Welfare Reform Bill

Let me make it clear: I do not object, in principle, to the issue of sanctions as I absolutely accept that without sanctions a lot of DWP proposals and initiatives become voluntary when they are meant to be statutory. I understand that. Can my noble friend tell me—I should know this, so forgive me—whether the Bill contains capacity through regulatory power to introduce a work-focused premium at a later stage by regulations as opposed to primary legislation? I understand the point my noble friend is making that at the moment he has no evidence to suggest that we need a work-focused interview premium let alone a work-related premium of £24 a week to add to the attractiveness for lone parents of coming into the programme and that, at the moment, he thinks that sanctions will be good enough because he has evidence that they work, to some degree, for lone parents failing to attend work-focused interviews at six-monthly intervals, but should he be proved erroneous, as is quite possible, and as there may be varying patterns in the country according to how far one lives from opportunities—a rural pathway may be very different from a city one with decent transport and so on—does the Bill contain the powers to introduce such premiums by regulation, whether on a piloted, regional or any other subset basis or would he have to come back for primary legislation? Can he assure me that there are powers by regulation and that as a result we will monitor this and see whether we need to introduce it? If so, I would be much more accepting of his position. If not, we may need to consider the matter.