Speeches by Hack.

“They will continue to receive UC health rate beyond 2026 and never have to undergo a reassessment. The decision about whether somebody qualifies will depend on the result of a work capability assessment but the work capability assessment is to be abolished. How will all that work?”

“That is helpful. The Secretary of State in a recent letter referred to the protection of those who would never be able to work and said she would provide those details. I am assuming that is where those details will come.”

“Hugely so. Lovely. How will you protect those who will never be able to work again in the future? What are your thoughts around that?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I want to challenge the suggestion that franchising is an obligation. It is not; it is a power that is given to authorities to use if they wish. However, in those communities that were so poorly served for the past 14 years under the previous Government, should…”

“Thank you. In the interests of time, could we get a written response to the next question?”

“I want to pick up with Hannah and Charlie on the damp issue. We had a change of the law with Awaab’s Law. He was the little boy who sadly died in a damp property. Have we seen any improvement since its introduction?”

“How do you describe the relationship between insufficient support for housing and poverty level, particularly for older people and families with children? If you could focus on those, I would be grateful.”

“Thank you for coming to speak to us today. We heard from Charlie earlier about the difficulties that tenants with disabilities have in securing suitable housing. Could you talk a little about people who are disabled through their tenancy, engagement with the disabled facilities grant and how easy or not it is for disab…”

“I have a last question. Hilary, you have already put together a few additional areas of housing that we could look at other than the Local Housing Allowance rate being increased. I will ask the rest of the panel. What actions related to housing do you hope to see published in the child poverty strategy?”

“I thank the Minister for her statement. The NHS is the No. 1 issue for my constituents, and I know that they will welcome the investment in the spending review. My constituency is a rural area, and one thing people often raise with me is ambulance waiting times, which I am pleased to report have improved in every categ…”

“Thank you for joining us today, Minister. It is very good to see you. One of the things we want to encourage is for people to get good work and that work being satisfactory and satisfying for the person. How are the Government defining good work? What does it look like?”

“Lovely. Finally, do you think there would be more value for money in supporting a claimant for a little bit longer to get the right job for them, rather than encouraging them to take any job?”

“I have a brief question that follows on directly from what Frank was talking about. Lots of witnesses indicated that jobcentre buildings are often not the most welcoming. I cannot say that for my jobcentre in Coalville; it is a lovely space. How much do you think that is about the individuals who attend jobcentres and …”

“Do you feel that combining Jobcentre Plus and the careers service is the next step to building confidence in claimants to be able to build a career? How do you see that working?”

“It has been said by the Secretary of State and echoed across the Chamber that the UK has a world-class aviation sector that is key to growth in our economy. I welcome the introduction of the Bill as it will provide certainty for producers of sustainable aviation fuel, allowing the sector to grow and invest. We all know…”

“Leicestershire, alongside other authorities, has been campaigning for fair funding in recent years, following 14 years of poor funding settlements by the last Government, meaning cuts to vital services. A lack of fair funding also means that schools in North West Leicestershire have some of the lowest levels of funding…”

“12. What progress her Department has made on providing adequate funding for local authorities as part of the fair funding review.”

“Well, there are 100 questions on children and dependants, aren’t there? Thinking about barriers—not the stigma of applying for pension credits, but the stigma that it takes too long, it is too hard and it is too difficult—what work is being done to try to break down elements of the barriers that people have to applying…”

“Thank you, Minister. When the Secretary of State came to see us before the start of the inquiry, she told us that the level of pension credit take-up was a scandal. You have already indicated that you have seen some increases, but 60,000 extra people claiming an income floor, which I think is the position, does not fee…”

“Thank you. I am sure we will come up with plenty for you. Certainly, the witnesses we have heard on this have been excellent, in my view. One of the things we have seen is that an increase in the number of people applying has meant that the processing time has slowed. Do we have a real sense of how many people will hav…”