Clause 2

Part of Welfare Reform Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:45 pm on 24 February 2009.

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Photo of John Mason John Mason Scottish National Party, Glasgow East 12:45, 24 February 2009

I wish to speak to amendments 91, 92 and 93, on the question of action plans. If we are going to have action plans there surely needs to be agreement as to what is in them. My reading of the Bill at the moment—and I seek reassurance from the Minister—is that the adviser, solely, would be able to lay down the terms of what is in the action plans. That may not be the intention but it is my reading of it. Elsewhere in the Bill we have talked about a right of control and wanting people to be involved in their own progress. It would seem that some of these measures would in fact take away from that, and the person’s real involvement and ownership would be less.

We obviously need to build confidence in people—going back to people with mental health issues and so on. I wonder whether imposing such an action plan, completely from outside, is the right way to go ahead. It appears that both the DWP and private contractors are able to issue mandatory directions. There is no detail in the Bill about how such an agreement between an adviser and a claimant would be reached, and if there is dispute over what is in these action plans, how that would be taken forward—other than when there is a sanction, there would then be an appeal.