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Welfare Reform Bill

I do not want to be left out of this welcome. It is a great pleasure. This is my first Committee, so I know how the noble Baroness feels. My question is not so much about qualifications and capability as quantity. We learnt from the pilots that we were dealing with people who were enthusiasts and converts; they were in key positions because they wanted to be. Some of the regions were chosen particularly because of the expertise among the existing staff. My concern is that in the very ambitious roll-out timetable for the programme of the Bill, the capacity of those capable of carrying these heavy responsibilities is not yet available. Earlier on, the Government accepted that this was a challenge. That word frightens me because Governments always struggle to deal adequately with challenges. My noble friend is absolutely right. The whole business is hinged on getting appropriately qualified, sufficiently staffed positions. He is rightly concerned about the level of qualifications; I am concerned, more fundamentally, about the fact that the staff will not be there and they cannot be magicked out of thin air. This will take weeks, if not months, of intensive training; they have to have special people skills to be able to do the job. The noble Baroness may not have the answer immediately to hand, but how is the training process going? What capacity currently exists? Is the department confident that when day one arrives, there will be a sufficient number of people in place to start the process in a way that leaves her and her ministerial colleagues confident that the job can be done properly by an appropriate number of skilled individuals?