argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of young people who are long-term unemployed; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is right that this is obviously the time of year when there is more seasonal employment in the run-up to Christmas, but support is provided to continue employment after such seasons. Jobcentre Plus will be supporting those who may be in part-time jobs to secure longer-term jobs. I come back to the fundamental principle that it is better to be in work, and have the experience of being in work, so as to develop long-term career and employment opportunities afterwards.
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of young people who are long-term unemployed; and if he will make a statement.
Thomas Christopher John Pursglove (Conservative, Centre-right): The opening of the new Primark warehouse at Islip will bring 1,000 new jobs to my area and help to reduce youth unemployment. Will the Minister join me in welcoming this jobs boost, and would she like to visit next year when it opens?
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of young people who are long-term unemployed; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his very kind invitation. We are only getting these new jobs created because we have a secure and sound economy owing to our long-term economic plan. Importantly, employers such as Primark and many other retailers are creating great employment opportunities for our young people. I would be delighted to come to open the centre in his constituency with him next year.
Work and Health Programme — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department is developing new provision to support people with health conditions and disabilities and those who are very long-term unemployed. We are currently developing the design of the programme, including the conditionality that will be a feature of it.
Work and Health Programme — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure the hon. Lady will also recognise that more than 60% of individuals who are on the employment and support allowance say that they want to work as well. That is why we will launch the new Work and Health programme, to look at how we can deliver vital employment support, which I am sure the hon. Lady and all other Members will welcome, to those individuals who are furthest away from the labour market but who want to work. We will do that in conjunction with our stakeholders and better target the accompanying support to get them back into work. Additional funding was made available in the summer Budget for support for those who are furthest away from the labour market, particularly those with health conditions.
Work and Health Programme — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Law and Crime
David Nuttall (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is incumbent on anyone who suggests scrapping the existing sanctions scheme to propose an effective alternative, because there has to be some means of ensuring compliance with the rules?
Work and Health Programme — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, my hon. Friend raises a valid point about what the Labour party is now clearly saying, despite the fact that sanctions have been in place for a considerable time, including under previous Labour Governments. The purpose of sanctions is to support claimants and to encourage them back to work. Let us also remember that the sanctions are there for claimants to comply with reasonable requirements, which are developed with the claimant as well as the work coach.
Work and Health Programme — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The new programme will be accompanied by a structural reform that will better target support for those individuals who are furthest away from the labour market. On top of that, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has emphasised again today, universal credit in particular will provide support and engagement for those individuals who are furthest away from the labour market but who are looking for work. Alongside that, the new Work and Health programme will integrate services, particularly for those with mental health conditions or health barriers, to help them get closer to the labour market and back into work.
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): Jobcentre work coaches undertake outreach work every day in local communities and have recently been helping people with back-to-work support and advice at the Lalley Welcome Centre in Manchester, where a food bank sits alongside other support services. The test is at an early stage and the Department will make the findings public in due course.
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): May I gently remind the hon. Lady that we were invited, at the request of Sister Rita, to go to Lalley Welcome Centre, which also hosts other agencies? I might also say to the hon. Lady that that particular centre has a job club, which makes eminent sense. I presume she does not object to that. If she is happy to have a job club there, why on earth does she object to our going there to help people when we have been invited to go there?
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): There are now fewer delays in getting benefits than there were under the Government in which the right hon. Gentleman served. The number of JSA applications is down compared with 2009-10, as is the number of ESA applications.
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Heidi-Suzanne Allen (Conservative, Centre-right): From my point of view, there is great potential in co-siting jobcentres and food banks if it is done in the right way. On a related subject, can the Minister envisage a future in which jobcentres and councils are co-located across the country?
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Kevin John Foster (Conservative, Centre-right): In relation to this trial, has the Minister noticed today’s report in the Western Morning News, which says that food bank usage has dropped by 25% in Devon and Cornwall? Does he agree with the Trussell Trust that that is "a sign that economic recovery is giving more people access to secure work"?
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): Both terms are applicable. May I just say that we should not get bogged down in the terminology? The important thing is to make sure that people actually have support to get them back to work. As we just heard in the quote from my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster), our long-term plan is working. We want to make sure that as many people as possible are in work so that they do not have to resort to food banks.
Jobcentre Advisers: Food Banks — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): It is always helpful if, when Front Benchers say things at the Dispatch Box, they are accurate. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has visited food banks. As far as sanctions are concerned, may I just tell the hon. Lady that the Oakley review said that 71% of people found sanctions helpful in encouraging them to find jobs?
