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Welfare Reform Bill

I support what has already been said so far as income support is concerned, particularly with reference to the clause stand part; I would support the Question to oppose it. The suggestion that income support should be removed should be opposed. The clauses give the Secretary of State powers to extend eligibility for jobseeker’s allowance to members of groups who cannot reasonably be expected to be available for employment, such as carers, as the noble Baroness referred to. She also emphasised that the people who benefit from income support are nearly always women—women carers, women who are recovering from pregnancy and women who care not just for children but very often for older people. Taking away their right to an income should not be contemplated by the Government. The TUC has been in touch with me about this. It tells me that trades unions are determined to defend the Beveridge principle of providing a safety net to guarantee that no one will be left without a right to an income. Many people who learn that they are to be switched from income support to jobseeker’s allowance will worry that they will be required to be available for employment, even though that will not be practical for them. It is quite clear that this has already begun to worry a number of women. I am sure a number of us have, like me, received quite a lot of material from women’s organisations. It includes a letter from a woman who has a disabled child. She wrote: ""If I was told today that I had to go into waged work, it would be very difficult not only for me but especially for my child. I wouldn’t want to leave her in the care of someone else who may not have her needs at heart as her mother does or be as aware of her condition … If I was in waged work I would have to leave suddenly if my daughter was ill – not a lot of jobs let you do that. And if my daughter was very ill I would have to leave the job and go back on benefits. I’m already working caring for my child but the work I’m doing is not paid, so now they are asking me to do paid work on top of all my unwaged caring work, which is devastating and exhausting"." That is typical of letters from people who are on income support and fear that the provisions in the Bill will remove their right to it and that they will be expected to enter into some form of waged work or a work-related system that they feel they are not able to cope with.