Alison McGovern MP: speeches 2024

54 published records · newest first.

Speeches

16 Dec 2024 · “Get Britain Working” White Paper: Employers · Hansard source
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I am not entirely sure that the issues the hon. and learned Gentleman raises are completely within my responsibilities. However, DWP colleagues in Northern Ireland work closely with business, and I am sure that they will continue to do so, whatever the prevailing economic circumstances.
16 Dec 2024 · “Get Britain Working” White Paper: Employers · Hansard source
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We have all been there, Mr Speaker. Businesses are crying out for staff, yet only one in six employers uses jobcentres. Our “Get Britain Working” White Paper will revolutionise employment support to give employers the workforce they need. The support will include a new jobs and career service, designed around employers’ needs. We are also launching an independent review of the role of employers in promoting healthy and inclusive workforces.
16 Dec 2024 · “Get Britain Working” White Paper: Employers · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend describes exactly why we need a local tailored service: so that all employers can properly engage with jobcentres and work together to find the skilled members of staff that they need. I agree with him that Edinburgh offers so many opportunities to our young people. I know that all my DWP colleagues in Edinburgh will work with him to get business the skilled staff that they need.
16 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the OBR report that says that overall, employment will go up.
16 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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We still have more than 800,000 vacancies in this economy, and businesses are crying out for staff. That is why, through our reform programme, we are determined that the DWP will serve business better. I look forward to working with Members across the House to make that happen.
16 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The child poverty taskforce is considering all children across the UK in all aspects of our child poverty strategy. We recognise the distinct challenges of poverty faced by children in particular groups, such as migrant children, disabled children and others. We are engaging directly with families affected by poverty. We recognise that the causes of child poverty are deep rooted and we will look at all levers to make change.
16 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the condition of children living in poverty in this country. That is why, as I mentioned earlier, the child poverty taskforce is doing extensive work on the issue.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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That question demonstrates the quality analysis I would expect from recently engaged economists on the Labour Benches. The Minister for Skills and I have been working closely on the youth guarantee, because we know that it is only by colleges and jobcentres working in hand in hand that we will get young people the skills that they need to succeed.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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I have brought forward proposals to get Britain working, together with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Secretary of State for Education, and Secretaries of State right across Government. That is how we will plot a course towards our ambition of an 80% employment rate. I thank the shadow Secretary of State for being kind enough to refer to our “Get Britain Working” plans as “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic”. It was very brave of her to acknowledge that the last Government’s legacy for us was a sinking ship.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for her important question. I know she met my colleague the Minister for Social Security and Disability recently, and I am sure that their conversations were productive on this important point.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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I have just given the OBR’s assessment. It is worth noting that there are still a significant number of vacancies in the economy. We are determined that the Department for Work and Pensions will be reformed to serve employers better, so that they can fill those vacancies.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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The Budget made the choices needed to fix the foundations of our economy. Taking those into account, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that unemployment will fall to 4.1% next year and remain low until 2029. We are taking action to support jobs and growth, and to transform employment support to get Britain working.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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I make no apologies for having ambition for people in our labour market. The figure was always an ambition, because Labour Members want our jobcentres to shift away from pointless admin towards real ambition for everybody who steps through the door.
16 Dec 2024 · Budget 2024: Unemployment · Hansard source
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Anybody who sees that, in the British economy, there are nearly 1 million young people out of work or training—not doing anything—would say that is a dreadful legacy left by the previous Administration. That is why the youth guarantee is at the heart of our “Get Britain Working” plan.
16 Dec 2024 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source
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The statistics my hon. Friend has read out are, I am sorry to say, consistent with those of the Trussell Trust, which distributed 61,000 emergency food parcels in 2010. Last year, the figure was 3.1 million. That is not acceptable, which is why we have committed to tripling investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million and—as I have said—introduce our fair repayment rate for deductions from universal credit, because if a person is out of debt, they are out of danger. We are increasing the national living wage to £12.21 an hour from next April, which will boost the pay of 3 million workers. That is also why the child poverty taskforce is working very hard.
16 Dec 2024 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Lady for the question that she rightly puts to this House. We have increased the number of staff working on pension credit by over 500, and are working very quickly to deal with those backlogs and delays. As she says, we need to get through those backlogs.
16 Dec 2024 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source
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More people in good jobs is the foundation of our approach to tackling poverty. That is why we have set out the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, on top of extending the household support fund, introducing a fair repayment rate for universal credit, and the extensive work of the child poverty taskforce.
