This paper provides a selection of responses to the Welfare Reform Bill by a number of Stakeholder organisations.

The Bill will go through its remaining stages on Tuesday 9th January, 2006.

Respondees:

i. Council of Mortgage Lenders
ii. Federation of Small Businesses
iii.  Shaw Trust
iv. United Response
v.  The Wise Group

Background to Bill:

The Welfare Reform Bill was published on July 4 2006 and is the next step in the government’s move to reform the welfare state and move people off benefits and into long-term work.

(It builds on the green paper ‘A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work’ released in January 2006.)

The Bill contains powers to replace incapacity benefits with a new Employment Support Allowance that alongside a new Personal Capability Assessment will help give individuals more relevant support and get them into appropriate work.

It will also provide increased provisions to tackle benefit fraud, strengthening the “two strikes” rules so that people who commit a second benefit offence within five years of their first one can have their benefit withdrawn.

Also included in the Bill is a framework to reform and improve the design and administration of Housing Benefit, through the roll-out of the Local Housing Allowance– a simplified Housing Benefit scheme that is currently being tested in 18 Local Authority areas – across the private sector and measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Other provisions to increase employment opportunity – such as help to lone parents and increasing employment opportunities for older people – will be implemented through secondary legislation. The Bill was reintroduced to parliament on November 16 2006.

In a speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research on December 18, 2006 secretary of state for work and pensions John Hutton commented:

“The next challenge we face is to ensure the hardcore of 'can work but won't work' benefit claimants take advantage of the opportunities out there and compete for jobs alongside growing numbers of migrants who arrive in Britain specifically to look for work rather than to settle for the long term. We need to ask whether we should expect more from some in return for the help we provide”.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Philip Hammond commented for the Conservatives:

“We would support genuine steps to help and encourage existing claimants back into work, but Labour's track record isn't promising: Tony Blair's flagship Welfare Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, offers no help to the 2.7million people currently on Incapacity Benefit.”

On behalf of the Liberal Democrats, David Laws commented:

“If the government wanted to do something serious to help it could extend the Pathways to Employment programme to those out of work for more than six months. This would be more effective than the talk tough, do little strategy.”

The Bill left committee on November 30th 2006 and the remaining stages will take place on January 9 2007.

Summation of Responses:

Council of Mortgage Lenders

• Believes that the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) will damage investment in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and will lead to a decrease in provision for tenants on HB.
  
  
• DWP should reconsider its proposals and undertake further consultation; the experience of the pathfinders does not support national roll out of the LHA.
  
  
• The HB proposals for the Private Rented Sector (PRS) (Clause 27) should not be considered in isolation from the burdens imposed by other government initiatives.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CML'S COMMENTS IN FULL

Federation of Small Businesses

The FSB welcomes the vision set out in the Green Paper to increase the number of people participating in the UK economy.  Britain’s small businesses would benefit from skilled people entering and remaining in the labour market, be they lone parents, older workers or those in receipt of incapacity benefits.

However, the Government must therefore ensure that in its drive to get more people back into work, it does not neglect to consider the impact proposals will have on small businesses.  Placing more burdens on businesses will mean that the desired benefits to the economy will not be achieved.

Key Recommendations

• The Government should consider tax incentives for employers to provide benefits such as medical insurance.
  
  
• Reduced Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance premiums must be used to reward employers with good health and safety systems.
  
  
• The FSB welcomed the Government’s withdrawal of the earlier SSP reform proposals and would urge the SSP Review Group to retain the 3 day waiting period in any revised proposals.
  
  
• Small employers should remain able to reclaim the cost of SSP.
  
  
• Recognition that an employer is not in a position to make a medical assessment of their employees.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FSB's COMMENTS IN FULL

Shaw Trust

• Welcomes the new Welfare Reform Bill.
  
  
• It is a substantial step forward in assisting people with disabilities or illnesses into employment and out of the welfare benefit trap.
  
  
• We are particularly pleased to see a far greater role for the Third Sector.
  
  
• However, we are concerned over funding of the programmes detailed in the bill.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SHAW TRUST'S COMMENTS IN FULL

United Response

• Supports the Government’s objective of helping disabled people and those with health problems into work.
  
  
• However, we believe it is vital that the Welfare Reform Bill is linked with adequate resources so that people with learning disabilities or mental health problems are given adequate support to enable them to enter or return to work. 
  
  
• The measures in the Bill need therefore to be accompanied by efforts to tackle the discrimination that people with mental health problems and those with learning disabilities experience.
  
  
• We are concerned that provisions in the Bill may pressurise people to take up unsuitable work that may jeopardise their health.
  
  
• It is important that the benefit system is sufficiently flexible so that people who work part-time do not end up worse off through losing entitlements to benefits like housing benefit and council tax benefit.

CLICK HERE FOR UNITED RESPONSE'S COMMENTS IN FULL

The Wise Group

• Welcomes the Bill’s emphasis on capability rather than disability and signals an important cultural and political shift in attitudes to people with disability or long-term illness.
  
  
• We believe that an individualised approach will be the most crucial element of successful welfare reform – and the reform agenda will stand or fall on the quality of assessment, guidance and support given to each individual.
  
  
• We suggest that a number of measures could be taken to tackle some of these difficulties and to provide greater incentives for jobless individuals to consider labour market entry.
  
  
• We believe a greater focus on the sustainability of disadvantaged employees in the labour market is absolutely critical if the government’s aspiration of an 80% employment rate is to be achieved.
  
  
• Other groups, such as ex-offenders (many of whom end up as IB claimants), could also benefit from a greater focus within welfare reform policy.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WISE GROUP'S COMMENTS IN FULL