Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Hughes Excerpts

Monday 20th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey]

No, I do not think that a round trip of that long is acceptable. I will look into that case.

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

The transition to the personal independence payment is a good thing in theory, but some people are telling me that they are concerned that the threshold for qualification is unacceptably high and they feel unsupported in trying to work out how to make a difficult choice among the variety of suppliers available.

[Esther McVey]

I was not exactly sure where the right hon. Gentleman was going with that question. The PIP was introduced to support the most vulnerable and to make it as easy as possible to do so, and to ensure that people who could not fill in a self-assessment form could see somebody on a one-to-one basis. This is the biggest ever change in welfare. I thank all the people who have helped with it in Jobcentre Pluses, and the stakeholders. Over 1,000 disabled people got involved to make sure that the system was right, and I thank them for making it a good transition to a new benefit.