Low Pay and Training — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): For the first time, universal credit will support claimants in work to earn more. Work coaches will provide tailored support to claimants on low wages to improve their pay. To help to develop our package of support for people in work, we are implementing a comprehensive test and learn strategy to understand better the impact that labour market policies can have on helping people on low incomes to get jobs in which they earn more.
Low Pay and Training — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. The latest figures show that the employment rate for young people who have left full-time education is above the UK average and is at its highest level for a decade at 74.3%.
Low Pay and Training — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): We are very close to record levels as far as that initiative is concerned. As I said earlier, our long-term economic plan is continuing. While I am at the Dispatch Box, may I say that the House has considerable sympathy with all that the hon. Gentleman and a lot of his colleagues are going through?
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): We are fundamentally reforming the welfare system to ensure that the benefits of work are always clear for all. As part of that, we are supporting working families who are on benefits to progress in work, increase their earnings and move away from welfare dependency.
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): With respect to the hon. Gentleman, it was made clear at the Budget by the Chancellor that the total package of changes includes changes to the welfare budget of £12 billion, but that other Departments are also involved in the process of getting rid of the deficit. I thought that the Labour party had said it was in favour of getting rid of the deficit, so the question is what it plans to do. I remind him that a huge amount of the savings are being made because more people are going back to work and fewer people are therefore claiming benefits.
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: International Affairs
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): Following on from what the Secretary of State has just said, if the British people vote to come out of the EU, we will not be giving £350 million a week or more than £1 billion every three weeks to the EU. Would he welcome some of that money for his Department?
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend must not dare tempt me in that direction. What is really important is that we run our economy here in the UK for the benefit of citizens of the UK. We have made our position clear: we want to ensure that those who have not been here for a certain period of time and have not contributed are not able to draw upon our benefits system.
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The key thing is that, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said, there is nothing new in the spending review when compared with the Budget. It said that "the long term generosity of the welfare system will be cut just as much as was ever intended" In other words, the £12 billion of savings is pretty much exactly as was announced in the Budget. I say to the hon. Gentleman that universal credit has a huge effect. We published figures this week to show that universal credit means that more people go into work faster, stay in work longer and are likely to earn more money. That is a huge change and it will affect young people dramatically, as much as it will anybody else.
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): The reforms to benefits, whereby work should always pay more than welfare, are welcome in Louth and Horncastle. As we roll out universal credit across my constituency, will the Secretary of State join me in my constituency to see the changes for himself, including the 40 new jobs just created in Louth at the supermarket Aldi?
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I know how hard my hon. Friend campaigns to get employment up in her constituency. I am more than happy to come and support her to show that more people are getting jobs as a result of our welfare changes. Unlike the previous Government who spent money and changed very few lives, we are spending less money but changing more lives for the better.
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I just wish the hon. Gentleman would actually go and visit a universal credit site to see the huge difference it is making. In answer to his question, as the IFS said "no family will take an immediate…hit" from being moved on to universal credit. [Interruption.] Hold on a second. I remember that it was the Labour party that got rid of the 10p tax starting rate and did not cash protect anybody at all. We are transitionally protecting those who are moving on to universal credit. Maybe the hon. Gentleman is against that. If so, would he like to say why?
Benefit Reforms — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman’s party, which opposed universal credit from the outset, can hardly say that it is the slightest bit interested in how it works. The reality is that all those calculations for lone parents do not take into consideration—[Interruption.] No, they don’t. The childcare package that comes with universal credit is dramatic. Unlike tax credit—[Interruption.] Perhaps he would like to just keep quiet and listen for once to somebody who knows what they are talking about. I say to him very simply that the childcare package for universal credit gives parents with children childcare support every single hour while they are in work. Under tax credit, they got next to nothing.
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What the cost to the public purse of implementation of universal credit has been to date; and how many people have been enrolled on universal credit.
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): Universal credit is rolling out as planned: on track and on time. I can announce today that it will be in every jobcentre by April next year. Estimates of the total cost of implementation have fallen from £2.4 billion to £1.7 billion, with £0.6 billion having been spent to date. Over a quarter of a million people have now made claims to universal credit.
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Questions: What the cost to the public purse of implementation of universal credit has been to date; and how many people have been enrolled on universal credit.
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): I recently visited my local jobcentre in Sittingbourne. Job coaches told me how well universal credit is working, giving claimants more flexibility to work and coaches more time to support them. Does the Secretary of State agree that universal credit is helping people into work and making work pay? Will he press on with the roll-out so more people can benefit?
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What the cost to the public purse of implementation of universal credit has been to date; and how many people have been enrolled on universal credit.
