Speeches by Darling.

“I think that is the positive thing that you have just alluded to. If lessons are being learned and as it rolls out further there are opportunities to try to streamline and those opportunities have been taken, one can only welcome that. The funding is quite limited. I think it goes up to 2029. In the greater scheme of t…”

“Particularly focusing on reasonable adjustments in Access to Work, are you able to shed any light on that at all—where the culture is heading in that direction, or any thoughts?”

“Do you reflect on how things could be a little more streamlined in delivery and so forth, allowing a bit more flexibility?”

“For Torbay council, on which I still serve, incredible assumptions are being made about the levels of council tax being collected. That results in a deficit of £13 million in years 2 and 3 for a small unitary authority. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Labour party has been learning from the Conservatives, and is pla…”

“If you can, just around that interplay between reasonable adjustments and Access to Work, that would be really helpful.”

“Thank you all for coming today. We have heard evidence as a Select Committee that the Connect to Work scheme is somewhat over-bureaucratic and that it repeats the same challenges that have appeared on other schemes. It also puts additional strain on local authorities. I would welcome some reflections on how you would r…”

“It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams). It is almost as if she has been cribbing off my speech—maybe it is because we are both on the Work and Pensions Committee. The reality is that our welfare state is part of a society that should be at ease with itself. L…”

“If people in Torbay check the Surfers Against Sewage app today as I did, they will see that eight sites are monitored where there could be overflows of sewage. Six overflows have occurred so far this year at six of those sites, with two ongoing. We have also suffered a cryptosporidium outbreak in the past 18 months. Do…”

“I welcome the proposals on child benefit and guardian’s allowance. When I visit schools in Torbay, it is disturbing to hear how many children are only too alive to the cost of living crisis. They are worried about mum or dad not having enough money to put petrol in the car, and they are concerned about covering the bil…”

“It is jaw-dropping how many rich and powerful people were within Epstein’s orbit, and how many of them believed that they were untouchable. It is important that we have a culture that is supportive and trusting around whistleblowers, so does the Minister agree that we need to have an office for whistleblowers as the ba…”

“I want to pick up on WHP. The report talks about how this provision could assist with navigating Access to Work. Do you have any reflections on any reform that would be helpful around Access to Work to make it more enabling than it is at the moment?”

“James and Tom, any reflections on what you would want to see enhanced?”

“I am aware of time, but can you be a bit more specific?”

“My first little question is to Ian and Chris. What awareness of Access to Work do you think there is among the businesses that you engage with? How many of them use it or are even aware of it? More broadly, I would say that it is potentially a really useful scheme. With my disability, I have personally benefited from i…”

“Thank you so much for giving up your time today to come to speak to us. Building on the workplace health provision, where do we get to in seven years’ time, particularly focusing on small businesses? It is the “So what?” question. Where will we be? What do results look like?”

“Any further reflections? If Stephen Timms was Father Christmas and you were writing to him about the improvements you would want for Access to Work, what would they be?”

“This is a question for both Scope and Mind. In November, the Government said that they were consulting with disabled groups on changes to Access to Work. Have either of your organisations, to your knowledge, been engaged with that at all?”

“Can you clarify where those stats came from?”

“James, you were just going on to some of the changes, particularly talking about changes in levels of support for people with support workers, strangely enough. Can either of you put any flesh on the bones of that? The Government have said that there have been no changes in the guidance and that they are just applying …”

“Chris and Ian, do you have any reflections on the areas we have just covered?”