Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-03-09
Topic: Labor
Questions: May I take up the Secretary of State on her comment at the beginning on sanctions in the context of coronavirus? Currently, jobseeker’s allowance requires claimants to attend jobcentres in person every two weeks and prove that they have been looking for work—they must show evidence that they have been applying for jobs and going to interviews. Claimants can be sanctioned if they fail to attend the jobcentre, turn down a training course or fail to go to an interview. The Secretary of State said that the sanctions will not be applied if jobcentres are informed in advance, but the process of going through self-isolation may be shocking to the people involved; it may be disorganising what may already be disorganised lives. Can the Secretary of State tell the House that the Department will retain sufficient flexibility to ensure that people will not be punished for doing what the Government recommend?; I am not sure that anyone will be desperately reassured by the idea of exercising discretion on something quite so fundamental. The Government need to be much more robust in their advice. When will that advice be published for jobseekers, advisers and those us whose job it is to scrutinise what the Government do?; From initial submission to award of benefit, how long does the average personal independence payment application take? Will the Government reduce the time period?; I have a constituent who cannot walk without aid and has severe depression currently going through the appeals process. That has already taken months, during which time no payments have been awarded to them. My constituent has had to rely on handouts from friends simply to survive. What advice can the Secretary of State give my constituent, or any other person in that situation, to help resolve the situation?; Many of my constituents are taking advantage of the online application for advance payments of universal credit. I recognise that it is a useful facility, but no bank would lend to people in this manner. Will the Minister work to ensure that claimants receive proper debt advice before requesting an advance and look to significantly extend the repayment period?; Evidence from Macmillan Cancer Support shows the availability of home visits for people suffering from cancer and claiming universal credit varies considerably across the country, with some waiting up to a year. Even before the advent of coronavirus, people with cancer should not really have attended a jobcentre if they were undergoing chemotherapy and were at risk of infection. What advice will the Minister give on that? Will he publish the figures on the availability of home visits for universal credit across the country?; The Health Secretary has said that changes will be made to provide financial support to workers currently ineligible for statutory sick pay. Will the Minister confirm that those changes will include emergency legislation to remove the £118-a-week threshold that currently excludes 1.8 million low-paid workers from receiving sick pay—a measure supported by both the TUC and the Confederation of British Industry?
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will be aware that the £118 a week is an average over eight weeks, and it will swing about whether people are eligible or not. I have tried to make it clear to the House, reinforcing the comments of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Health Secretary, that people who are working will not be penalised because they cannot work in this regard. We continue to work across Government to bring forward the necessary legislation or other changes required.