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The cost of universal credit implementation has fallen: it was originally forecast to cost £2.4 billion but is now due to cost £1.7 billion. To give Labour Members a concept of what value for money looks like—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman has no idea about value for money because he has been on the Labour Benches for too long.
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Questions: What the cost to the public purse of implementation of universal credit has been to date; and how many people have been enrolled on universal credit.
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): With respect, I meant the Labour Member sitting just below him. The number of people getting back into work directly as a result of universal credit has had a net benefit to the Exchequer of £3 billion-plus. I call that a real benefit in real terms.
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What the cost to the public purse of implementation of universal credit has been to date; and how many people have been enrolled on universal credit.
Nigel John Mills (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the fact that universal credit reached my constituency about five weeks ago, but for the benefit of constituents concerned about what will happen when they move from tax credits to universal credit, will the Secretary of State confirm when that move will now take place?
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What the cost to the public purse of implementation of universal credit has been to date; and how many people have been enrolled on universal credit.
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): It does not suit the Opposition to know it, but all those who transfer from tax credits, through the legacy system, into universal credit will be transitionally protected. That is critical. They do not want to know that, because, as I said, they are the party who failed to transitionally protect anybody when they abolished the 10p tax rate.
Universal Credit (Payment Arrangements) — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): For a minority of claimants, including women who may be victims of financial abuse, alternative payment arrangements can be made. We can split payments to members of the household, where necessary, under universal credit. Furthermore, jobcentre staff are trained to identify vulnerable claimants and can signpost individuals, at their request, to local domestic abuse support organisations for further help and support.
Universal Credit (Payment Arrangements) — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. I think we all agree that there is no room for domestic violence or abuse in a civilised society in the 21st century. Advisers are well trained and look out for victims. They look at who has care and responsibility for children and, where appropriate, can split payments or make them more often than once a month—certainly they can be treated differently from those in normal circumstances.
Earnings Limits — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The way earnings are treated is different across the benefits, but the majority of benefits do not have an earnings limit. Individuals can find general information on benefit eligibility at gov.uk, or they can speak to their local jobcentre staff and work coaches.
Earnings Limits — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I would make two points. I am happy to look at the case, but when it comes to the carer’s allowance, we increased the earnings threshold in April 2015 by 8%. Importantly, this is about providing the right structured approach to support carers who want to work and get the balance right regarding their caring responsibilities.
Benefit Overpayments — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State has a duty to protect public funds and to ensure, wherever possible, that a benefit overpayment is recovered. Discretion is exercised where it is not cost-effective to recover an overpayment, or where recovery would cause undue hardship, and is subject to guidelines from Her Majesty’s Treasury.
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): The Wheatsheaf Trust runs an employment access centre, helping young people off benefit and into work in my Havant constituency. Will the Minister join me in congratulating the trust on its work on the ground and confirm that the Government will continue to put young people at the heart of their aspiration for full employment and their long-term economic plan?
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course I congratulate the Wheatsheaf Trust on the work it does, and I know that my hon. Friend has made youth unemployment and getting young people back into work a priority in his own constituency. He is, of course, right that as a Government we are committed to helping more young people to secure employment opportunities, which is why we will continue to support work experience programmes and traineeships and will introduce a new youth obligation.
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I view all apprenticeship skills as providing value-added to our economy. Let me provide the example of my visit to Pimlico Plumbers last Thursday. They are investing in young people and taking on young apprentices—[Interruption.] I hear Labour Members being disparaging about the employer organisation, but it is creating employment and career opportunities for young people, as does every other business and employer organisation that takes young people on at an apprenticeship level. Those organisations are the future; they are the ones investing in our young people, creating great career opportunities and passing on skills for our economy.
Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady says, "Grow up". Perhaps Labour Members should put aside the disparaging comments they make every time we speak about employment opportunities and growth in the economy. Unemployment is now at its lowest level for over seven years. In addition, the number of people in work has risen by over 2.1 million since 2010.
Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
James Morris (Conservative, Centre-right): Unemployment in my constituency has fallen by 50% since 2010, which has given a lot of security to a lot of people in my constituency. Does she agree that some individuals who might be suffering from long-term mental health conditions want to work, but encounter considerable barriers preventing them from getting back into employment? Does she therefore agree that we need to redouble our efforts to enable those people to get back into work because it is critical to their cure that they do so?
Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-12-07
Topic: Labor
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has drawn attention to two important facts: the fact that unemployment has fallen in his constituency and there are more people in work there, and the barriers—particularly mental health conditions—that prevent people from working. We will be launching a new Work and Health programme, and looking into how we can integrate services to provide the right kind of support to help such people to return to work.