Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I am used to the Minister leaping up whenever I try to speak, so I was deferring to him. The noble Baroness, Lady Turner, is right to raise concerns about the categories of people who are left on income support. Most, as we understand it, will be carers, although there are some others. I am confident that the Government have put together detailed proposals for the timely migration of all these people. The noble Baroness’s Amendment 30 gives the Minister the opportunity to put that on the record, which will be valuable. I am not sure that Amendment 31, which the noble Baroness touched on, would in practice add much value. There would not seem to be a need for a detailed report by the Social Security Advisory Committee. Clause 7 is a mechanism by which the Secretary of State can abolish a redundant benefits structure once everyone currently on it has been migrated. I favour parliamentary oversight of this procedure but I do not see the need to add unnecessary delays and cost while reports are compiled to examine a benefit that is no longer in use.