New Clause 14
Welfare Reform Bill
9:45 pm
Jeremy Hunt (Shadow Minister (the Disabled), Work & Pensions; South West Surrey, Conservative)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend because that is my belief. As I have argued on earlier clauses, relaxing the earnings disregard is likely to encourage more people to move closer to the world of work and therefore reduce the number of people on the benefit.
This is uncharted territory, which is why we have phrased the new clause as a pilot. We might learn things about relaxing the permitted hours with the support group which it might be possible to apply at a later stage to the work-related activity group. We will not learn any of those things unless we have a pilot. I ask the Minister to give careful consideration to having this pilot.
I have received many representations, as I am sure all members of the Committee have, from disability organisations who are concerned that people in the support group might not have the same opportunities as those in the work-related activity group. We have discussed that endlessly and I do not want to return to those debates, but having a pilot that showed a bit of flexibility over the permitted hours for people in the support group might teach everyone a little bit about how human motivation works in these situations. If it helped people in the support group—who are, by definition, the most disadvantaged in society—to move closer to the world of work, and to develop a degree of independence and self respect it would be admirable.I hope that the Government will give it generous consideration.