Stephen Lloyd: I pay tribute to the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron), the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for disability. I have been working on this issue on and off for over 20 years, so it is interesting that, despite all the efforts made by many people over the years, we still have just under 4 million people with disabilities who are called economically...
Stephen Lloyd: Even though there is a shortage of time, I crave your indulgence, Mr Speaker, so that I can give two tiny bits of context. First, I believe that all parties are at fault here: the Conservatives, Labour—the Labour Government did little for 13 years—and the coalition. No party has a clean hand. Secondly, I urge the Minister to address three possible options. One is Labour’s cost-neutral...
Stephen Lloyd: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I greatly appreciate the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson). The frustration with this issue is that the whole concept behind universal credit is about making work pay. It was defenestrated in 2015 by George Osborne removing the £3 billion and doing it per annum from the work allowance, so it does not...
Stephen Lloyd: With reference to the integration of health and social care, the Minister may be aware that I have two outstanding respite and rehab homes in Eastbourne called Milton Grange and Firwood House. They are both under threat of closure by the county council, which says that central Government are not giving it enough money. Those homes serve a crucial purpose in supporting the local hospital. Will...
Stephen Lloyd: Does the hon. Lady agree that perhaps one way forward is for the parliamentary ombudsman to look at what was clearly poor-quality communication, from the 1995 Act onwards, and to make a ruling on whether the communication was good enough? We would then find out for sure what I think is true, which is that there was poor communication. We rely on the parliamentary ombudsman to give us that steer.
Stephen Lloyd: It is a privilege to respond to the social security benefits uprating order on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. As the Minister knows, the Government have been obliged by law since 1992 to increase the value of certain disability benefits in line with inflation, and I am pleased to see that attendance allowance, carers allowance, disability living allowance and the personal independence...
Stephen Lloyd: The hon. Gentleman might know that an additional aspect of the benefits freeze is that the bereavement support payment is frozen. That is just unacceptable, and I will also keep banging on about the cuts affecting single parents.
Stephen Lloyd: I heartily agree with the hon. Lady. There are more than 2 million single parent families, which must involve many millions of children, and the effect on them will be devastating if the Government do not address this matter very quickly. If they leave it for another four years, I can barely comprehend the damage that it will do to many of those children. I am also disappointed about the...
Stephen Lloyd: I thank the hon. Lady, who makes such a good point. Again, it is a false economy, because the situation just leads to more dysfunction and challenging circumstances for families. It will prevent younger people becoming independent, and it will cost the state more money. In drawing my remarks to a close, I want to return to the issue of single parents once again. I urge the Minister to take...
Stephen Lloyd: One of the challenges in the design of universal credit is that it does not take into account the fluctuating incomes of people who are freelance. They can earn a low amount one month and a high amount the next, but universal credit does not manage that properly. A self-employed person who has earned £15,000 in a year will get less under universal credit than an employed person who has...
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing in line with inflation each year the maximum amount an individual can hold in savings before becoming ineligible for housing benefit.
Stephen Lloyd: l thank the Labour party for securing an urgent question on this important issue. We know that the Government’s attempt to prevent those with mental health issues receiving the higher mobility rate was, frankly, nothing but a shoddy attempt to save money. That was a disgrace. They then dragged it out through the courts for many, many months and I think that was absolutely disgraceful...
Stephen Lloyd: As the roll-out of universal credit accelerates, Ministers will soon be confronted with the task of transitioning people on tax credits to universal credit. They must tell us soon how people will be informed of the changes and when the draft statutory instruments will be laid. May we have a debate on how the Government will ensure that no one loses out as a result of the transition?
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many families in Eastbourne would be entitled to free school meals under the pre-universal credit free school meals system.
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis have been placed in the employment support allowance Support Group on the basis of (a) physical or mental health risk, (b) pregnancy risk or (c) severe functional disability since 2013.
Stephen Lloyd: I thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing this urgent question, and I also thank the hon. Member for Glenrothes (Peter Grant) for requesting it. The Government have decided not to appeal only now, after putting many claimants with mental health problems through a year of hell. Does the Secretary of State really believe that that was a kind or fair way of treating people with mental health issues?
Stephen Lloyd: Following the recent round of court closures, the MOJ committed to ensuring that there was adequate alternative provision after closing Eastbourne courts. That has not happened, despite the Courts and Tribunals Service saying that it had. Will the Minister agree to meet me and legal representatives from Eastbourne to resolve this wholly unsatisfactory situation?
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with multiple sclerosis have been awarded the enhanced rate of personal independence payment (a) mobility, (b) daily living and (c) mobility and daily living component by award length.
Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with multiple sclerosis placed in the employment support allowance (ESA) support group at initial work capability assessment have been placed in the ESA work-related activity group at their repeat assessment in each year since 2013.
Stephen Lloyd: On behalf of my party, may I say that it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker? I support the Second Reading of this Bill because I support its key purpose of merging the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise into a new, single financial guidance body. The current landscape for free financial advice and guidance is unnecessarily...