To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a carer's supplement to the basic state pension.

[152404]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a carer's supplement to the basic state pension.

[152404]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to provide exemptions from housing benefit entitlement reductions on the basis of under-occupancy for registered carers who are unable to share a bedroom with their partner or spouse because of a medical condition.

[149617]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to provide exemptions from housing benefit entitlement reductions on the basis of under-occupancy for registered carers who are unable to share a bedroom with their partner or spouse because of a medical condition.

[149617]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to provide exemptions from housing benefit entitlement reductions on the basis of under-occupancy to people who are registered as disabled or with a defined medical condition, with an additional room in their property which is...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to provide exemptions from housing benefit entitlement reductions on the basis of under-occupancy to people who are registered as disabled or with a defined medical condition, with an additional room in their property which is...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of single earner families have caring responsibilities for very young children, relatives with a long-term illness or the disabled.

[150082]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of single earner families have caring responsibilities for very young children, relatives with a long-term illness or the disabled.

[150082]

I am pleased to announce the Government will be able to launch the new single-tier state pension in April 2016, in keeping with the original timetable.

Our 2011 Green Paper, A state pension for the 21st century, set out the Government’s vision for a simpler state pension, which would reward retirement...

I am pleased to announce the Government will be able to launch the new single-tier state pension in April 2016, in keeping with the original timetable.

Our 2011 Green Paper, A state pension for the 21st century, set out the Government’s vision for a simpler state pension, which would reward retirement...

My noble Friend, the Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, tabled a written statement in the House of Lords yesterday because events prevented the Department from making an oral statement in the House of Commons as planned.

I am pleased to announce the Government will be able to launch the new...

My noble Friend, the Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, tabled a written statement in the House of Lords yesterday because events prevented the Department from making an oral statement in the House of Commons as planned.

I am pleased to announce the Government will be able to launch the new...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. Of course, this comes on top of huge cuts to local government.

Nottingham city council was allocated £696,000 to support tenants affected by the bedroom tax in the coming year. That amount will be reduced to take account of the U-turn on foster carers and...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. Of course, this comes on top of huge cuts to local government.

Nottingham city council was allocated £696,000 to support tenants affected by the bedroom tax in the coming year. That amount will be reduced to take account of the U-turn on foster carers and...

“Nowhere to go”—that is how today’s Nottingham Post describes the crisis facing thousands of social tenants in our city. Why? Because two weeks today the Government are set to play the cruellest joke on more than 6,000 of our city’s poorest households. On the same day as they deliver a...

“Nowhere to go”—that is how today’s Nottingham Post describes the crisis facing thousands of social tenants in our city. Why? Because two weeks today the Government are set to play the cruellest joke on more than 6,000 of our city’s poorest households. On the same day as they deliver a...

The bedroom tax and the under-occupancy terminology will affect people throughout the United Kingdom. In Northern Ireland, we will be £10 million shy in the money available, and 32,000 households will be affected. Is not one of the greatest discrepancies of the whole process that there are not the smaller...

The bedroom tax and the under-occupancy terminology will affect people throughout the United Kingdom. In Northern Ireland, we will be £10 million shy in the money available, and 32,000 households will be affected. Is not one of the greatest discrepancies of the whole process that there are not the smaller...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and I shall come to that point.

In Nottingham, 6,103 people face the bedroom tax in two weeks’ time. The key website is Homelink, which advertises properties for the arm’s length management organisation, Nottingham City Homes, and most of the local housing associations. This week,...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and I shall come to that point.

In Nottingham, 6,103 people face the bedroom tax in two weeks’ time. The key website is Homelink, which advertises properties for the arm’s length management organisation, Nottingham City Homes, and most of the local housing associations. This week,...

My hon. Friend is making her case exceptionally well. In my constituency, which neighbours hers, the cases that really pull at the heart strings bring the issue most to life, particularly when they involve a disabled person in the household. The majority of cases seem to be like that. I...

My hon. Friend is making her case exceptionally well. In my constituency, which neighbours hers, the cases that really pull at the heart strings bring the issue most to life, particularly when they involve a disabled person in the household. The majority of cases seem to be like that. I...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. I wonder how Government Members sleep at night after what they have done.

The Minister might claim that the Government are protecting the most vulnerable, such as the individual my hon. Friend has just mentioned. Ministers have been saying that for months. It was only...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. I wonder how Government Members sleep at night after what they have done.

The Minister might claim that the Government are protecting the most vulnerable, such as the individual my hon. Friend has just mentioned. Ministers have been saying that for months. It was only...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Has her council, like mine, considered trying to top up the DHP fund so that it can help people? Is this not simply a central Government cut being imposed on the shoulders of local government, because topping up the fund means a...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Has her council, like mine, considered trying to top up the DHP fund so that it can help people? Is this not simply a central Government cut being imposed on the shoulders of local government, because topping up the fund means a...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood) on securing this debate. She made no reference whatsoever to the context in 2010 in which an incoming Government had to make decisions or to the fact that the previous Government spent £150 billion more in their final year in...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood) on securing this debate. She made no reference whatsoever to the context in 2010 in which an incoming Government had to make decisions or to the fact that the previous Government spent £150 billion more in their final year in...

Will the Minister explain why his Government will deliver a tax cut at the beginning of April for the highest earners in the UK? Individual millionaires will get more than £100,000 each. Why is he choosing to balance the books on the backs of poor people in my city?

Will the Minister explain why his Government will deliver a tax cut at the beginning of April for the highest earners in the UK? Individual millionaires will get more than £100,000 each. Why is he choosing to balance the books on the backs of poor people in my city?

I would be happy to respond to the hon. Lady’s question, although I was trying to keep to the subject of her debate. The higher rate of income tax in April will be 45%. For 13 years under the previous Labour Government the highest rate of income tax was not...

I would be happy to respond to the hon. Lady’s question, although I was trying to keep to the subject of her debate. The higher rate of income tax in April will be 45%. For 13 years under the previous Labour Government the highest rate of income tax was not...

Will the Minister give way?

Will the Minister give way?

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I continue to respond to the points raised by the hon. Member for Nottingham South.

Why is it acceptable to restrict private sector tenants on a low income, but okay to allow social tenants to have a spare room?

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I continue to respond to the points raised by the hon. Member for Nottingham South.

Why is it acceptable to restrict private sector tenants on a low income, but okay to allow social tenants to have a spare room?

Will the Minister give way?

Will the Minister give way?

I hope that the House will forgive me, but I want to respond to the points raised by the hon. Member for Nottingham South and have limited time to do so.

There is an issue of fairness as between private sector tenants on a low income and social tenants on a...

I hope that the House will forgive me, but I want to respond to the points raised by the hon. Member for Nottingham South and have limited time to do so.

There is an issue of fairness as between private sector tenants on a low income and social tenants on a...