Julie Hilling
Main Page: Julie Hilling (Labour - Bolton West)Department Debates - View all Julie Hilling's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(11 years ago)
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Vince Cable
I have said that the cuts in capital spending have been too deep. The Chancellor has acknowledged that and changes were made in the autumn statement and the Budget. The hon. Gentleman seems to forget that the decision to slash capital budgets by half was made by the outgoing Labour Government in 2010.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
How many of the jobs that have been created are so-called workfare jobs in which people are supposedly employed but there is no pay?
Vince Cable
There is no such activity in Britain. There were cases of people working without pay and my colleague, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, intervened to stop that practice operating on the back of the benefits system.
We acknowledge that there is one category of people among whom unemployment is worryingly high: young people. The Leader of the Opposition focused on that issue. About 1 million young people are unemployed. That figure is worrying, but we should recall that the level of young people’s unemployment, which is approaching 20%, is virtually the same as the level we inherited.
It is also worth recalling that a third of the figure is made up of full-time students. It has always struck me as a little odd that we regard full-time students as unemployed, but that is what the statistics show. If we strip that out, there is still a significant level of youth unemployment, which is worrying.
It is useful, as I did on the wider figures, to contrast youth unemployment in this country with that in comparable countries. In France, youth unemployment is 24%, in Sweden, which perhaps should be a role model, it is 24%, in Italy it is 35% and in Spain it is 45%. The Economist, as some Members will know, has been running a series on the global problem of youth unemployment. We share that problem, but in many ways we are outperforming comparable economies.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
A few weeks ago I sat in the Chamber listening to the Budget debate. My overwhelming memory is of the Chancellor sitting on the Front Bench looking like a little boy lost, with no idea what to do about a flatlining economy, the loss of our triple A status or the level of borrowing, and no idea how to balance the books. So he delivered a Budget that did none of that, sitting on his hands, hoping that things would just happen.
After that disappointment, one might think that I would learn, but sadly not. I listened to the Queen deliver the Gracious Speech, hoping that she would tell us about the action Her Government would take to improve life for my constituents. It seemed to start pretty well:
“My Government’s legislative programme will continue to focus on building a stronger economy”.
I frowned a little at the word “continue”, because after three years they seem to have failed to build anything, but still I sat in hope. She continued:
“It will also work to promote a fairer society that rewards people who work hard.”
Well, we all agree with that. She went on:
“My Government is committed to building an economy where people who work hard are properly rewarded. It will therefore continue to reform the benefits system, helping people move from welfare to work.”
I frowned a little at that, too. As I see it, their reforms of the benefits system are not helping people to move from welfare to work; they are making them move to food banks and to skip meals so that family members can eat. If they are even more unfortunate, they might be one of the families who have been made homeless.
Even so, I waited to hear what the Government would actually do to build our economy. I waited and waited—I did not have to wait long, because in less than 10 minutes the speech was over—but there were no answers and no relief for my constituents. There was a little tinkering, but it was yet another wasted opportunity from this failing Government. They are out of touch and out of ideas.
How much evidence do the Government need that their policies are failing? The International Monetary Fund says that growth in the UK is slower than in 23 of the 33 advanced economies it monitors. Olivier Blanchard, its chief economist, warned the Chancellor that he is “playing with fire” by refusing to change course. However, there was nothing in the speech to address the IMF’s call to boost growth and rethink the speed of the deficit reduction. Starting to build HS2 in a few years, welcome though that is in Bolton West, will do nothing to build the economy now.
On the same day that the Queen delivered that terribly thin speech, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that 1 million more children will descend into poverty as a direct result of benefit policies. Simply saying that people should work hard and blaming the poor for the situation they find themselves in is an insult. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that 6.1 million people living in poverty are in working households, 6.4 million people lack the paid work they want and 1.4 million part-time workers want full-time work, the highest figure in 20 years.
The Government like to boast that they have created over 1 million new jobs, but they do not tell us how many of those jobs are a direct transfer from the public sector or how many are unpaid. Unbelievably, workfare jobs, where people work for their dole, are counted as jobs created. Despite the Secretary of State’s denial, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility unpaid work experience and work placements make up 14% of those so-called new jobs. The Government do not tell us how many of those jobs are on are zero-hour contracts or how many are part time, and they do not tell us how many of them no longer exist because the business has failed or downsized.
