Credit Unions

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

Order. I remind Members to bob if they wish to speak.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

Order. If Members can keep their speeches to five or six minutes—we are doing okay—then everyone will get a chance to speak before the wind-ups.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

It is always a great pleasure to serve under you, Mr Twigg, and I apologise for nearly knocking you over on my bicycle first thing this morning.

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

I forgive you.

[Mark Garnier]

Thank goodness I was called to speak after all.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) on securing this debate. It has been fascinating to listen to all the great words used to describe credit unions. We have heard them described as lifeline services, community builders and financial educators that help to get people on to the road to financial stability, and as engines of economic inclusion. There is no doubt about it: credit unions are truly remarkable institutions. At their heart, they represent, in its simplest form, how and why the financial sector drives growth. They are the first rung on the ladder in the financial system. They take the savings entrusted by members, brought together by a common bond, pool those funds and turn them into everything from very simple loans, to pay for school uniforms, as we have heard, all the way up to mortgages. Those loans often go to individuals and families who would otherwise find the doors to mainstream financial institutions closed. Credit unions’ commitment to financial inclusion and community values are an example that many parts of the wider financial sector could definitely learn from.

I am pleased to note that over the past decade, under the previous Government, credit unions have consolidated and grown. In Great Britain, the number of members rose by a third between 2014 and 2024. More than 2.3 million people are members, up from 1.5 million in 2014, so while the number of credit unions in operation has decreased, that reflects strategic mergers that have created larger, more resilient and more professional institutions. Their asset base has also expanded—it now totals nearly £5 billion in the UK—and their lending book stands at £1.83 billion as of the fourth quarter of 2024. The impact of credit unions stretches far beyond the balance sheet. Studies show that £1 invested into a credit union can translate to between £11 and £19 of value generated in the wider community, yet despite these strengths, it is clear that further growth is being held back.

A major barrier to growth is a geographical common bond, as we have heard one or two Members mention. That prevents credit unions from serving large city regions such as London, the west midlands or Greater Manchester as a single entity. I welcome the Government’s publication of a call for evidence last year on common bond reform. However, the call for evidence is unclear about the Government’s position on expanding the geographical common bond, so I would definitely welcome the Minister’s views on raising the cap from 3 million to at least 10 million people, as called for by the Building Societies Association and others. That would not only unblock the growth of credit unions in major urban areas, but allow for strategic mergers and expansions, helping the sector to respond to local need at scale.

From my own meetings with the credit union industry, I know that consolidation has improved professionalism, resilience and standards across the board. However, to truly unlock growth potential, we must enable greater investment into credit union service organisations. It is positive that the Prudential Regulation Authority recently clarified that credit unions can own these service organisations. However, further Government support, especially relaxing ownership and capital restrictions, could unleash digital transformation and help credit unions to modernise their services.

I note and appreciate that the Minister has also asked the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA to publish a report on the mutuals landscape by the end of this year. That is a welcome intervention, but can the Minister confirm whether it will deliver a root and branch review of credit union legislation, and in particular the Credit Union Act 1979? As we have heard, credit unions in the USA, Ireland and Canada have flourished under a very different legal framework, which I hope the Government will scrutinise and learn from. I also hope the review can look at central facilities. By pooling liquidity through a central facility, credit unions could manage risk more effectively and provide an even stronger backbone for local lenders. Similarly, do the Government have appetite to allow credit unions to access Bank of England reserve accounts and the sterling monetary framework, bringing them into line with other financial institutions of a similar size?

I will draw my words to a close in a second, but first I gently remind the Minister that the Government were elected last year—quite wholeheartedly—on a pledge to double the size of the co-operative and mutual sector. It is the morning after the night before, when members of the Treasury team are no doubt nursing hangovers from a fantastic dinner last night at the Mansion House. It is notable that during the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech, which I think was very much welcomed by the City of London, the co-operative and mutual sector was not mentioned. I would be grateful if the Minister put that wrong right by addressing these points.

All the evidence suggests that credit unions are a potential growth engine for communities. By introducing a modern legal framework, progressive common bond reform and investment into service organisations, we can help this sector to continue to flourish.

Welfare Reform

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

I fundamentally disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s proposition. Our changes are rooted in the clear principles that those who can work should work and need the support to do so, and those who cannot work should be protected, but that we need a system that is fair and sustainable. I do not believe that we can wait while disabled people in this country who want to work are denied the opportunities to do so. We cannot have a system where one in eight young people is not in education, employment or training, with all the terrible long-term consequences that brings. We cannot see one in 10 of our fellow citizens trapped out of work and economically inactive, because that is not a good future for them or for our country.

