Mr Bruce George (Walsall South)

I understand that a new Member approaches his maiden speech with apprehension, fear and, indeed, dread. I am no exception.

I represent the new constituency of Walsall, South. I pay tribute to the impartial judgment of the Boundaries Commission which made my presence here possible.

I also pay tribute to the three Members of Parliament who represented part of my new constituency: first the former Member for Walsall, North, Mr. William Wells, and secondly the former Member for Walsall, South, Sir Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid. The town they represented so competently for so long paid tribute to them only last week by making them freemen of the county borough of Walsall. I also compliment and pay tribute to the former right hon. Member for Wednesbury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Stonehouse), who bequeathed to me from his constituency the town of Darlaston, with which I have a particular affinity and affection.

Walsall is an industrial manufacturing town north of Birmingham. I thought I should mention that, because an ex-Minister recently asked me which constituency I represented. I said "Walsall" "Yes, I know Walsall", he said; "Is not that on the mouth of the Tyne?" Indeed it is not on the mouth of the Tyne. I will not tell the House who suggested that it was on the mouth of the Tyne as it might cause him embarrassment.

Walsall is north of Birmingham but is far from being overshadowed by that neighbouring giant. It is a Black Country town, which is to be enlarged as a result of local government reorganisation, with a history going back to the early Middle Ages.

Walsall could not possibly be regarded as top of the beauty league. Aesthetically it is not particularly attractive. It may not be the cultural centre of the universe or the entertainment capital of the Midlands, but it is a town at the heart of the country, one of its workshops, helping to produce the wealth of the land. I refer particularly to Darlaston which epitomises the problems of our society. That town has helped to create the wealth of the nation. In wandering round Darlaston, however, one would think it was a ghost town of the pro, portions of Abilene or Wichita in the American West. As I said, it is a town which has created wealth, but there are few signs of that wealth in it.

I am pleased to speak in the Budget debate. I wholeheartedly welcome and endorse the Budget because the Chancellor, desipte our desperate economic situation, has sought to elevate a goal that I champion. He has set out to create a more just, humane, compassionate and, I hope, egalitarian society. In three weeks we have started out along that road. That goal will not be achieved by Easter, by 22nd July or, indeed, by the next Budget. But at least we have set out on that journey.

I want to devote the rest of my speech to the impact of the Budget upon the under-privileged, formerly known as the poor. They were supposed to have disappeared, but they are back—if ever they left the scene in the first place.

It is a tragedy that, after 25 years of the Welfare State and despite enormous affluence in our society, there is still far too much poverty within our society. We can study the official statistics, but these cold facts cannot hide the misery, the degradation, the frustration and the hopelessness of poverty.

Who are these people? What are the causes of poverty? I have studied a report in the Library by Rowntree written about 70 years ago. Although today's social scientists may criticise the methodology of that writer and the criteria he used to measure who the poor were, nevertheless recent research has shown—this is a staggering fact—that up to 20 per cent. of the population live below, on or just above the poverty line. This is a total of 10 million people—the elderly, the homeless, the unemployed, the low paid, the disabled and the single-parent families. I read only yesterday in the Evening Standard of the plight of one Mr. Arnott struggling on his £100 a week and thinking of emigrating. The problems of this gentleman cannot be exclusively put down to the Chancellor's Budget.

There are two myths about the social services. One is that if one is prepared to work hard, one can get out of poverty. That is not always true. Indeed, quite the reverse can often be the case. With the poverty trap, one can work harder but be worse off financially, such is the situation that we have inherited. The Budget and the Government's policies so far announced clearly recognise the plight of the underprivileged. The meek and the poor may not inherit the earth, but I hope that as a result of the Budget they will get a fairer share of what this earth produces.

Our election pledge to raise pensions will be speedily honoured. One newspaper called the increases "generous". I do not like that word because it is paternalistic. What we are doing is merely recognising the rôle that the pensioners in their working lives have played in creating the wealth that we possess.

One formerly neglected section of the underprivileged are the widows. I should like to compliment the widows' organisations like the National Association of Widows and CRUSE which have articulately pursued the real grievances of widows in our society. I am delighted, as they are, at the increases in pensions and at the raising of the tax threshold, although I hope that, in the next Budget or even before, the threshold will be raised again. Widows do not want charity. Many of them do not want to exist solely on widows' pensions. They desperately want to play a part within society, and I want to see created the framework within which they call play a more dramatic and relevant rôle in our economy.

Although there are many benefits in the Budget, there are still some anomalies. These include widows with difficulties in obtaining sickness or unemployment benefit, widows under the age of 40 with no dependent children, who receive no pension, widows taxed as single people regardless of their domestic responsibilities and widows who take home less pay than married women doing exactly the same job. I would make a special plea to my right hon. Friend to review the cohabitation rule which is causing a great deal of disquiet among widows. There are disturbing stories of officers of the Department of Health and Social Security exceeding what I consider to be their proper role. I hope that the Secretary of State will review this matter and make considerable improvements, because there is ample scope.

An anomaly which I hope and believe will be abolished is that of means testing. Many hon. Members on this side are appalled at the proliferation of means-tested benefits. There are over 3,000 of them and the defects are well known. They do not reach the people who should be reached. The take-up rate is abysmally low. The family income supplement, despite publicity, is taken up by only 50 per cent. of those entitled to it. There are many means-tested benefits for which the take-up rate is as low as 5 per cent. There is ignominy and stigma attached to claiming. I hope that the new Government will abandon selectivity as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, however, the benefits at present available should be publicised. I have a view, which may not be shared by some, that people have been deliberately kept in the dark about their rights in order to minimise the number of claims. I have been into Crown post offices at which the display of leaflets is derisory and have found the same situation at DHSS offices. I went into one DHSS office and asked the young man at the counter why there were not the forms available. He said "People keep taking them away". That surely is the purpose of the exercise.

If we are to have means-tested benefits, people should have at least a sporting chance of knowing what they are entitled to. I have conducted surveys of means-tested benefits. In one survey, 75 per cent. of old-age pensioners who were asked "Are you aware that you can get extra money for heating?" had no idea of the existence of these allowances. Some who did said "I know, but I will not go cap in hand to the social security to get 30p." That is one example and there are many others. The man in the street would probably say that he had not heard of attendance allowances.

Disillusion with the previous system forced me to produce at great personal cost a leaflet of my own outlining the welfare benefits for old-age pensioners and giving them a sporting chance of knowing what they were entitled to. At the time I produced that leaflet, petrol rationing was a possibility. I was amazed at the speed and efficiency with which the public were informed of their entitlement to petrol coupons. Oh that the Government had devoted as much energy and attention to informing old-age pensioners of the existence of heating allowances. Which is the more important, getting me to work in Birmingham or saving an old-age pensioner from the dangers of hypothermia?

Even if people are aware of the benefits to which they are entitled, they embark on an obstacle course before they get them, niggardly though they may be. They go to the social security office and may be turned down. If they have the gall to take the matter further, this involves a tribunal. None but the hardy is prepared to last out the course. So let us abolish means-tested benefits.

In the meantime, let us conduct an active campaign on television, by leaflets and in the Press. We could even do as Manchester has done—I commend this—and appoint welfare rights officers whose sole job is to increase the take-up of means-tested benefits.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity of speaking at such an early stage of this Parliament. I have fulfilled my side of the social contract by not being too controversial. I am glad that Tory Members have fulfilled their side by not interrupting. This is a Budget that I endorse, one which I hope, despite the protestations of the hon. Member for Cornwall, North (Mr. Pardoe), will achieve its objectives. I look forward with eager anticipation to the next instalment.

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