Lords
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Youth Unemployment
I reassure the noble Lord that we are indeed doing that. He is right that the fact that there has been a 40% reduction in young people starting apprenticeships over recent years is a shocking indictment of the previous Government’s approach to skills and the training of young people. That is why one…
Lords
Debate
15 October 2025
5 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, our principle generally is that the lowest level of government should make those decisions. To put it up to central government would be overloading central government. It would be like “Yes Minister” with a row of civil servants—bless them—dealing with something that has been sent up from …
My Lords, we are in a world of information-sharing and information-gathering, and this is where that starts and stops. Amendment 3 would ensure that
“information notices issued to banks and financial institutions include a clear statement that the person to whom the information relates is not neces…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 October 2025
Jobs Market
My Lords, as I am sure the noble Lord is very aware, there is a whole range of statistics. If he goes through the official statistics, he will see a wide range of data, each of which tells us something slightly different. He is right about nudging at payroll data, but I am absolutely right that empl…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 September 2025
Israel: Royal College of Defence Studies
The British military is the best in the world; it operates to the highest of standards, and we put our values into action every day through the actions of our military personnel. So, I agree it is very much to the benefit of all sides to have participation internationally at our defence college. Ver…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
2 contributions
Youth Unemployment
My Lords—
I have just talked about what happens with young people who are hidden NEETs, as he describes. Let me turn to those who are NEET who we do know about—for example, those on sickness or disability benefits. The Government are determined to transform that. The noble Lord will have seen our Pathways to …
Lords
Oral Questions
10 September 2025
Sickness Benefits: In-person Interviews
There are various ways in which you can do an assessment. The starting point is that assessments can be done on paper where there is clear medical evidence of somebody’s diagnosis and functional needs. Some of them are really straightforward. It may be for somebody who is nearer the end of life or s…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 September 2025
Child Poverty Strategy
My Lords, it is clear today that I cannot satisfy the whole House, whichever way I look. I understand the noble Lord’s position on this, but every time he raises it, he accuses the Government of sitting and pontificating and doing nothing. Perhaps he did not hear my last answer. This Government are …
Lords
Oral Questions
8 September 2025
Labour Market
The answer to the noble Lord’s question is no. The Government have had to take tough decisions and we knew that they would have some impact. However, all the signs are going in the right direction—there are real signs of progress out there. When it comes to part-time workers, I assure the noble Lord…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 July 2025
2 contributions
Pensions: Low-income and Self-employed Workers
My Lords—
The noble Lord is absolutely right. One of the challenges we have with the self-employed and those who have multiple jobs of a lower income is around how we can encourage them, and auto-enrolment is not the right vehicle for them. There are two things the Government are doing. First, it is part of t…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 July 2025
Jobs Market
The noble Lord will be aware that in the Employment Rights Bill we are undertaking a sector-wide, labour force-wide reassessment and review of employment status that will take into account employment, freelance, self-employment and contracted status. I understand the question. Going back to the orig…
Lords
Debate
22 July 2025
Universal Credit Bill
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions this evening. It has been a really interesting debate. I particularly thank the noble Baroness, Lady Shawcross-Wolfson. What an astonishing story and what an incredible heritage. I can only think that her forebears must be so very proud of he…
Lords
Debate
21 July 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
From these Benches, all I can say is that I echo those words. I hope that the Government have listened to the arguments about AI and will respond positively.
My Lords, the incredible thing about this amendment is that it has signatures and support from the Conservative Benches, the Labour Benches, the Liberal Democrat Benches and the Cross Benches. It is something the Government should take into account. It is not some weird idea from one part of this Ho…
Lords
Debate
16 July 2025
5 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I speak for these Benches in support of Amendment 97 from the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. Noble Lords will remember that it was regrouped, and I referred to it in an earlier debate, as so many of these issues are interlinked. Rightly, it introduces a right for parents to take paid …
My Lords, currently only a fully certified trade union representative or a colleague has the statutory right to accompany an employee to a hearing. In practice, this leaves the vast majority of workers in the UK—77.7%—to navigate proceedings alone or, worse, to be accompanied by an inappropriate com…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
14 July 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, Amendments 31 and 32 in my name relate to the often-ignored subject of kinship care. The amendments seek to introduce—at last—kinship care leave as a paid entitlement and to establish a legal definition of kinship care, which is something many people do not even think about. It is time to …
My Lords, I thank the Minister and the Government Benches, particularly for the kind and very true words about the activities of Sir Ed Davey in highlighting carers’ value to society. I thank my noble friend Lady Tyler, who explained—better than I did—about kinship carers and paid carer’s leave. I t…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 July 2025
Universal Credit: Two-child Limit
If the noble Lord is referring to the two-child limit, he will be aware that the policy was introduced not by a Labour Government but by a Conservative Government, and it is not a policy we would have introduced. We are working our way through the entire landscape we inherited. In tackling child pov…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
3 July 2025
Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2025
My Lords, I would like to make a point about why so many people across the UK, particularly young people, have joined Palestine Action. It is important that we recognise their frustrations at the current time. Direct action at military bases is nothing new, as many noble Lords have pointed out. Wels…
Lords
Proceedings
2 July 2025
Welfare Reform
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman-Scott, for introducing questions on the Statement. She quite rightly talks about missed opportunities of not only the current Government but the previous Government.
