Welfare Reform Bill

This amendment is welcome in that it gives us a chance to talk about the need for work-focused interviews, which seems slightly obscure for lone parents who have a very young child. However, this highlights the complexity of the rules in Jobcentre Plus and the fact that there is obviously much disparity around the country about how the rules are worked out. Obviously, there is guidance for Jobcentre Plus personal advisers about work-focused interviews, but we have just heard about someone who could not get to a group work-focused interview and was told that there was no flexibility. That is disturbing because they should have been told that if they made another appointment they could have a one-to-one work-focused interview in the afternoon. However, they were not told that but just that there was no flexibility. We come back to this leitmotiv which has been running through the whole Grand Committee about the training of Jobcentre Plus staff and the guidance issued to them. This shows that the guidance needs to be thoroughly overhauled.