Clause 14
Welfare Reform Bill
7:15 pm
Kitty Ussher (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Burnley, Labour)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions, which are valid. If we were to enter an arrangement with an external provider, it would be because we thought that would help us to meet our public policy aims more effectively. In a sense, the client in that area might, by definition, have access to a more holistic service than one in an area in which there was no such contract. However, that is better than retaining the current situation, because it would bring an improvement for some people, although we would like everyone to have that improvement. Let me reassure him on the general point that if and when we enter arrangements in certain geographical areas, those arrangements will have broadly the same eligibility, and there will be no attempt to change eligibility for two identical customers who live in different places. This is precisely the type of issue that we will consult on further when we have more detail as to how those contracts might work. The clause is important because it would be unduly complex, and would not help the situation, to run two parallel schemes in the same area, with one being provided centrally and the other being provided by an external provider.