Welfare Reform Bill

I, too, support the amendment. It seems to me that it has enormous advantages. First, if it were suitably drafted, and the claimants’ charter were sufficiently well drafted, it could help to avoid the dangers that might confront not very clever claimants or claimants with not very good English. Such a charter could provide them with a clear picture of what will happen, what their rights are and who is available to help them. It might also have an important role to play in the image that jobcentres project. I expect that the Committee will remember what we used to think about traffic wardens—little Hitlers. There is a very real danger that jobcentres could gain such an image. That difficulty could be avoided with a suitably designed charter.