Personal Independence Payments (Wales)

Ian C. Lucas Excerpts

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Westminster Hall

[Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)]

I will be brief, Mr Owen, because I think it is very important that the Minister hears from as many Members as possible. I have a list in front of me of cases involving my constituents who have come to me. I raised the issue initially with the Minister through written questions back in January, and I have raised it in the Chamber, too. This is a massive problem for those individuals. We have heard about a number of individual cases already, and rather than recounting individual cases in Wrexham, I will make a brief point about competence and responsibility.

The personal independence payment system was introduced by this Government—by the Conservatives and their Liberal Democrat allies—and the system has failed. Individuals come to our constituency offices in great personal distress. They are the type of individuals whom we want to see supported by our tax system, and I know that that feeling goes across the House. The reason that we pay our taxes is to support vulnerable people.

The Government chose to change the system and they must take responsibility for that choice. They chose the company that would deliver the system, and they must take responsibility for that choice. The system does not work. We, as Members of Parliament, are representing constituents and making telephone calls to the Department for Work and Pensions and to Capita, and dealing with cases to give people their entitlement. It is not something that they do not deserve—it is their entitlement. We want a system, and they deserve a system, that is satisfactory and that works.

I have respect for the Minister. He has responded to the issues and individual cases that I have raised with him, but the Department has introduced a number of different systems that are causing enormous distress to vulnerable people in our constituencies. It must start taking responsibility, because the people whom we represent deserve to be supported. To date, there is no indication whatever that the situation is going to change. The strength of feeling expressed in this debate is clear and sets out to the Government and to the Minister the depth of anger that there is in our constituency offices.

Will the Minister please take on board the individual cases? We are working on behalf of those constituents and we hope he will, too. However, will he also look at the system? If the system continues to fail, and if it continues to fail those individuals, we will begin to doubt the Government’s motivation in supplying the system. We will begin to ask whether they actually want to support vulnerable people, or whether this is all about saving money in order to ensure that those individuals do not have support, and will wait and wait and eventually go away. They deserve our support, and I hope that the Government will change their approach and give it to them.