Welfare Reform Bill

These amendments would provide a cash amount for school meals and health costs within the universal credit award as opposed to the current system of passported benefits, which are often given as a benefit in kind. Clearly, I understand that to be by way of a probe rather than a specific direction. This is a very complex area and I think all of us in this Committee Room have agreed today what these problems are. Defining entitlement to passported benefits is the responsibility of several government departments and the devolved Administrations. Entitlement and the value of benefits can vary by county or by area. My department is taking a keen interest in the work under way to consider passported benefits across the piece. We are all agreed that people should receive support for school meals and health costs in a way that will not compromise the work incentives of universal credit. I wholeheartedly support the principle of underpinning enhanced work incentives as far as we possibly can and I can assure the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, that we are aiming to do that. I can also assure her that the value of passported benefits will not count against the benefit cap. As regards her specific question, things are getting rather hypothetical because there are a large number of options but, clearly, the current position is that they will not. The third question on which the noble Baroness wanted assurance was that the IT system will be able to deal with the passported benefits. Again, I can assure her that we are fully engaged with all government departments and the devolved Administrations to get that issue right. At our request, the Social Security Advisory Committee is undertaking a review of passported benefits and the way in which they interact with universal credit. On 6 October, we laid a Written Statement updating noble Lords on the progress of the review. Now that that phase of the work is complete, I look forward to receiving a comprehensive report from the committee in January next year. In advance of the committee's report, I do not want to discount any options. Clearly, passported benefits have wider objectives that may not always be best met through a financial payment. The provision of healthy meals to children who need them most and delivering effective access to health treatment must be given very careful consideration. Those issues have been raise right around the Committee today. My noble friend Lord Boswell and all noble Lords have concentrated on that issue. Clearly, if the SSAC looks at cash, one of the issues will be to ensure that the cash is spent where we want it to be spent; that is, on hot meals for children at a key time. I buy what noble Lords around the Committee are saying to me on that matter. The noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, and my noble friend Lady Thomas made the point that healthy school food can have positive benefits on the behaviour, health and well-being of children. Continuing to provide free school meals as a benefit in kind rather than as a financial payment holds considerable merit. However, probably of all the passported benefits, free school meals have the greatest interaction with work incentives. I am working closely with the Department for Education as we develop our options over the coming weeks and months. Health needs vary considerably. Some people need very few prescriptions and only routine dental checks, while others have complex or multiple conditions that may need support with a wide range of health costs. Existing arrangements where people are exempted from charges as they arise ensure that support is targeted where needed. However, we have again commissioned the Social Security Advisory Committee to provide us with a detailed independent assessment of the future of passported benefits across the board. It would be wrong of me to commit to one view prior to completion of its review. I was asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, to define the seasons of the year. Clearly, spring arrives after winter and before summer, and in the case of the review it will arrive before the end of April next year. On that basis, I urge the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.