Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Glyn Davies(11 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Duncan Smith
The contract is working very well across the board at the moment. About 99% of all claimants are getting their money as required at the right time, and 95% are within 1 mile of outlets, or within 5 miles in rural areas. It is, therefore, better than the previous system and it is also cheaper. The last cheque system cost £30 million and was defrauded to the cost of about £5 million; this costs about £7 million.
Immediate responsibility for the individual mentioned by my hon. Friend lies with PayPoint and the bank. They have a responsibility to ensure that cash is available at every location. We take them to task over that and they will have to make restitution.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
17. What plans he has to support disabled entrepreneurs.
Mr Duncan Smith
The best thing for me to do is to ensure that I write to the hon. Lady properly and place the reply in the Library of the House.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
T7. Last week we discussed in the House the treatment of women across the world. To deliver equality and fairness of treatment in the United Kingdom, we must ensure equal access to work and remuneration. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important to make a continuing assessment of the number of women in work?
Romanians and Bulgarians (Benefits)
Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Glyn Davies(11 years, 2 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Duncan Smith
We need to reach an agreement within that time scale, so I really am going to push the accelerator pedal down. I have already called for an urgent meeting with those other countries that have agreed to meet us to discuss the issue. We also need to talk to the Commission. The Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban), is hugely responsible for this area, and I will do whatever I can in an arbitrary manner to make sure that nothing else takes place.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
We need a society in which immigration takes place at a level and on the conditions that the people of Britain, with their typical generosity, find acceptable. Does my right hon. Friend agree, however, that unless we develop a firm grip on immigration and pay benefits only according to the rules set by this Parliament, we will not achieve a settled society in Britain?
Mr Duncan Smith
The whole point is that there is a contract between those who pay their taxes and those who need to receive benefits. That is implicit in everything we do in regard to welfare payments in the UK, and it should be implicit in the way the European Commission looks at individual nation states and understands their relationships with their own citizens. That is the issue that I want to take forward. The Commission needs to think carefully about driving hard just on free movement, without recognising that individual countries have very different systems. We need the leeway to implement those systems as necessary while still observing free movement for those who want to become employed.