Results 1-20 of 811 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Helen Goodman

DWP (Plymouth) (11 Nov 2009)

Helen Goodman: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy) on securing this important debate, and on the work that she has done for her constituents, particularly in promoting co-operation among employers, the Department for Work and Pensions and people who need jobs. The local employment partnerships in Plymouth are a fine example of the importance of employers, as they...

DWP (Plymouth) (11 Nov 2009)

Helen Goodman: My hon. Friend is right. This is partnership working, and we need employers to continue to make bids via local authorities. I hope they will do that to provide real jobs that have community benefits, are innovative, and provide good, quality experience so that people learn the skills that will be useful not just for the present, but as we come out of recession. My hon. Friend spoke about...

Welfare Reform Bill (Programme) (No. 2): Report on operation of travel authorisation amendments (10 Nov 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: With the leave of the House, I am grateful for the agreement of the hon. Members for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper) and for Northavon (Steve Webb). With respect to the measure on travel documents, I hope that the evidence that we have obtained from experience abroad will be replicated, but, as the hon. Member for Northavon has acknowledged, we will make a full assessment of the pilots and bring...

Welfare Reform Bill (Programme) (No. 2): Report on operation of travel authorisation amendments (10 Nov 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 50.

Welfare Reform Bill (Programme) (No. 2): Report on operation of travel authorisation amendments (10 Nov 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: Lords amendment 50 will help to ensure that Parliament can properly review the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission's power to disqualify a non-resident parent from holding a travel authorisation without application to the court, where that non-resident parent has wilfully failed to pay child maintenance and other forms of enforcement have failed. Parliament's...

Family Finances (27 Oct 2009)

Helen Goodman: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) on securing this debate. The people of Northampton, North are exceptionally lucky to have a Member of Parliament who is so committed and so capable, and who combines the expertise that she has gained as a member of the Treasury Committee with passion for her constituents' concerns. She has produced an excellent...

Family Finances (27 Oct 2009)

Helen Goodman: We would have to consider that suggestion very thoroughly before going down that route, because obviously we do not want to move back from independent taxation of men and women. I would like to deal with tax credits, because my hon. Friend pointed out the impact that they have. At the moment, tax credits are operating as a particularly flexible and responsive system, in that as people's...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Support System (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: There are currently 687,000 cases on the statutory scheme which are assessed under the current scheme rules, and 569,600 cases on the statutory scheme which were assessed under the rules in place prior to 2003.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Support System (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: My hon. Friend makes an interesting suggestion. At present the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission can provide support through the new child maintenance options service so that where both parents can agree, they can move out of the statutory scheme to private arrangements that best suit their circumstances. Perhaps if a model were provided, it would not give the flexibility that...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Support System (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: Although I understand the concerns that the hon. Gentleman expresses about the different impact of the two schemes on different people, the fact is that for every parent who would gain by switching from the old scheme to the current scheme, another parent would lose. Therefore it would not be practical to transfer cases simply on the say-so of one side. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to write...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Support System (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: I am afraid I have to disagree with my hon. Friend. The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, which we are implementing, introduced stronger enforcement powers to tackle the minority of parents who persist in avoiding their responsibilities. These include deduction of maintenance from bank accounts, recovery from deceased estates, application to courts for curfew orders and passport...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Poverty (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: Measures that we have taken in the past decade have lifted 500,000 children out of relative poverty and halved the level of absolute child poverty. Had the Government simply uprated the 1997 tax and benefits system in line with prices, we estimate that around 2.1 million more children might live in poverty today. Measures announced in and since Budget 2007 are expected to lift at least a...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Poverty (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: We are now in 2009, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman realises. The latest figures that we have relate to 2007, and our best forecast is that the measures taken since then will lift a further 600,000 children out of poverty. That will take us two thirds of the way to our target. The opportunity still exists to take further action and the economy is changing, so I am sure that the hon. Gentleman...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Poverty (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Child poverty figures doubled from 1.7 million to 3.4 million. We continue to increase child benefit and child tax credit, and that is why we have successfully halted and reversed the previous trend.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Poverty (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: No one said that the task was going to be easy. On the contrary, because it is difficult we have introduced the Child Poverty Bill to maintain the pressure on the Government, in all circumstances, to achieve the eradication of child poverty by 2020. The most important thing, however, is that in the depths of the recession this Government have continued to take action to tackle that scourge.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Topical Questions (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: My hon. Friend is no doubt aware of the decision to maintain at £25 the cold weather payment for this winter. We will shortly be announcing the results of the annual review of the weather stations, which we do in consultation with the Met Office.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Topical Questions (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: The hon. Gentleman raises a specific case; there are a small number of people in the same situation as his constituent. Obviously, operational matters are dealt with by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, to which I will refer the case.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Topical Questions (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: I can inform my hon. Friend that CMEC is using its powers extremely effectively. The maintenance collected has now reached £1.136 billion, which is £157 million above the target.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Topical Questions (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: That might be difficult because of the volatility of the price of fuel. My hon. Friend will realise that in deciding on the level of the cold weather payments and the winter fuel allowance the general level of fuel prices is one of the factors taken into account.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Topical Questions (19 Oct 2009) has video

Helen Goodman: The hon. Lady knows that the legal maintenance obligations are on the non-resident parent. What she is suggesting is an extremely radical departure and not one that we intend to take.