Speeches by Darling.

“Thank you all for coming today. It is much appreciated. We have already touched on the national insurance hike, the increase in minimum wage and the impact of employment rights. We were mostly covering the immediate impact. What do you see as the long-term impact of those things? Also, employment rights are not necessa…”

“Kate, your thoughts on any long-term impact and any flexibility in employment?”

“Do you just want to develop slightly what you were saying about the Low Pay Commission and it being, perhaps, laser-focused on a certain area and not taking the whole package?”

“As far as the long-term impact of the national insurance, minimum wage rises and employment rights matter, do they trigger any particular trends in your industry that you are seeing or is it just the immediate indigestion that they are suffering at the moment?”

“David, any reflections? You have already started to dig into this a little bit.”

“I will go to Jan first, David and then Dave, so that you are aware what order were coming in. Reflecting on the DWP and the opportunities, we have already started unpacking some of this, so a further dive into this a little bit would be really helpful. Reflecting on the DWP and how it could help with transition from ed…”

“Jan, from a local authority perspective, if you could put a challenge into the DWP and say, “You’re working really well but, above and beyond, this is where I would put a challenge in”, is there anything that leaps to mind in that area?”

“I thank the more than 6,000 residents who signed a petition against mandatory digital ID. The scheme that has been outlined will inevitably save the Government billions of pounds, so will they commit to investing that money in bobbies on the beat to tackle antisocial behaviour in town centres such as Torquay and Paignt…”

“Politics is all about choices. Last week, the Chancellor stood at the Dispatch Box with a choice: she could have chosen to reverse the jobs tax that is costing thousands of jobs for young people up and down the United Kingdom. Why she did she not make that choice?”

“Last week, Citizens Advice shared a report into Access to Work which confirmed many things that we know from our own postbags relating to disturbing delays in the system on both processing applications and reimbursement. Will the Minister share with us what recovery plan he has in place and when the Government will get…”

“As a former caseworker, I can reflect on how it can impact you as an individual. I used to play ABBA after hearing about particularly traumatic events on the phone with constituents of the MP I used to work for. We need culture change, and to make sure that those who undertake this service to the public, whether it is …”

“What a pleasure it is to serve under you as chairman, Mr Western. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean) on securing this important debate. Sorting out Torbay hospital, the hospital that serves my constituency as well as the constituents of my hon. Friends the Members for So…”

“Do you reflect on how things could be a little more streamlined in delivery and so forth, allowing a bit more flexibility?”

“Thank you all for coming today. We have heard evidence as a Select Committee that the Connect to Work scheme is somewhat over-bureaucratic and that it repeats the same challenges that have appeared on other schemes. It also puts additional strain on local authorities. I would welcome some reflections on how you would r…”

“I think that is the positive thing that you have just alluded to. If lessons are being learned and as it rolls out further there are opportunities to try to streamline and those opportunities have been taken, one can only welcome that. The funding is quite limited. I think it goes up to 2029. In the greater scheme of t…”

“If you can, just around that interplay between reasonable adjustments and Access to Work, that would be really helpful.”

“Particularly focusing on reasonable adjustments in Access to Work, are you able to shed any light on that at all—where the culture is heading in that direction, or any thoughts?”

“I do not want to stray too much into Access to Work because I know a colleague is picking that up, but I want to explore with you reasonable adjustments and Access to Work. I know that there are fears from those who campaign and work in this sector that there are moves afoot to shift some of what would have been picked…”

“I wanted to reflect on reasonable adjustments in the employers’ world. One of the barriers to people being able to gain work is not being able to get a reasonable adjustment. It feels as if it can be a bit murky, what is “reasonable”. Do you have any thoughts about how to give greater guidance to employers around this …”

“For Torbay council, on which I still serve, incredible assumptions are being made about the levels of council tax being collected. That results in a deficit of £13 million in years 2 and 3 for a small unitary authority. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Labour party has been learning from the Conservatives, and is pla…”