[Derek Twigg (Widnes and Halewood) (Lab)]

We already know that the Bill as published was flawed, because of the changes that have been made in the past few days and announced today. I welcome the wider review of PIP and the consultation with disabled people, their organisations and clinicians, but given the wider review and that the Timms review is yet to report, why are we pushing ahead at this stage?

[Liz Kendall]

Because we have to begin to reform the welfare state, to help those who can work to do so, to protect those who cannot and to begin to put our welfare state on a more sustainable footing. The Bill protects existing claimants—they will not be affected by the changes. It ensures that people have a right to try, and that those with severe, lifelong conditions never face reassessment. It comes alongside the biggest-ever employment support for sick and disabled people. Together, this is a fair and balanced package that meets the needs of existing claimants and reforms the welfare state for the future.

Autumn Statement Resolutions

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Monday 27th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The first duty of any Government is to defend the country and keep its citizens safe, but the autumn statement had nothing to say about strengthening our military capabilities at a time of real concern about the size of our armed forces. We are facing a real crisis in recruitment and retention at a time when our armed forces are running hot, straining themselves to meet growing commitments with less. The defence of the UK starts in Ukraine. We should be stepping up support to help Ukraine through the winter and into 2024, but the Prime Minister is stepping back from UK leadership in Ukraine with no new military funding next year.

My constituents in Halton are looking on in despair as the Government again fail to provide the real-terms support to help them get through the toughest of times. This autumn statement is yet another crushing disappointment at a time when many people in my constituency and across the country consider whether they can afford to heat their homes, pay for food, or even meet the basic cost of staying in their own homes.

The Chancellor seems to have no idea about what matters to real people every day. We know that spiralling energy bills are causing huge anxiety for millions of people. The Chancellor has touted his national insurance cut as a “victory for working people”, but it will be wiped out immediately by the 5% increase in the energy price cap. Citizens Advice tells me that more than 50% of clients seeking debt advice are spending more money on essential bills and costs than they have coming in, and in Halton that figure is significantly higher. In 2023, Citizens Advice in Halton supported 1,713 clients to access the local food bank or other localised social welfare groups. That is almost as many as it assisted in 2019, 2020 and 2021 combined.

The autumn statement also provides little comfort to those who worry about how the Tory mortgage bombshell will continue to affect them. Average rents have increased by 25% since 2019, but the local housing allowance has remained static since April 2022. People need immediate help. By April, many more people will have been evicted. Our local housing list is stretched to breaking point, and, thanks to a lack of action by the Government, that list is getting longer by the day.

People need immediate help. The latest figures from Halton Borough Council state that we have had 3,156 homeless presentations, an increase of more than 50% on the previous year. Due to the increase in homelessness, there is extreme pressure on the local authority to secure temporary accommodation for homeless residents, but unfortunately demand far outstrips supply.

How can the Chancellor claim to be helping working people when so many people have to rely on charity simply to put food on the table? According to End Child Poverty, 32.1% of children in my constituency are living in poverty. The Resolution Foundation says that personal taxes are going up, not down, with the tax cuts announced in the autumn statement dwarfed by the previously announced tax rises in the form of the freezing of national insurance and income tax thresholds for six years.

Charities are also on the frontline when it comes to supporting those in the community who face hardship through illness. Marie Curie illustrates the harrowing reality when it tells us that, each year, 90,000 people die in poverty in the UK. The Chancellor insists that the best way to tackle poverty is through work, but what does he say to those who are far too seriously unwell to work and will die before they are old enough to claim their state pension? Where is the targeted support for them? Will he commit to exempting terminally ill people from having to look for work?

The Chancellor has done nothing to address the crisis in local government funding. On a population basis, Halton has lost £899 per resident, while the national average cut is £581 per resident, a difference of £318. Therefore, Halton’s reduction in funding per head of population has been 55% greater than the national average—a terrible thing for local authorities to cope with. Councils continue to buckle under the strain of rocketing demand for social care. To give a local example, 28% of delayed discharges at Whiston Hospital are Halton people who require some form of social care.

Areas that see increased demand need increased support. I continue to hear from families who cannot access specialist support for their children in school. Once again, education has been left by the wayside. SEN is in crisis. These are some of our most vulnerable children. Local authorities and schools have no idea how to keep up with demand. They and the children’s families are in crisis. On top of that, school transport budgets for children with special educational needs and disabilities will become unsustainable for local authorities nationwide as costs are predicted to triple to over £1.1 billion over the course of this decade. According to Stop School Cuts, every school in my constituency faces cuts to its spending power. Again, the Chancellor failed to do anything about that in the autumn statement.

