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Welfare Reform Bill

I shall speak also to the other amendments in the group. We debated this matter under Clause 1, so the groundwork has already been done. However, this amendment was deliberately not grouped with the earlier one because we are now talking about a different and more vulnerable group of claimants—those in the progression-to-work group who must undertake certain work-related activities. The Minister said last week that this rests on the nature of the support offered, in that it is personally tailored to an individual, not on the principle of the programme. I agree, but I wonder whether it is written down anywhere. Of crucial concern is whether enough investment will be made in each claimant to ensure that support is genuinely tailored to individual need and is of high quality. How this aspect of the Bill works will determine whether it will work as it should. In general, we on these Benches are in favour of carrots rather than sticks, not least because of the powerful evidence base that supports the efficacy of a conditionality regime for this group of claimants. By carrots, I mean real encouragement to engage claimants with the kind of voluntary sector schemes that have a track record of success in this area. We know that the use of sanctions is supposed to be a last resort, and I hope the Minister will agree that, if there is an increasing use of sanctions on this group of claimants, it will be a sign that the policy has failed. I beg to move.