Welfare Reform Bill
4:47 pm
Mark Harper (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Forest of Dean, Conservative)
I wanted to focus on responses in terms of the Bill’s effectiveness. My reading of the Bill—I am sure others will correct me if I am wrong—is that it is actually weak in terms of the compulsory element, because simply not knowing the father’s whereabouts is a sufficient reason for the mother not to put his name down. To be honest, I am not entirely sure that will make a terribly big impact on registration, but let us assume that it will. I just wanted to focus on its effectiveness, so your response was very helpful.