Business of the House Debate

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Department: Leader of the House

Business of the House

Brandon Lewis Excerpts
Thursday 17th February 2011

(13 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Young of Cookham Portrait Sir George Young
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There will be an opportunity on 10 March for the hon. Gentleman to put that question to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. In the meantime, I will raise the issue with him, and see whether we can get an answer before that.

Brandon Lewis Portrait Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth) (Con)
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May we have a debate on the Government’s Work programme, so that everyone in the House can better understand why the 5 million-odd people who have been trapped on benefits for the best part of a decade will be better off under this Government’s approach than under Labour’s approach, which simply did not work?

Lord Young of Cookham Portrait Sir George Young
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Under Labour, roughly 1.5 million people spent most of the last decade on out-of-work benefits, and that benefit system cost every working family some £3,000. The Work programme will focus on encouraging people to get into work and reforming the welfare system, and it will have much better results than the programmes that preceded it.