Meeting of the Parliament 26 November 2015
I thank all the members of the Welfare Reform Committee and all the people who gave evidence, because the report was a pretty tough piece of work. It was the last inquiry that Michael McMahon carried out as convener of the committee. I pay tribute to him for his fairness in that role. Over the piece in the committee, it has been rare for there to be any disagreement—other than from one party. I will leave that there for now.
In the opening speech, Clare Adamson highlighted the fact that research by the House of Commons library states that, since 2010, £26 billion-worth of cuts have been made to benefits, tax credits, pay and pensions. Of that £26 billion, 85 per cent has been taken from women’s incomes. Therefore, I find it surprising that the Tory member of the committee dissented from the following sentence:
“The Committee believes that the cumulative impact of the reforms has had a damaging and disproportionate impact on women.”
How can anyone argue that the effect on women has not been disproportionate and damaging when research clearly shows that women have borne 85 per cent of the cuts?
We have heard that women are twice as dependent on social security as men are, with 20 per cent of women’s income coming from the benefits and tax credits system, compared with 10 per cent of men’s. Women have fewer financial assets and less access to occupational pensions than men do, and there are considerably more women than men in the lowest income decile in the UK. Moreover, 92 per cent of lone parents are women, and women make up 95 per cent of the lone parents who depend on income support. The statistics go on and on and clearly show that disproportionate impact.
The recommendations have not been touched on yet. One of the main ones concerns multiple impacts. Paragraph 29 of the report says:
“The Committee has been struck by the complexity of women’s lives in relation to the benefit system. Many don’t fit neatly into one administrative box and will be hit by reforms to carers, disability and children’s benefits. The Committee calls on the UK Government to urgently conduct a cumulative impact assessment of all the welfare reforms to identify the true impact on families and households.”
It is shocking that such an assessment has not been conducted. That shows clearly that the Conservative Government and its predecessor, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition Government, really did not give a monkey’s about the impact of their changes. Surely anyone who sought to make such major changes would want to know exactly what the impact would be.
John Lamont said that the aspiration in making those changes was to bring about higher pay and lower tax. In some ways, the Tories have achieved that—they have brought about higher pay and lower tax for the wealthiest in our society, but they have certainly not done so for folk who are struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. It comes as no surprise to me that that is the direction in which the Conservatives have moved, because that has been their attitude throughout history—they have always favoured higher pay and lower tax for the rich and have never given a monkey’s about those folk who are suffering: the most vulnerable and the poorest in our society.
We need only look at some of the statistics that have come out in recent weeks, such as those from the Trussell Trust on the rise in the use of food banks, to realise the extent of the problem. When I have visited food banks, I have always seen women with young kids. It is horrific that people in work are having to rely on food banks. Although I welcome yesterday’s U-turn on tax credits, we must all remember that, for months, families in this country have been living in fear at the thought of losing those tax credits, which I believe is unacceptable.
If nothing else, we as a Parliament must ensure that the committee’s recommendation of a cumulative impact assessment of all the welfare reforms is carried out by the UK Government as soon as possible—