Welfare Reform Bill

I am sure that the Minister wants the Committee to make progress. I have to confess that I am disappointed that we have not been able to get a quantification of the costs for the maintenance and support system to which the Minister referred. If I have understood what he said— I will read his words carefully tomorrow, as I am sure we all will, and I am grateful for his reply—it looks to me as if we are going to get to Report stage and the later stages not knowing what investment and what timescale we will be dealing with in terms of the proposed support systems in this new iteration of the Child Support Agency. We still do not know whether the families and relationships funding scheme from the Department for Education will be replaced in 2013. That involves a substantial sum of money, £30 million. If we do not get at least £30 million and then some, it could be construed as an effective cut. This is very important stuff. If we do not get some comfort in terms of what we can expect in the roll-out and the resources invested in a system which presumably will last for the foreseeable future, then I do not think that any of us can really be confident that this change in legislation will do the job that it sets out to do. Having said that, we will have other opportunities later on in other debates, and I am happy on that basis to beg leave to withdraw the amendment standing in my name. Amendment 113B withdrawn. Amendments 113C and 113D not moved. Amendment 113DA Moved by