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Employment

I am glad that my hon. Friend welcomes that report and the Government's response to it, and he is right that we need to look at the incentives open to employers. He will have seen in our response that we want to work with employers, and we will be happy to work with his Committee on how we can change the incentives for people. We must make sure that every part of the system has the right incentives to keep people in work, because we know that being in work is, in the main, good for their well-being. It is not in the interests of individuals, employers or the Government for people to fall out of work if they can stay in work. Our response today makes a significant advance in addressing Dame Carol Black's points, but we are happy to look at whether an even more fundamental change to people's incentives is possible. We would be happy to work with my hon. Friend's Committee on that.