New Clause 6
Welfare Reform Bill
9:45 pm
Jeremy Hunt (Shadow Minister (the Disabled), Work & Pensions; South West Surrey, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I shall be brief in an attempt to prove that the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire was right to say that we are making excellent progress in the evenings. I am happy to mention his name for the record once again.
The new clause is probing. I wish to ask the Minister to reassure the Committee that when claimants are going through interviews and assessment conducted under part 1, they are notified of the purpose or purposes of the interview or assessment. The assessments will obviously be important, as they will determine the level of benefit and the level of conditionality attached to it. It is important that those who have learning disabilities, or a wide range of other disabilities, understand the purpose of those interviews or assessments.
I also ask the Minister to assure the Committee that those conducting the interviews or assessments are properly qualified. We have discussed that at length and we do not need to revert to it. Indeed, the Minister has already given some reassurance on that point. Likewise, he assured us in earlier debates that, as in paragraph (c), account should be taken of
“the circumstance in respect of which claimants fail to attend or complete an interview or assessment.”
On paragraph (a), I should be grateful if the Minister were to give the Committee an assurance that claimants should be notified of the purposes of their interview or assessment