As a result, schools will have to reduce their educational provision, for example by increasing class sizes or reducing individual support. Time and again, constituents have contacted me to complain that the most basic services are unavailable to them. Last month, we lost one of our only remaining dentists who provided NHS treatment. A huge number of patients scramble to access emergency dentistry. That is an utter disgrace. Other constituents are facing years-long waits for operations, while some report that they are unable to access mental health services. That is what is happening in reality on the ground, which the Chancellor’s autumn statement completely ignored.

After 13 years of Tory Government, what is their economic legacy? People across the country face the highest tax burden since the second world war, mainly because of the five-year freeze of personal allowances. Households will see the biggest fall in living standards since the 1950s. Growth forecasts are dire. For far too many people, the only growth that they will see is that of poverty. The Government have no answers. They have failed to address Britain’s long-standing productivity problem. Public services are in crisis. Nothing works. It is a record of unbelievable incompetence by the Government. The autumn statement offers no prospect of change. We know that the time has come for change, but more importantly, the British people know it and they want to get rid of this failing and incompetent Tory Government.

Cost of Living Support

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Tuesday 20th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove]

The hon. Lady and I have previously had exchanges on carer’s allowance, and the approach we take is to consider that when we have our deliberations on annual uprating. We will make modification to that when it is affordable and appropriate, but I hear her representation. I also congratulate her on the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, which introduces an important change. I know that a lot of effort went into that behind the scenes, and I congratulate her on it.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

I cannot recall a time when so many families and individuals have contacted my office because they cannot afford to live, whether that is being able to buy food, heat the house, or do other things as a family. We have seen the start of a fall in energy prices, but the fact remains that for the foreseeable future they will be much higher than they were before the start of this crisis. We are also seeing problems with interest rates and various other pressures on families. In particular, rents are outstripping local housing allowance by a considerable amount in my local area, and people are being evicted. On the housing front, pressures from interest rates are starting to bite, and people cannot afford the rents that are now being charged in the private sector. What is the Minister going to do about that?

[Tom Pursglove]

On that specific point, I draw the hon. Gentleman’s attention to the points I made earlier about some of the ongoing work, but I will also ask my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies) to provide him with a response to that question, because I know she is engaging with colleagues elsewhere in the Government around those challenges.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Monday 19th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mel Stride]

I agree entirely with my right hon. Friend. Some of the most significant measures in the Budget, particularly on helping people get into work, were the childcare measures that the Chancellor announced. Within UC, that means that the up-front payment difficulty has been removed. Of course, there has been a 47% increase in the maximum amounts available to those seeking to pay for childcare through UC.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The benefit system is an important part of helping and incentivising people to get back into work, but an increasing problem is the amount of time people are on hospital waiting lists, preventing them from getting themselves fit to get back into work. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Health Secretary about helping people get back into work and dealing with very long waiting times?

[Mel Stride]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. There is no doubt that mental health and musculoskeletal issues in particular underpin part of the recent growth in economic inactivity. My Department is very engaged with the Department of Health and Social Care on those matters, not least in the piloting of Work Well, which brings together health-based solutions with employment support and universal support, which we will roll out to tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.

Child Maintenance Services

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2023 Westminster Hall

[Jamie Stone]

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. I think I can safely speak for all members of the APPG in saying that we would endorse what has just been said and we would gladly look at her Bill. One of the most encouraging aspects of the work—early as it is—of this new APPG is the cross-party support that there is for it. Regardless of political colour, there is a recognition that there is something very wrong and I am sure that we can improve that.

I will re-emphasise my opening point that currently the CMS is not working for anybody. In my own office, the bulk of cases come from constituents who are paying parents and who are being unfairly treated by the CMS. We have found that it is often the case for parents who have shared care that one parent has the child for more days than the other and is entitled to various child benefits but then asks for maintenance on top of that, despite the other parent caring for the child for two to three days a week without receiving any support from the Government. So there are different ways of looking at this issue.

In my office, we have also seen cases where parents have been making their payments properly and on time, but they have had those payments treated as being “voluntary”, and so they are not counted towards assessed payments.

It is clear that we need a fundamental overhaul of the way that the CMS works, so that it better protects receiving parents from economic abuse and the threat of poverty, and so that paying parents are not being unnecessarily chased by the CMS for payments they do not owe. This would require a proper and thorough understanding of domestic and economic abuse, a fundamental link between the DWP and HMRC, and an urgent review of the internal administrative efficiency of the CMS.

In closing, I will simply say that I make these remarks in this place in all sincerity and I hope that we can move forward on a cross-party basis, with help from His Majesty’s Government, to tackle this issue, which cuts deeply into many people’s lives and for the worse.