The Government like to peddle the myth that the 2.5 million people who are out of work and the 1 million young people who do not have jobs are skivers and shirkers. The reality is that millions of people are desperate for work and there is a substantial churn of people in poverty or out of work. Although 18% of people are on a low income at any one time, one in three of us experience at least one period on a low income in a four-year period, and 11% of people are on a low income for more than half of those four years. More people are out of work under this Government than were when they took office, and the flagship Work programme gets only two in every 100 people into work—fewer than if the Government had done nothing at all.
Tax credits have been cut so hard that a previous Work and Pensions Minister revealed that some families with children could be £728 a year better off if they were out of work. The Department for Work and Pensions impact assessment reveals that universal credit will fail to make work pay for 2.1 million workers and that real wages are down by £1,700 since the election. The welfare bill has continued to go up since the financial crash and is increasing in real terms by 2% each year. Borrowing is going up and unemployment is set to rise even higher.
Of course, the Government like to blame Labour for everything. According to them, the Labour Government caused the global economic crash—a crash that started in America and spread to the rest of the world. They like to say that we did not fix the roof while the sun was shining, but they forget that the Labour Government paid off the second world war debt, built hundreds of new schools and hospitals, and invested more in the railways than the so-called record spending that this Government currently claim. At the time of the general election we had growth of 0.7%, unemployment was falling, and the deficit was coming down.
The Government need to start to take responsibility for a double-dip recession, for soaring borrowing, and for failing to meet every one of their predictions on growth, borrowing and deficit reduction, yet they carry on with their failed policies. Have they never heard the old adage, “You can’t cut your way out of a recession”? They need to take action to grow the economy. Building homes would be a good place to start, as would ensuring that businesses get the finance they need with a British investment bank.
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Steve Webb)
I do not know whether the hon. Lady is aware that when she stood for election in 2010 her party set out spending plans for this Parliament that involved substantial spending cuts.
Julie Hilling
Absolutely; I am well aware of that. In fact, we said that we would halve the deficit over this four-year period. The Government said that they were going to cut it completely in one term, but they are not even three quarters of the way there yet. They told my local council that it would have to find £20 million-worth of cuts over the course of the Parliament. It has already had to find £100 million-worth of cuts. That is the difference between a planned deficit reduction and planned action for growth and a Government who sit there saying, “If we cut, something miraculous will happen to grow our economy.”
Julie Hilling
That is the million dollar question. I have no idea why the Government will not take responsibility. They like to trot out the same old line that it is all the Labour party’s fault, but they must start to take responsibility.
We can all see the cost of the Government’s policies for the poorest in our communities, who are being hit not only in their pockets but by cuts in the services they depend on. We can see the consequences of cuts to in-work benefits, no pay rises, and rising inflation for those who used to feel comfortably off. We all know that there are only two ways to balance a budget: cut expenditure or increase income.
The Government’s cuts are harming not only individuals and their communities but the economy. A recent Financial Times study showed that cuts in social security payments would take £19 billion out of the economy. However, it is not just about social security spending. The low-paid spend more of their income, so less money in the community means more jobs lost, which means more people on benefits, and more jobs lost again—a downward spiral. The only way to reverse that spiral is to grow the economy by investing in properly paid jobs so that people are not dependent on social security but are instead paying into the coffers.
The Government do not have any real answers to the problems that we face. Unemployment in my constituency is up. One in 10 people in Greater Manchester skips meals so that family members can eat. Nationally, homelessness and rough sleeping are up by a third, and Shelter says that every 15 minutes another family is made homeless. The economy may be flatlining, but people’s incomes and spending are not. The Office for Budget Responsibility has said that in 2015 people will be worse off than they were in 2010. Wages are £1,700 lower than in May 2010.
