. On Friday, there was a little article in the Telegraph which stated: ""White-collar professionals have been hit hard by the recession … the number of managers and professionals claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance jumped by 154 per cent"—" I do not have dates— ""while for skilled trade workers the increase was 77 per cent"." These are big numbers—118,700 managerial people and 589,000 skilled trade workers. That is a lot of people to cater for. The noble Lord’s correspondence of last week showed that advisers will spend a lot of time with each client, but how will jobcentres cater for these increases in unemployed professionals, let alone unskilled workers? I am very seriously concerned about that and I expressed these concerns at Second Reading.