Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I will speak first to Amendments 114B, 114C and 114D, which would require the Government to consult the commission on the development of child poverty strategy, and for the commission to provide advice to the Government on eradicating child poverty. We believe that unelected public bodies should be established only in cases where there is a clear need for their role to be carried out by an arm's-length body rather than within government. The new commission, with its remit to objectively assess government progress towards improving social mobility and reducing child poverty, is just such a case. A commission established to provide advice is clearly not. There are already a variety of consultation mechanisms by which the Government can obtain independent advice on child poverty and social mobility policy. Indeed, the consultation on the current child poverty strategy received 280 responses. Moreover, it is a fundamental principle of this Government that Ministers are accountable for the policies and strategies they put forward. These amendments put this principle at risk. They offer a degree of scope for Ministers to shrug off responsibility for any lack of success of their strategy. Amendment 114E requires that the Government publish a response to each of the commission’s reports. By giving the commission the power to publish annual reports, we are actively ensuring that progress on social mobility and child poverty remains a priority for government. The legislation requires that the commission reports be laid before Parliament, providing the opportunity for parliamentary debate. Amendment 114F reintroduces the requirement from the original Child Poverty Act that the commission should have a particular balance of child poverty expertise. This requirement has been removed because it is clear that the new commission will require a different balance of expertise. It will monitor progress towards both reducing child poverty and improving social mobility, meeting the child poverty targets and implementing the child poverty strategy. I can assure you that Ministers are fully committed to creating a commission with the right combination of expertise. To ensure that this is the case, the recruitment process for all members of the commission, including the chair and the deputy chair, will be carried out in accordance with the code of practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Finally, Amendment 114G would give the commission the right to request Ministers to commission research on its behalf. It would also require Ministers to provide a reason if they decide not to meet the commission’s request. We do not believe that this provision is necessary. This is because the commission’s new role means that there will be no need for the commission to be able to access new research as it will not be responsible for developing new policy or strategy. Instead, the commission will produce annual progress reports, and we would expect the vast majority of the evidence needed to fulfil this role to already be available either in the public domain or from the Government. If the Government need more and need to access new research to fulfil their duties, the new legislation already enables Ministers to provide the commission with such resources, "““as the Minister may determine are required by the commission in the exercise of its functions””." The question of whether any new research is needed will be a matter for private dialogue between the commission and Ministers. This approach is absolutely appropriate for a public body. We believe that no family should be trapped in poverty and that all children regardless of background should have the opportunity to succeed in life. In the social mobility and child poverty strategies that we published earlier this year we set out our vision for a fairer society. To realise this vision we must ensure that the right accountability structures are in place. The Child Poverty Commission, established in law by the previous Government was an attempt to do that. We support it, and still support the concept of an arm’s-length body that can provide an external and independent challenge, but we do not believe that the commission, as provided for in current legislation, can adequately perform this role. That is why we are making the amendments, and I urge noble Lords to withdraw theirs. As I shall probably not talk for very much longer, I wish to thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this Grand Committee. I have been deeply impressed and I am grateful for the astonishing level of commitment, experience and sheer intellectual firepower that has been brought to bear in the 17 sittings. Some extraordinarily powerful speeches have been made—quite a few of them have made me think seriously on particular issues. If anyone asks me now what is the point of the House of Lords, I will tell them to read the Committee debates in Hansard and what we have been talking about in these past 17 sittings. Thank you all very much. I might even get you a drink.