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Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I usually try to thank the Minister when he has responded to a debate. I am not quite sure what I have to thank him for on this occasion. We have not heard anything that addresses the issues we have raised. We have heard powerful contributions from noble Lords about the extra costs involved when disabled children are in the family. Yet we hang onto the mantra of simplicity. I think it was the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, who said, ““Simplification, yes; but not at the expense of social justice””. I certainly support that view. The noble Lord, Lord Boswell, invited the Minister at least to recognise that when finance is improved this should be an area to be addressed. We did not have even that nuance from the Minister. I am not as experienced at reading the nuances as my noble friend Lady Lister, who is now an expert in these matters. She may advise me otherwise but I did not hear any movement on that. The issue around relying on local authorities is, frankly, a cop-out. Every noble Lord here knows the strain that local authorities are under, and unless there were guarantees around ring-fenced funding, which the Government have increasingly set their face against, we know what will happen if additional funding were to be put in. Local authorities are being asked to deal with issues that the Government themselves shy away from. That is profoundly unfair. I am sure that this is an issue to which we will return on Report. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 30BAA withdrawn