Nick Smith
Main Page: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)Department Debates - View all Nick Smith's debates with the Leader of the House
(10 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Lansley
My hon. Friend has indeed fought that campaign successfully, along with other Members, for which I applaud him. As there is a Budget measure providing for the relief of VAT on fuel for air ambulances, I hope that he and other Members might find an opportunity to raise the matter during the Budget debate.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
May we have a statement on the delivery of the Department for Work and Pensions? Following big problems with the Work programme and universal credit, it now appears that the personal independence payment has dreadful teething problems.
Mr Lansley
We will have an opportunity in the Budget debate to look at some aspects of the Department’s delivery. As its title indicates, the Department is there to get people into work and to reform and improve pensions, and I think that it can be immensely proud of what it has achieved. We have 1.6 million more people in private sector employment—[Interruption.]