Speeches by Milne.

“This is a set of questions for Juliet, because they relate to your report. The Social Security Advisory Committee felt there was a tension or even a contradiction between the expected Exchequer saving from the change in winter fuel payment eligibility on the one hand and the cost of increasing pension credit take-up on…”

“Thank you. Deven, you were talking a little earlier about the application process and the obstacles that may place in the path. Does it have a significant impact on take-up?”

“I myself sat in on a session with Age UK with a client a few weeks ago, and I must admit I thought the help was very necessary. Is there a case for introducing something along the lines of the Help to Claim scheme that is used for Universal Credit, although that does seem to have moved to telephone support rather than …”

“Your research from 2020 suggested that if everyone were to take up pension credit, for every £1 spent on benefit, there could be a £2 saving in health and social care costs. Can you explain the basis for that assessment?”

“First, I wholly respect the intention behind the Bill; it is a serious attempt to solve a serious problem. I also recognise that what was happening under the Conservatives did not work, and never could have worked even if we had given it 1,000 years. All it achieved was to fuel house price inflation, which has now crea…”

“Age UK in my constituency has told me that the employer NICs rise will cost it £50,000 a year. Does the Minister agree that it is impossible to improve the public sector by taxing the public sector?”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause would require that the use of algorithms, algorithmic tools and systems, and artificial intelligence, including machine learning, should be included within the algorithmic transparency reporting standard. That standard, established by the Government, …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. The DWP is making extensive and growing use of algorithms for investigation purposes. Without proper oversight, these systems threaten error, unfairness and bias, which could lead to wrongful debt collection. Our amendment therefore calls for an independent…”

“Encouraging and enabling people to get back to work is a laudable aim, but how can the Secretary of State assume £5 billion of success in advance of actually rolling out the programme? Surely the right approach is to let the reforms generate savings naturally by a concrete reduction in need, rather than to set an arbit…”

“I am content to beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 15 Offence of encouraging or assisting others to commit fraud “(1) The Social Security Administration Act 1992 is amended as follows. (2) In section 111A (Dishonest representation for obtaining benefit etc), after subsectio…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. Last November, as a member of the Work and Pensions Committee, I asked the Secretary of State when we could expect to see a decision on compensation for WASPI women. She replied: “There is lots of information to go through. We need to get it right but I wa…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. Clause 84 states that costs incurred by the Secretary of State in taking recovery actions can be themselves recovered. Will the Minister clarify what happens in a case where the claimant is found to be not guilty? What happens to the costs then? Are they b…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore) for securing this important debate. It is time to acknowledge that special educational needs and mental health provision in schools is one of the great crises that we face today, although I do appreciate that there is a lot of competition for that particular accolade.…”

“I used the word guilt, but can we forget that? I am referring to a case in which a claimant was investigated, so costs were incurred, but they were found not to be at fault, rather than guilty.”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In my speech, I referred to West Sussex county council but neglected to mention that, as declared in my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I am still a member of that council. I want to put that on the record—my apologies.”

“It was about the risks.”

“Will the Minister explain to farmers in Horsham why he did not feel any need to consult any farming stakeholders in advance of this announcement?”

“That is getting to the heart of it. There is a risk by combining these services: we want to upgrade the work element and not reduce the career element, but we are in danger of doing the exact reverse. Becci, is that achievable, or likely to come out on the right side of history?”

“Good morning. As you know, the Government plan to introduce a new jobs and careers service. What have been the shortcomings of the current jobcentre offering and what might be a more effective approach?”

“That leads into my next question. Professor Robertson, you have written about a “considerable cultural gulf” between jobcentres and careers services. What are the implications for the likely success of combining jobcentres and careers services, given where they are starting from?”