19 Nov 2024 · Food Banks · Hansard source
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It is, as ever, a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for bringing this important debate. It is testament to his judgment and to the importance of this issue that fully 20 Members of Parliament have chosen to speak; in fact, we could have gone on for hours, because of the importance of the issue. I will deal briefly with a couple of questions that were put to me in the debate. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is no longer in his place, asked if I will meet him, which of course I will. The hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) also asked that I meet the Stoke Members of Parliament to discuss the issue, which of course I will. The Lib Dems spokesperson, the hon. Member for Chippenham (Sarah Gibson), asked about asylum seekers and where they will fit in, and I will ask the Home Office Minister responsible for asylum seekers to write to her on that subject, because she raises an important point. Labour’s election-winning manifesto said: “Good work will be the foundation of our approach to tackling poverty and inequality. We will create more good jobs, reform employment support, and make work pay so that many more people benefit from the dignity and purpose of work. Labour is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty. We want to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels, which is a moral scar on our society.” And these are my words: no one in the United Kingdom should have to beg for food. Our first Budget in 14 years was a down payment on our approach to tackling poverty. As hon. Members have mentioned, we extended the household support fund for a further year, to help people currently struggling with the cost of essentials, including food. We saw a pay rise for more than 3 million lower earners, with a 6.7% increase to the national living wage, making work pay. We introduced a fair repayment rate on deductions in universal credit—a point that is very important to me—which will help about 700,000 of the poorest families with children to keep more of their universal credit. As Members have also mentioned, the roll-out of breakfast clubs and improved access to childcare will help parents have more choice in order to get better jobs. The manifesto commitment and what we saw in our first Budget explains our approach to the issue. These first steps will make a real difference to people’s lives, but the scale of the challenge is huge. Members have mentioned what has happened to emergency food help over the past five years. Ms Vaz, you and I have been around a while now, and you will remember that in 2010 the Trussell Trust distributed 61,000 emergency food parcels. Last year, it was 3.1 million. Either my maths is wrong, or that is a fiftyfold increase. I simply ask, what happened in those 14 years? I think Members have set out the case well—the combination of failed economic and social policies. In Opposition, on the Back Benches and from the Front Bench, I travelled around the country speaking to people running food banks and supporting those who needed them, to try to understand what on earth was going on with this massive increase in the need for emergency food help. Before the pandemic, my experience was that families were experiencing really significant challenges in their budgets. Post pandemic, deteriorating health has made it 10 times worse. In Government, I have spent time with many of our volunteers who are addressing the family incomes crisis that we are facing. From listening to them, I know this: not one of those volunteers wants emergency food help to go on being given in this way for ever; not one of them wants our fellow citizens to be so vulnerable; and every single food bank volunteer that I have met—a number of whom have volunteered because they needed help themselves at one stage—wants a country where people live never in destitution and always with dignity. I want to talk about children. About 800,000 children live in households in the United Kingdom that have used a food bank in the last 12 months. That is a devastating statistic. That does not just harm children today; it has a lasting effect on their life chances—their long-term health, their education and their employment outcomes. They cannot fulfil their potential if they are going to school hungry or worrying about the family at home, and we will not fulfil our potential as a country if the next generation is held back. Ensuring that every child is safe, well fed and has chances and choices in their life is not just a moral imperative, but an economic one too. It is a priority for myself and for the Secretary of State. That is why we have got the child poverty taskforce up and running, led by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions alongside the Education Secretary. We know that the causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and we are looking at all the levers we can pull to increase family incomes, reduce family costs and give our kids the best start in life. Only yesterday, we met employers, trade unions and think-tanks to discuss options to increase incomes and family resilience in low-income households. We are hearing from a very wide range of people and organisations, including those who are experiencing poverty today. That approach will inform our strategy, which will be published in the spring, but despite the dreadful inheritance and the £22 billion hole in public finances, we have not waited until next spring to help people in desperate need of support. The cost of living crisis does mean that pressure on household budgets is at an all-time high. We have seen inflation spikes, including in energy bills and the cost of shopping. Those are not luxuries that anyone can easily cut out; everyone needs a warm home and everyone needs the basics, which is why—as mentioned—within two months of taking office we announced a six-month extension to the household support fund. We have extended it again for a further year. Members have mentioned the need to consider the future of the household support fund and of crisis support. I look forward to having those conversations with Members. We will invest £1 billion, including the Barnett impact, to extend the household support fund and to maintain the discretionary housing payment fund for a further year. I know that such support is a lifeline for many, and I am grateful to all the charities and local authorities who work hard to distribute it.
