It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley). I join her in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Richard Harrington) on having selected this topic for his private Member’s Bill and on the way in which he introduced it today,...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley). I join her in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Richard Harrington) on having selected this topic for his private Member’s Bill and on the way in which he introduced it today,...

My hon. Friend is giving the House the benefit of a clear explanation of the difference between the two types of offences and what could be taken into account in determining how to prosecute. Does he agree that in order to avoid people casually letting out tenancies to friends, perhaps...

My hon. Friend is giving the House the benefit of a clear explanation of the difference between the two types of offences and what could be taken into account in determining how to prosecute. Does he agree that in order to avoid people casually letting out tenancies to friends, perhaps...

An important question has been put to my hon. Friend on this point. Is he aware that in a consultation carried out with housing associations, which are obviously very worried about the problem, they identified as one of the main concerns in this area the lack of sufficient deterrent penalties...

An important question has been put to my hon. Friend on this point. Is he aware that in a consultation carried out with housing associations, which are obviously very worried about the problem, they identified as one of the main concerns in this area the lack of sufficient deterrent penalties...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) received a caution and (b) were convicted in respect of a benefit fraud offence in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available; and how many of those convicted received a (i) discharge,...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) received a caution and (b) were convicted in respect of a benefit fraud offence in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available; and how many of those convicted received a (i) discharge,...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) received a caution and (b) were convicted in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in each quarter of the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those convicted were dealt with...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) received a caution and (b) were convicted in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in each quarter of the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those convicted were dealt with...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2008, Official Report, column 740W, on social security benefits: fraud, how many people (a) received a caution and (b) were convicted in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in each quarter for...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2008, Official Report, column 740W, on social security benefits: fraud, how many people (a) received a caution and (b) were convicted in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in each quarter for...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were (a) convicted and (b) received a custodial sentence in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in (i) each of the last two years and (ii) each quarter of each of the last two years; and...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were (a) convicted and (b) received a custodial sentence in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in (i) each of the last two years and (ii) each quarter of each of the last two years; and...

I shall now follow your strictures very seriously, Madam Deputy Speaker, and turn to the details of the order. The Minister mentioned a global figure for the uprating of £4 million. I have to ask about that, given the way in which things have gone missing recently. The Government Actuary's...

I shall now follow your strictures very seriously, Madam Deputy Speaker, and turn to the details of the order. The Minister mentioned a global figure for the uprating of £4 million. I have to ask about that, given the way in which things have gone missing recently. The Government Actuary's...

I shall stay on the subject of pension credit because it is extremely important. I am not sure whether the Minister, in his fairly lengthy opening remarks, outlined the full extent of the problem of pension credit take-up. According to a written parliamentary answer of 19 October 2007, total pension...

I shall stay on the subject of pension credit because it is extremely important. I am not sure whether the Minister, in his fairly lengthy opening remarks, outlined the full extent of the problem of pension credit take-up. According to a written parliamentary answer of 19 October 2007, total pension...

Perhaps we can discuss that general subject on another occasion. The important point in respect of the order is that up to 330,000 people were not claiming the guaranteed part of the credit—between 70 and 80 per cent. of the case load. That is extremely serious and we must surmise...

Perhaps we can discuss that general subject on another occasion. The important point in respect of the order is that up to 330,000 people were not claiming the guaranteed part of the credit—between 70 and 80 per cent. of the case load. That is extremely serious and we must surmise...

I do not know which is coming first, Madam Deputy Speaker—the stricture or the intervention. I shall take the intervention and wait to see what happens.

I do not know which is coming first, Madam Deputy Speaker—the stricture or the intervention. I shall take the intervention and wait to see what happens.

I am aware of your strictures, Madam Deputy Speaker, so I shall be brief. Many pensioners in my constituency and in many others—perhaps even the constituency of the hon. Member for South Swindon—wanted a general election last autumn to test these matters. The sooner the issues can be put to...

I am aware of your strictures, Madam Deputy Speaker, so I shall be brief. Many pensioners in my constituency and in many others—perhaps even the constituency of the hon. Member for South Swindon—wanted a general election last autumn to test these matters. The sooner the issues can be put to...

It is always a mistake to give cast-iron assurances in politics. I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has so much interest in the next Government, and can give him the cast-iron assurance that it is beyond peradventure that I will not be the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the...

It is always a mistake to give cast-iron assurances in politics. I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has so much interest in the next Government, and can give him the cast-iron assurance that it is beyond peradventure that I will not be the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the...

I think the hon. Gentleman will be good enough to recognise that I have given way quite a bit, including to him. I turn now to whether the operating changes relate to people and families living in poverty and severe poverty. According to a paper issued last year by the...

I think the hon. Gentleman will be good enough to recognise that I have given way quite a bit, including to him. I turn now to whether the operating changes relate to people and families living in poverty and severe poverty. According to a paper issued last year by the...

I have given way a lot, and time is limited—[Interruption.] I am being criticised by the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd, to whom I have given way already. If the hon. Member for West Bromwich, West still has a burning question later, I shall give way then. I want...

I have given way a lot, and time is limited—[Interruption.] I am being criticised by the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd, to whom I have given way already. If the hon. Member for West Bromwich, West still has a burning question later, I shall give way then. I want...

We have set out our objectives. The hon. Gentleman has actually been rather kind to the Government; I have been accused of attacking them. He has said that the target will not be met until decades to come, whereas I am simply asking when it will be met. The hon....

We have set out our objectives. The hon. Gentleman has actually been rather kind to the Government; I have been accused of attacking them. He has said that the target will not be met until decades to come, whereas I am simply asking when it will be met. The hon....

I was hoping the hon. Gentleman might throw some light on what the Chancellor of the Exchequer believes the take-up will be. As I said, we believe the system should be as simple as possible. We warned the Government against the complexity that they put in place in 2002, which...

I was hoping the hon. Gentleman might throw some light on what the Chancellor of the Exchequer believes the take-up will be. As I said, we believe the system should be as simple as possible. We warned the Government against the complexity that they put in place in 2002, which...

Well, the serious problem is that there are 330,000 pensioners who do not have it today, and that is what we should be debating. I noticed the words that the Minister used in his opening remarks. He said that he wanted to see more people claim pension credit, and that...

Well, the serious problem is that there are 330,000 pensioners who do not have it today, and that is what we should be debating. I noticed the words that the Minister used in his opening remarks. He said that he wanted to see more people claim pension credit, and that...

It gives me no great pleasure to recollect that I was one of those who served on the Committee that considered the State Pension Credit Bill during its passage through the House in 2002. If I had said to Ministers then that six years later their system would be so...

It gives me no great pleasure to recollect that I was one of those who served on the Committee that considered the State Pension Credit Bill during its passage through the House in 2002. If I had said to Ministers then that six years later their system would be so...

As the credit was created in 2002, I think that it is within the wit of the hon. Gentleman to know that it was created by the present Government, as a way of redirecting resources.

As the credit was created in 2002, I think that it is within the wit of the hon. Gentleman to know that it was created by the present Government, as a way of redirecting resources.