Welfare Reform Bill

I shall add a word or two about this important group of amendments and support the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher. I concur with her argument. I am not naturally disposed to putting things like this in a Bill, as it often constrains consideration, because people are shoe-horned into primary legislation, which can inhibit flexibility in practice. However, this is so important—and the addition of the two or three issues to which the noble Baroness alluded under Amendment 20 would enhance the confidence with which people approached this legislation, if the Government saw fit to accept it. I have a couple of operational and delivery-type questions around this area. Of course, the key person in the consideration of good cause is the decision-maker, but there is upstream and downstream activity from both these things. I know that decision-makers are serious professionals and experienced hands and are usually capable of carrying the weight of a decision of this importance. However, in the new regime, as far as I can see, service providers will take the initial decision to refer to a decision-maker. What will the process and guidance be, and what requirements in the contracts for service providers on training will be set out on this question about consideration of good cause? If there were proper provisions, guidance and requirements for training people before they started considering questions of the operation of good cause, that would be important to know. There is also, of course, the downstream activity of review through the independent tribunal process. That is well established and will, no doubt, come to decisions, as a matter of fact, in the fullness of time on questions about what is and is not a good cause. I am concerned about the Government sensitively monitoring those decisions when they start to flow, as that may well not be for some time. Then, if the balance of what we are all trying to achieve in this Bill is not delivered in practice as a result of those operational and delivery decisions, the Government should be prepared to look urgently at this again, and make appropriate adjustments. However, we have made a lot of progress and I acknowledge that the Government have been listening. We had a very good debate in Committee, and the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, has done well to achieve such progress. Speaking for myself, were she to push this to a vote I should happily follow her into the Lobby.