Welfare Expenditure

Lord Bird Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord and I agree on one thing, which is that we have a shared objective—that all those who can work, should work. The job of the state is to make that possible, to give them the support they need and to help them get into jobs, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are investing £2.5 billion in the youth guarantee and expanding the growth and skills levy. We have already rebalanced universal credit to make sure that the incentives are in the right place, so that people are moving into work and are better off in work. We are overhauling jobcentres so that they are places where you go to sign up for work. We are investing in personalised work programmes for those who have health and skills challenges. I absolutely agree with the noble Lord, and that is exactly what this Government are doing.

[Lord Bird (CB)]

It is wonderful to hear all the things the Government are doing once people have fallen into poverty, but what are they doing, and what is their thinking, about the prevention of poverty—turning the tap off? I do not see much indication of thinking in this Government or the last Government about turning the tap off and stopping people slipping into the need for social security.

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I know that this is something the noble Lord is passionate about. We have had many exchanges on this and I agree with him. I point him towards two examples of how this Government are taking that seriously. The first is our child poverty strategy, which is looking precisely at the full range of things that help stop people falling into poverty as well as lifting them out of it. Secondly, one of the reasons we prioritise young people in our welfare reform is precisely to get people right at the start of their adult life. We should not have 1 million young people who are not in employment, education or training. If they start their adult life like that, what hope is there to be able to keep them out of poverty throughout their life? That is why we have prioritised that and are investing so much money in making sure that they get the help they need. It is why we are making sure that the review coming forward from Alan Milburn will give us clear evidence for reform and clear recommendations. We can all get behind that, I hope.