Clause 9
Welfare Reform Bill
12:15 pm
Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire, Labour)
I shall make a brief speech this time rather than a long intervention. The comments of the hon. Member for South-West Surrey were interesting. Sheffield Dave seems to embody the purpose of the Bill. We should stop writing people off. We should stop using the list system—listing all the things that make one incapable of working—and look instead at what a person is capable of doing. Having someone front-ending the investment, so that Sheffield Dave can in the end sleep by himself and may one day take part in some kind of work-related activity, is exactly what we want to achieve. It is very important to keep that element of the Bill as it is.
The difference between the support group and the work-related activity group is also important. I do not want to pre-empt what the Minister may say in response, but one pay-off of the Bill for those who move to the support group is that they will get a much higher level of support and benefit. Everyone appreciates that those on benefit are poor. Fundamental to the Bill is the fact that we want to get people off benefit and into some kind of work or work-related activity, not only to make them better off financially but because it will enrich their life—just as Sheffield Dave’s life was enriched.