---

Benefits Uprating

I, too, thank the Minister for sight of his statement. There are more than 500 people currently employed in the Woolworths office in Rochdale, which I understand from yesterday's newspapers will be closing. What steps is the Minister's Department taking to assist those people, with more than 70 losing their jobs last week in Castleton, for example? We are pleased to see from the welfare reform White Paper that the Government are moving towards our policy of having a single working-age benefit in future. Although the Minister was unable to tell us the amount lost in fraud, we believe that the position will be improved by moving to such a benefit. I understand that more than £6 billion was lost last year. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the additional £1.3 billion for next year. How will that be spent by the Department? As he is not sure about rising unemployment, how does he think that that will pan out? If there is a need for additional resources, how will they be found? We welcome and support increases in pension and benefits. However, we are disappointed that the right hon. Gentleman has again refused to link earnings to pensions. What will happen next year, when there may well be negative inflation, and the value of the pension will continue to be less than it was in 1950? Does he not think that now is the right time to restore that link? The Minister should be aware that the carers allowance stops completely if anyone earns above £95 a week. Carers have the worst of all worlds. The allowance is not an income replacement, but it is an active barrier to carers being able to work. In the current economic circumstances, why has he not at least introduced a taper—but does he not accept that it would be better to have a meaningful increase of the carers allowance? With regard to take-up, we remain concerned about the 1.8 million eligible pensioners who do not claim pension credit. The Minister must have some data now. Will he explain what has happened to the number of people claiming pension credit, in the light of the three-month backdating limit? Does he not accept that in the current economic climate, that is making life very difficult for pensioners who fall behind with their rent, for example? Does the Minister have plans to extend the winter fuel payment to people who claim the higher rate mobility component of the disability living allowance? I am sure he would agree that that reflects the fact that their movement is limited and they have to spend more time indoors. What about people with severely disabled children, and the terminally ill?