Behind those figures are real people having a desperately hard time—people who are losing their homes, having to choose between heating and eating, and relying on food banks to feed themselves and their children. The people of Bolton West are struggling, and many are more than struggling—they are finding it hard to survive day to day. The Government blame them and are hell-bent on making the situation worse. They say that they have to cut the welfare budget but neglect to say that the majority of that budget is made up of pensions and in-work benefits. That does not fit the picture they are trying to portray of the skivers who are ruining the economy. They forget to say that jobseeker’s allowance accounts for less than 5% of the budget and that cutting benefit not only forces people to food banks but harms the economy. They forget to tell us that the private rented sector is far more costly than social housing. They will do nothing to introduce fair rents and nothing to curb the cost of private rented accommodation; they simply cap benefits in the hope that that might just bring down the rents. They introduce a bedroom tax that drives people to desperation.
The Government refuse to acknowledge that the work capability assessments that are conducted on ill and disabled people are fundamentally flawed. Even people who are too ill to leave their homes are being found fit for work. People who have lost their jobs through illness or disability are being told that they should get a job, but jobcentres will not sign them on for jobseeker’s allowance because they are too ill to work. Even though our staff are dealing with suicidal constituents on a daily basis, the Government accuse us of blowing the situation out of proportion.
Mrs Hodgson
My hon. Friend is making a fantastic, powerful and moving speech. Is she aware of other cases like my constituent Michael Moore, who was classed as fit for work and died less than 18 months later, or was that an isolated case?
Julie Hilling
If only that tragic case was an isolated one. There are many more people who have committed suicide after being told that they are fit for work or who have died between being told that they are fit for work and their appeal. That is a tragedy. The system is cruel and heartless, but the Government will not listen or say that they have to do something about it.
The Government blame migrants for unemployment but do nothing to enforce the national minimum wage, tackle the agencies that recruit only from abroad, or deal with the abuse of inflated accommodation charges for vastly overcrowded houses being taken out of people’s wages.
The Government have proposed a deregulation Bill. I shudder every time I hear those words. Of course we should get rid of unnecessary burdens on business, make compliance with legislation as simple as possible and listen to the concerns and proposals of businesses, but every time this Government have proposed changes, they have eroded the hard-fought-for rights of workers.
Julie Hilling
My hon. Friend makes a very good point. That fits with the Government’s pattern of not looking at the reality and not talking to people who work at the coal face or the chalkboard—the people who actually do the job and know what is needed.
The proposal to exempt self-employed people from health and safety law may sound reasonable, but it will not be if it means that corners are cut, lives are lost and the cost to the taxpayer for hospital treatment and disability benefit increases. Perhaps I will be pleasantly shocked and the proposals will be fair to both employer and employee—we live in hope.
There are many things that the Government could have done to bring growth to the economy, to give 2.5 million people the dignity of work and to give a decent standard of living to those who are too ill or disabled to work. It is a pity that they have wasted yet another opportunity.
Before I sit down, I must bring up one more issue. The Government have failed to take the opportunity to introduce holistic legislation to tackle dangerous dogs. Although the proposal to extend the legislation to cover dog attacks on private property is welcome, the lack of proposals to promote responsible ownership and prevent dog attacks is more than disappointing.
Each year, there are 210,000 dog attacks and more than 6,000 people are admitted to hospital, often suffering life-changing injuries. On average, 12 postal workers are attacked each day. The NHS spends £3 million on treating the victims of dog attacks and local authorities spend £57 million on kennelling costs. There have been nine deaths since 2006, the last of which was that of my constituent, 14-year-old Jade Lomas-Anderson.
The last Government started a consultation on dangerous dogs that closed in June 2010. There was a consensus among organisations including the Kennel Club, the Dogs Trust, the RSPCA, the Royal College of Nursing, the British Veterinary Association and the Communication Workers Union that dog control notices should be introduced. Those would give the responsible officer the ability to instruct an owner to keep their dog muzzled, on a lead or away from children; to order the owner and dog to undertake training; and potentially to reduce the number of dogs in a particular household. That would be good for the community and for the welfare of the animals. There was also a call to extend the legislation to cover attacks on other animals and to restrict the number of puppies that are bred by unlicensed breeders.
