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Welfare Reform Bill

The noble Baroness, Lady Turner, is to be congratulated on her determination to pursue the issue of renaming the council tax benefit. It is clearly a matter close to her heart, and it is clear from our debates in Committee and on Report that the measures she is seeking are acceptable to all parties, and particularly welcomed by us. The power to make all the changes are in the Bill, and all that is required now is for the Government to make it clear that they are going to use that power. The noble Baroness is right to press the Minister on implementation. We do not wish to see the power to change "benefit" to "rebate" languishing on the statute book but never used, which, as the noble Lord said, has happened in so many other instances. We accept that there are more preparations to be made than might at first meet the eye before the change can successfully be enacted, but that must not be allowed to become an excuse for inaction. Noble Lords will remember from Committee that the leader of the Conservative Party, my right honourable friend David Cameron, made it clear in his response to the Royal British Legion that, should this Government fail to act, a Conservative Government led by him would do so instead. Putting that to one side, we are quite sure that the noble Lord the Minister will be able to put to rest any lingering concerns held by noble Lords, and indeed those outside this House, that the Government would prefer this issue to go quietly into the long grass. He could do much in his response to set out what steps the Government are currently taking to prepare for the implementation of this measure, and by what stage he expects it to be complete. I know that he was reluctant to be that explicit at Report. I accept that this may call for a certain amount of flexibility in timing, which is why I am hesitant to support the three-month time limit in the noble Baroness's Amendment 7. However, if we have an understanding of the work the Government are undertaking, it would help Parliament to keep an eye on the progress being made. We would prefer to hear a robust statement of assurance from the Minister than any more formal process.