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Welfare Reform

I congratulate my right hon. Friend and his ministerial team on today's announcement of measures building on the early new deal and employment zone partnerships—which have taught us a great deal—and on the principles set out by the Government in 2005. I particularly welcome the doubling of the Access to Work budget. Will my right hon. Friend say something about the timetable for social fund reform, which will be widely welcomed by the 10 major anti-poverty charities with which I have had the privilege of working, and by the 2.5 million people who rely on legal but incredibly high APR repayment rates of more than 180 per cent. and who are caught in poverty as a consequence? Let me also thank the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Plaskitt), for his tenacity in sticking to the issue and avoiding those who would drag him down with their inevitable conservatism.