Oral Answers to Questions

Will Stone Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

We will absolutely do that. The child poverty taskforce, which includes Ministers from across Government, had a specific session on children with disabilities and special educational needs, including with families and the charities that fight so hard to deliver improvements. I am not a patient person, but I ask my hon. Friend to wait until the child poverty strategy is published in the autumn, because we believe that every child—no matter where they are born or their ability or what their parents did—must be given an equal start in life.

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

18. What steps she is taking to increase levels of employment through the trailblazer programme to tackle economic activity.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Liz Kendall)]

This Government are determined to get Britain working again. That is why we are investing £80 million in our trailblazer programmes to drive down economic inactivity. We are overhauling our job centres to provide better, more personalised employment support. We are delivering a youth guarantee, so that every young person is earning or learning, and we are providing a record £3.8 billion to help sick and disabled people who can work to get into work. There is much further to go, but we are already making a difference.

[Will Stone]

I thank the Secretary of State for that response. A lot of disabled people in Swindon with long-term health conditions tell me that they want to get to work, but are just simply not given the opportunity. What are this Government doing to support those people to get dignified work?

[Liz Kendall]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, because he raises an important point that I do not want to let go, which is how many people with a long-term health condition or a disability are desperate to work. Our own survey of people on sickness and disability benefits found that 200,000 people would work right now if they were given an opportunity. We need to give people help to tackle their underlying health conditions, which we are doing through our investment in the NHS. We need to encourage employers to do more to give opportunities to disabled people to work. Above all, this Government are determined to meet our responsibilities, with £3.8 billion invested into employment support for sick and disabled people—the biggest amount in a generation. I look forward to working with him and organisations in Swindon to make sure we get that support right locally.

Oral Answers to Questions

Will Stone Excerpts

Monday 17th March 2025 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

1. What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recent trends in levels of disability living allowance cases that have been incorrectly reduced to a lower rate without an explanation.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

There should be no benefit decisions without explanation. Claim decisions should always be set out with the reasons. If a decision is unclear, or if the reasons for it are unclear, a further detailed verbal or written explanation can be requested and will be provided.

[Will Stone]

Will the Minister please outline how this Government will support young disabled people to have a positive engagement with the benefit system alongside work?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to press for improvements. We want to change how we think about jobcentres and the benefit system. Our youth work coaches talk a lot to disabled young people and are very keen to help more. Our reforms are making that possible, by giving better help and support, and by opening up new opportunities for disabled young people up and down the country.