Welfare provision is a broken system. We should not proceed until we hear from the…
Lords
Committee Stage
25 June 2025
8 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, Amendment 122D, tabled by the noble Viscount, Lord Younger of Leckie, and moved and spoken to so fully by the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, would permit banks to recover the costs that they incur, as defined in the Bill. The principle behind the amendment is to recognise that, while banks pla…
My Lords, I support Amendment 123, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Lister of Burtersett, and others, which would bring the test for recovery of universal credit overpayments caused by official error into line with Regulation 100(2) of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006.
At present, the Departm…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
24 June 2025
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, Amendment 323E, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, is a curious but important proposal, addressing a very real challenge in the evolving world of work. The noble Lord, Lord Russell, pointed this out, as has the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, and the noble Lord, Lord Hendy.
The …
Lords
Debate
24 June 2025
3 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I will address Amendments 310, 311, 312 and 319, which collectively seek greater transparency on the economic consequences of this legislation.
Although I am afraid that I take no firm view on the amendments themselves, which were explained in great detail by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, an…
My Lords, in speaking to this group of amendments I note the sorry absence of my noble friend Lord Fox, whose contributions on these matters have always been thoughtful and constructive. Unfortunately, the Committee has me instead. I will focus in particular on Amendments 317 and 329, both tabled by…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
18 June 2025
10 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, as we consider Amendments 92 and 93 from the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, moved by the noble Lord, Lord Vaux, on his behalf, it is important to reflect on the balance between effective fraud prevention and the safeguarding of individual rights. Amendment 92 proposes that investigators’ powers o…
My Lords, as we turn to government Amendments 94 to 97, I wonder, as I always do when there are lots of government amendments to their own Bill, whether enough thought has gone into it in the other place.
I know that these proposals are primarily technical, with the key aim of simplifying the draft…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
16 June 2025
7 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, these amendments in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Sikka and Lord Vaux, on the information-gathering powers of the DWP, provide greater clarity and safeguards regarding the collection and consequences of information requests under the Bill.
Amendments 76 and 78 both address liability …
My Lords, I give my wholehearted support to the stand part notices in the name of my noble friend Lady Kramer who, as noble Lords might gather, is in the Chamber for the Employment Rights Bill—I should perhaps also be there, but that is why noble Lords have me and not my noble friend Lady Kramer.
T…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 June 2025
Winter Fuel Payment
I am not sure I entirely followed the noble Lord’s question. We have set out clearly what the policy is. All pensioners with incomes up to and including £35,000 will benefit from the support, as will all those on pension credit and certain other income-related benefits. The payment of £200 per house…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 June 2025
United Kingdom Jobs Market
I thank the noble Lord for his question. I am afraid I will repeat myself: a great deal of it will be delivered through the industrial strategy White Paper. We are looking at the sectors that will lead to the future economic growth of this country—advanced manufacturing, clean energy, the creative i…
Lords
Committee Stage
11 June 2025
10 contributions
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
My Lords, the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, and the noble Viscount, Lord Younger of Leckie, raise important considerations about procedural fairness and transparency in the implementation of the Bill. Amendment 60A, which would allow applicants to request a review into the exis…
My Lords, Amendments 61C and 61D in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, and the noble Viscount, Lord Younger, seek to ensure that liable persons receive clear written communication regarding the outcomes of reviews and that Ministers demonstrate due consideration of wider circumstances when …
+8 more contributions in this session