Clause 11
Welfare Reform Bill
1:30 pm
Jim Murphy (Minister of State (Work), Department for Work and Pensions; East Renfrewshire, Labour)
Welcome back, Mr. Amess. I am delighted to see that you have returned after our break that seemed to last twice as long as our sitting, which is an unusual way in which to run things. Nevertheless, I am delighted to see you here.
I was in the middle of what I hope will be a short contribution because, as I was saying, many of the questions were about the details of the regulations, but there will be opportunities to shape them when they come out of draft and are taken through the formal process before being agreed by Parliament. Where I can, I shall respond to specifics without going into the detail of every draft regulation.
I shall return to the points made by the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell).
In response to the debate on why a substantial number of people do not participate in the first work-focused interview, I said that I could not imagine him in a saloon bar. I think that that was the gist of the point that he made before the break.