19 Nov 2024 · Food Banks · Hansard source
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I send my congratulations to those receiving that wonderful award in West Dunbartonshire. Well done to them. We will always need some form of crisis support. My worry is not just the consequences of day-to-day crisis, but the chronic challenge. People need an income that they can live on, and that is why in last month’s Budget the Chancellor announced that we will introduce a fair repayment rate to help households on universal credit who are having deductions made from their benefit keep more of their money to help them budget for essentials. More than 1.2 million households on universal credit will benefit from that—a reduction in the deductions cap from 25% to 15%, which is worth about £420 a year on average. As my dad used to say, “Out of debt, out of danger.” That will make a big difference for some of the poorest people in our country, but we understand that more change will still be needed. That is why we are committed, as Members have mentioned, to reviewing universal credit. I know, and Beveridge wrote in his report, that social security can only work well when we have policies for full and fulfilling employment. We have to make work pay. It is ridiculous to have a queue at the food bank door when our businesses are crying out for staff. We have millions of people locked out of work, not getting the support they need to build a better life. Alongside the reforms I have set out, therefore, we have set an ambitious long-term goal of an 80% employment rate, towards full employment. To achieve it, we have kick-started the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation. We will build a new jobs and careers service to give people proper, tailored support to help them get on in work. Our White Paper will bring forward a youth guarantee for our young people, to ensure that they are not left on the scrapheap. We will empower our local areas, towns and cities so that they can be in the lead with their work, health and skills plan. We will set out all that detail in our “Get Britain Working” White Paper shortly. I cannot wait to talk to Members and colleagues about it. I want to make one more point about making work pay. It is not enough to get people into any job; it must be a good job. In 2022, 2.3 million people lived in a household that had used a food bank in the past year, and 40% of them were living in families where at least one adult worked. That is not acceptable to me. Too many people in our country are being denied the dignity of decent and fair work. Too many are stuck in insecure jobs with unpredictable working patterns. That is why we introduced our Employment Rights Bill. I do not agree that we have to make a choice between high unemployment and poor-quality work. We will have the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation, including an end to exploitative zero-hours contracts, which often see people not just low-paid, but unsure about what pay they will get next week. That stress and instability tip people into destitution. As I said, we are also putting up the living wage, which will benefit 3 million workers and be worth £1,400 next year for the average full-time worker. In conclusion, as I have set out—and as Members know from their experiences talking to people in their constituencies—the inheritance of this Government could hardly be worse. It is not really the 3.1 million bags of shopping handed out to people in desperate need that is the problem, but the social and economic failure that that represents. We cannot accept it. Tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels is not just a manifesto commitment that we made to the British public; it is our priority every day. It is vital to all this Government’s missions to break down barriers to opportunity and to deliver economic growth, because you cannot grow a country on shaky foundations. The action we have already taken to support those most in need—to spread opportunity and make work pay—shows that we will take that challenge head-on. I look forward to working with all Members present to deliver that change.
11 Nov 2024 · Child Poverty · Hansard source
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One person who has never looked the other way when people were facing poverty in this country is my hon. Friend. Through her innovation, she has ensured that household food insecurity is measured properly, and I pay tribute to her efforts. I have listened to what she said about Feeding Britain, and I will take that as an input into the child poverty taskforce. I hope that she and Feeding Britain will meet me to discuss how we can take that forward.
11 Nov 2024 · Child Poverty · Hansard source
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As well as putting in place breakfast clubs that mean children are ready to learn, and as well as the fair payment rate—we have discussed that—which will stop families being tipped into destitution by debt, the ministerial taskforce, chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, will publish the child poverty strategy in spring 2025, using all available levers across government to bring about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this Parliament, as part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change.
11 Nov 2024 · Parents Looking for Work · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this matter to the House, and I pay tribute to all those he has worked with to understand the challenge that we face. He is right that we will take this forward through the “Get Britain Working” White Paper. Citizens Advice is playing an important role in supporting that work, and the work of the child poverty taskforce.
11 Nov 2024 · Parents Looking for Work · Hansard source
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Helping parents to have fulfilling and sustainable work helps our economy and prevents child poverty. As we have mentioned several times, the “Get Britain Working” White Paper will rewrite employment policy and set our ambition for an 80% employment rate, but we will not get there without parents.
11 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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There have been changes to ensure that referrals are GDPR-compliant, but I will happily discuss this issue with my hon. Friend. The very best jobcentres are closely linked with local support organisations, and we must ensure that that is the case everywhere.
11 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The hon. Lady raises some of the worst aspects of the consequences of 14 years of Conservative Government. We will consider all those issues through the child poverty taskforce.

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