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ePolitix.com reports on Monday's questions to ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Labour MP Brian Iddon claimed that the jobseekers allowance (JSA) was “impossible to live on”. He told ministers that if he was not giving a family member who was receiving the JSA “almost double” the allowance, they would not have a decent standard of living.
During work and pensions questions, Iddon (Lab, Bolton SE) said: "It's almost impossible to live on £60.50 JSA if you're feeding yourself properly, if you're paying your utility bills - especially throughout this winter - and if you have commitments like direct debits and standing orders for contents insurance.”
Employment minister, Tony McNulty, told the House of Commons that the government had already announced a slight rise in the JSA from April this year.
A number of MPs voiced concerns over the Welfare Reform Bill. Rob Marris (Lab, Wolverhampton SW) called on the government to include amendments in the Bill that would make blind people eligible for the top-tier of disability allowance.
Jim Devine (Lab, Livingstone) called on the government to tackle defrauders of the benefit system and not people in genuine need of disability allowance.
And John Robertson (Lab, Glasgow NW) appealed to the government to use the Bill to help pensioners who have suffered financially from the cut in interest rates. His call was echoed by Anne Begg (Lab, Aberdeen S) who called for greater help through the social tariff.
For the Conservatives, shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May voiced the concerns of her backbench colleagues when she criticised the closures of jobcentres despite the government moratorium on jobcentre closures last October.
Labour backbencher Frank Field (Birkenhead) called on the government to make sure not skilled workers were allowed into the country to take skilled jobs before they were advertised at Jobcentre Plus.
And Kerry Mcarthy (Lab, Bristol E) demanded that the government maintained their pledge to eradicate child poverty. Replying, junior minister Kitty Usher stated her pride at the government’s “achievements in reducing child poverty”. But she warned that more needs to be done.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd