Three committees complain of ‘inadequate consultation' over welfare reforms
Concerns about 'inadequate consultation' on the UK Government's controversial welfare reforms have been raised by parliamentary committees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall also said there had been a 'lack of robust data' to allow parliamentarians in the three areas to 'effectively scrutinise' the potential impact of the changes.
The letter, sent by the Scottish Parliament's Social Justice and Social Security Committee together with the Equality and Social Justice Committee of the Welsh Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee for Communities, comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing a rebellion from Labour MPs against the proposed changes.
A Commons vote on the plans to squeeze sickness and incapacity benefits is due to go ahead on Tuesday, despite 120 Labour MPs having publicly backed a move to block the legislation.
Meanwhile, the Work and Pensions Secretary was told there are 'significant concerns' about the Government's changes.
The letter from the three committees told how the 'economic backdrop' for many of those claiming disability benefits is 'already extremely challenging'.
And the committees added that the payments people receive 'are not symptomatic of a 'broken' system, but make a significant contribution to their health and wellbeing'.
They told Ms Kendall they were 'agreed that inadequate consultation and engagement by the UK Government with stakeholders and the devolved institutions has contributed to this sense of concern'.
Representatives from the committees added: 'In addition, the lack of robust data and jurisdiction-specific impact assessments presents significant challenges for our three committees to effectively scrutinise potential impacts.'
Here they insisted they have been 'constrained by the lack of quality information'.
They added: 'Our committees fully support the stated ambition that 'no-one should be consigned to a life on benefits just because they have a health condition or a disability, especially when they're able to and want to work with the right support in place'.
'However, in order to contribute meaningfully to the reform process, committees and citizens must be fully informed and offered every opportunity for meaningful engagement.'
The UK Government has been contacted for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
11 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Trade strategy will protect UK firms from ‘harm' amid global shift
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said it was the UK's first Trade Strategy to be published since Brexit. It follows the publication of an industrial strategy earlier this week which set out plans to back UK industries which the Government thinks have the potential to grow. The trade plan aims to make the UK the best-connected country in the world to do business, helping to loosen regulation and expand opportunities for exporters. As part of the plan, the DBT pledged to introduce new tools and safeguards to help protect UK firms against the threat of a shifting global trade environment. This is understood to mean expanding its ability to respond to unfair trade practices, guarding sectors such as steel, and potential powers to respond to deliberate economic pressures against the UK. The decision to strengthen trade defences comes at a time of heightened uncertainty following Mr Trump's tariff announcements in April, which have hiked charges on most US imports and raised concerns over the future of global trade arrangements. The strategy nonetheless follows a trio of major deals struck between the UK and India, the US and the EU in recent months. The agreement with the US is set to implement quotas that will effectively eliminate the tariff on British steel and reduce the rate on UK vehicles to 10%. Meanwhile, the deal with India opened up trade between the two countries by lowering tariffs on exports like gin and whisky. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the trade strategy was a 'promise to British business: helping firms to sell more, grow faster, and compete globally'. Jonathan Reynolds, the Government's Business and Trade Secretary, said: 'The UK is an open trading nation but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest. 'Our Trade Strategy will sharpen our trade defence so we can ensure British businesses are protected from harm, while also relentlessly pursuing every opportunity to sell to more markets under better terms than before.' Trade minister Douglas Alexander said the Government was taking 'every step necessary to safeguard British businesses from the increasingly protectionist mood in much of the world by sharpening our defensive toolkit'. Meanwhile, the newly created Ricardo Fund aims to set aside funding to tackle complex regulatory issues and remove obstacles for UK businesses selling abroad – which the DBT said could unlock £5 billion worth of opportunities. It is also expanding the capacity of UK Export Finance – the country's export credit agency – by £20 billion to total £80 billion. The body provides Government-backed loans, guarantees and insurance to help companies trade overseas. Separate to the trade strategy, the DBT said it was calling for views across the steel industry about how future trade measures and protections should be shaped. Steel producers and businesses across the supply chain will be invited to submit feedback over a six-week 'call for evidence' period. Current safeguarding measures – which include tariff-free quotas on steel imports to limit sudden surges – expire in June next year. Mr Reynolds said the Government would 'not sit by idly while cheap imports threaten to undercut UK industry'.
