Clause 10
Welfare Reform Bill
5:45 pm
Jeremy Hunt (Shadow Minister (the Disabled), Work & Pensions; South West Surrey, Conservative)
I just need to understand one point. I am grateful to the Minister for her explanation. On this sort of issue, I would not be at all unwilling to take things on trust, because despite our sparring today, we are all trying to achieve the same thing in this Committee. I want to clarify one point. She seems to be saying that I was wrong to say that this was a question of language. She seems to be saying that the work-focused health-related assessment will in fact not look at people’s disabilities; it will look at people’s health, and therefore at issues such as what happens where someone has a disability and a mental health condition that needs attention. The point of this part of the process is not at all to look at people’s disabilities. If I understand the Minister correctly, she is saying that dealing with the issues relating to their disabilities will be taken care of later in the process. Can she confirm that?