The Government said no to all of that. They are missing an opportunity to introduce holistic legislation that would protect not only the community, but dogs themselves. None of this will help Jade, but one thing is certain: inaction will mean that there will be more attacks and that more families will suffer the terrible tragedy of the death or injury of a loved one. I ask the Government to reconsider their position. I will certainly be campaigning for vast improvements to their very limited proposals.
Rushanara Ali
What can I say to my hon. Friend but, “Well said”? I wish the Minister would take these issues more seriously. Instead of tackling the substantive problem of child poverty, his colleagues in the Treasury have decided to redefine it. As with many things the Government are doing, they find it is easier to meddle with the figures and interfere with the statistics—rewrite them, even. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is not in his place. He has just had his wrists slapped once again by the Office for National Statistics for meddling with the statistics.
The Government should rebuild trust with the British people by coming clean on these issues. They should not try to rewrite the figures, but actually do something about child poverty, an issue that is of great concern to families and to all people. Doing so would address the point, made by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon North (Mr Reed), that the Conservative party is not just in the business of pretending to change on these substantial issues. We live in hope, although there is not much of that left.
The Government’s approach to child poverty and the response of the Minister highlight how out of touch they are. If he and his colleagues cannot understand the seriousness of falling living standards and rising levels of child poverty—to name but two issues—and what they mean for ordinary people’s lives, I cannot understand how we are to trust them to get us out of the economic mess that they have put us in over the past three years. It is their mess: they need to clean it up and they have categorically failed to do so.
Julie Hilling
Does my hon. Friend agree that many Government Members do not have an understanding of what the cuts to living standards mean? It is not that people cannot just go to the pub one night a week. The cuts mean that people cannot feed their children, that there is no food in the cupboard and that they go to bed hungry. Does she agree that it does not feel like Government Members understand that that is what it is like?
Rushanara Ali
With a Cabinet full of millionaires, I think the empathy will be limited, but I hope that those Cabinet millionaires speak to Government Members who come from the kind of background that means they might have some understanding. If they even talked to some of their own colleagues—such as the former shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis), who, I understand, grew up on a council estate, and raised the issue of the Government and the Prime Minister being out of touch—they might learn a thing or two about how people have to live their lives. If they paid attention to ordinary, poorer constituents, they might learn a thing or two about what it is like to live below the poverty line or to struggle on a modest income. The changes the Government have made in people’s incomes—a reduction of £1,700 a year—have had a devastating effect on families and children. [Interruption.] The Minister is heckling, but I cannot hear what he is saying. He is welcome to make an intervention. Does he wish to make an intervention? No. He does not have much to say.
Rushanara Ali
Perhaps the Secretary of State could start by demonstrating now and explaining why only 2% of participants have got jobs in my constituency. What is the reason for such a ridiculously small number, when there are so many people chasing apprenticeships and job opportunities? How can that be acceptable? Why is he so complacent? I thought he was interested in getting people off welfare and into work. It seems that he is interested only in attacking people, rather than helping them to get back into work. That is deeply disappointing. I had more hope that he would do something constructive to get people into work, given his track record in opposition and his efforts to get to know communities in our country and understand where the barriers were, but perhaps I should not have given him the benefit of the doubt.
Julie Hilling
Does my hon. Friend agree that the Secretary of State’s comment absolutely reinforces what seems to be his view that people are choosing to live a life on benefit rather than the fact that 2.5 million people are unemployed, the vast majority of whom would love to be in work? The benefit cap does not drive people into work; what gets people into work is the creation of jobs for which they can apply and then go and do.
Rushanara Ali
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. The crux of the matter is that the economy is flatlining and there is no prospect of people having a chance to get a foot on the employment ladder. Such opportunities as are available are too few. We need an economy that can grow and a Government who can act as quickly as possible to boost demand and reverse the trend we have seen. We need more genuine training and employment opportunities, particularly for young people.
I raised with the Business Secretary the issue of graduate unemployment, as this is another pool of talent that is being wasted in our country. I was the first in my family to go to university and many in my constituency are in the same position. They have worked hard, played by the rules and just want to make a contribution.