The Sun
21 minutes ago
- The Sun
Dark forces are exploiting our soft-touch borders – it's time to take back control before it's too late
Putin boat in NATO leaders met yesterday to discuss global threats, including from Russia and China. Yet there's one massive security disaster that the British Government has been sleep-walking into. 1 Suspected terrorists, sex offenders and drug gang leaders have all arrived here illegally on small boats. And now security chiefs fear hostile states are taking advantage of Britain's inability to protect its own borders to sow division. The Left likes to dismiss the seriousness of illegal migrant crossings. Yet there is now mounting evidence that dark forces abroad want to weaponise the epic failure of our soft touch system to unpick the fabric of our society. Some illegal migrants are now effectively state-sponsored by rogue regimes like Russia and Iran, whose agents have provided support and false papers. The Home Office insists it is aware of the problem. Project beer ON the day he entered Number 10, Sir Keir Starmer promised to 'tread more lightly' on the lives of voters. How does he square that with the idea of draconian restrictions on booze ads? You'd think Labour's fun police would have learned their lesson after the ban on smoking in pub gardens went up in a flame of public outrage. Sun probe uncovers asylum seekers in hotels linked to string of rape cases Instead, the constant desire to interfere suggests we will never be free of the Nanny-knows-best attitude which infects our public health bodies. Labour now finds itself in the bizarre position of wanting to give the vote to 16-year-olds — yet barring anyone over 18 from watching an advert for lager online, or before 9pm on TV. What on earth will they consider next? A ban on eating sausages? A crackdown on cake? Life in Britain should be about freedom and choice. This latest crazy plan is enough to drive anyone to drink. Steely resolve IT'S a current madness that in the dash to Net Zero, Britain bans new drilling for fossil fuels while China burns billions of tons of coal to make cheap steel for wind turbines — which it then sells to us. But welcome changes now mean the Chinese can be cut out of Government contracts in critical areas of national security. That's not only a major boost for British steel and other UK firms. It's also a vital step towards keeping one of our biggest security threats at arm's length.
South Wales Guardian
25 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Trade strategy will protect UK firms from ‘harm' amid global shift
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said it was the UK's first Trade Strategy to be published since Brexit. It follows the publication of an industrial strategy earlier this week which set out plans to back UK industries which the Government thinks have the potential to grow. The trade plan aims to make the UK the best-connected country in the world to do business, helping to loosen regulation and expand opportunities for exporters. As part of the plan, the DBT pledged to introduce new tools and safeguards to help protect UK firms against the threat of a shifting global trade environment. This is understood to mean expanding its ability to respond to unfair trade practices, guarding sectors such as steel, and potential powers to respond to deliberate economic pressures against the UK. The decision to strengthen trade defences comes at a time of heightened uncertainty following Mr Trump's tariff announcements in April, which have hiked charges on most US imports and raised concerns over the future of global trade arrangements. The strategy nonetheless follows a trio of major deals struck between the UK and India, the US and the EU in recent months. The agreement with the US is set to implement quotas that will effectively eliminate the tariff on British steel and reduce the rate on UK vehicles to 10%. Meanwhile, the deal with India opened up trade between the two countries by lowering tariffs on exports like gin and whisky. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the trade strategy was a 'promise to British business: helping firms to sell more, grow faster, and compete globally'. Jonathan Reynolds, the Government's Business and Trade Secretary, said: 'The UK is an open trading nation but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest. 'Our Trade Strategy will sharpen our trade defence so we can ensure British businesses are protected from harm, while also relentlessly pursuing every opportunity to sell to more markets under better terms than before.' Trade minister Douglas Alexander said the Government was taking 'every step necessary to safeguard British businesses from the increasingly protectionist mood in much of the world by sharpening our defensive toolkit'. Meanwhile, the newly created Ricardo Fund aims to set aside funding to tackle complex regulatory issues and remove obstacles for UK businesses selling abroad – which the DBT said could unlock £5 billion worth of opportunities. It is also expanding the capacity of UK Export Finance – the country's export credit agency – by £20 billion to total £80 billion. The body provides Government-backed loans, guarantees and insurance to help companies trade overseas. Separate to the trade strategy, the DBT said it was calling for views across the steel industry about how future trade measures and protections should be shaped. Steel producers and businesses across the supply chain will be invited to submit feedback over a six-week 'call for evidence' period. Current safeguarding measures – which include tariff-free quotas on steel imports to limit sudden surges – expire in June next year. Mr Reynolds said the Government would 'not sit by idly while cheap imports threaten to undercut UK industry'.