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

May I just remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called to speak in this debate?

DWP Risk Review Team

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Wednesday 26th January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

Before I call Kate Osamor to move the motion, I inform Members that this debate will conclude no later than 4.55 pm.

[Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the Department for Work and Pensions’ Risk Review Team.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. Today, I will talk about the Department for Work and Pensions risk review team, which was set up in May 2020. The DWP states that the team’s role is to

“review and take action on cases identified”

by the integrated risk and intelligence service as being “a high fraud risk.”

I was first alerted to the team’s existence in October 2021, when my constituency office began to receive contact from what would become a total of 29 constituents who had had their universal credit payments suspended indefinitely under almost identical circumstances. Those constituents are all Bulgarian nationals and tend to have either settled status or pre-settled status. Time and again, my office was told that the cases were under the management of the risk review team, with little to no further explanation of the reason, apart from some claims of suspicion of fraud. Constituents told me that their claims were suspended for months on end—as long as 11 months, in the worst case. Although that particular constituent’s claim has now been restored, they have received no compensation for the hardship caused.

The DWP provides no timeframe for the completion of the reviews, nor a right of appeal. A significant number of those constituents are single mothers who work part time. This situation has left them in a completely crippling financial position and pushed many into serious destitution—relying on food banks, facing eviction from their homes and racking up serious amounts of debt. One constituent, whom I will call Maria, is a constituent of mine only after she lost her home in Liverpool as a result of having her benefits suspended, and subsequently moved to Edmonton.

From the cases my office has been handling, a number of constituents have since had their universal credit payments restored and backdated, as there was no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Monday 11th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman, the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, for his question. He knows that we introduced an agile, dynamic online system because the legacy benefits system, which was largely paper-based, was fraught with issues and errors. That is why we moved over. Notwithstanding the points that he has made, I stress that the previous, paper-based system, which relied on face-to-face contact, would not have coped in this situation. It is because of universal credit that we have been able to process more than 2 million claims since mid-March.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

What recent discussions local officials of her Department have had with operators of food banks on referral of benefit claimants to food banks during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Will Quince) [V]]

Ministers and officials have had regular discussions with food bank providers and other stakeholders during this time. Flexibility and innovation in local jobcentre arrangements for signposting to food banks, within the parameters of the existing guidance, is encouraged during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Derek Twigg [V]]

[Inaudible.] In my constituency, the jobcentre is not referring people to the Widnes food bank. It is important that the Minister intervenes and ensures that referrals do take place so that the people who need help get it quickly.

[Mr Speaker]

Minister, did you get any of that?

Supporting Disabled People to Work

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 28th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend, who has worked tirelessly in the area, and that is exactly why the Secretary of State has been so passionate about saying that our target has to be ambitious. We owe it to every single one of those individuals looking for work, whether full-time work or the occasional bit of work. It makes a huge difference and we are incredibly proud that the number of disabled people in work has risen by 930,000 in the last five years—a record high.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The report says that people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities fare worse than the rest. A number of parents in my constituency who have young people with learning difficulties in adult education find it very difficult and are in despair that their children are not going to find work. What more can the Government do to ensure that efforts are particularly focused on young people with disabilities getting into work?

[Justin Tomlinson]

That is very important because those with learning disabilities have about a 6% expectancy of finding work. Very early on in my time as a disability Minister, I met some young adults with a learning disability who desperately wanted that chance and that is what drove me to set up the Maynard review with my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), so we could unlock the potential of the apprenticeship programme. I am delighted that last year that came live and now people with learning disabilities who would not necessarily have got the grade C in maths and English are benefiting from apprenticeships, giving them a real, tangible chance of getting the work they so desperately want.

Pension Equality for Women

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 14th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris]

I completely agree. We have debated this issue many times—perhaps 29 or 30—in the Chamber and Westminster Hall, and we have been incredibly active over the past few months. Early-day motion 63 has 195 signatures, while an e-petition that was laid before Parliament attracted 109,000 signatures, and that number continues to grow. A Westminster Hall debate was so oversubscribed that some Members were sitting on the window ledges.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate and his tireless work in supporting this cause. I certainly support the call for fair transitional state pension arrangements for all WASPI women, but a number of options have been suggested. Will my hon. Friend be dealing with those in his speech?

[Grahame Morris]

Absolutely. There are a number of options. There are things that the Minister could do immediately to mitigate and alleviate the worst hardship that is being suffered. This is a matter of concern throughout the House, as is demonstrated by the number of signatures to the early-day motion, and representations have been made from every UK nation and region, as well as every political party in the House.