division_name: Leaving the Eu: The Rural Economy &#8212; DWP Policies and Low-income Households
motion: <p class="indent" pid="a873.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House is concerned at the impact of policies pursued by the Department for Work and Pensions upon low-income households; notes the negative impact on those with low-incomes disclosed in the roll-out of Universal Credit; expresses concerns about cuts to Work Allowances under Universal Credit; believes that the closure of JobCentre offices in Glasgow and other areas will create difficulties for many people in accessing services; and calls on that Department to suspend the roll-out of Universal Credit and the JobCentre closure programme.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a874.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Universal Credit is failing to live up to its promise&#8230;from the outset people have experienced problems&#8230;delays to claims and errors in their payments.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a876.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;welcomes last week&#8217;s Official Statistics showing that the poorest households saw the biggest income growth of &#163;700 in the last year; further welcomes the impact of this Government&#8217;s welfare reforms in supporting low-income households to find work, with over 2.7 million more people in work and 865,000 fewer workless households than in 2010; recognises the role of Universal Credit  in supporting people into work and increasing their earnings in work by ensuring it always pays to work; welcomes the recent announcement of a reduction in the taper rate to 63 per cent; believes that the Government&#8217;s reforms have given taxpayers confidence in an affordable and sustainable welfare system that ensures value for money and responds to the needs of claimants, with 86.6 per cent of Universal Credit claims currently being made online; and notes that the Scottish Government has asked for an extended timetable for the full transfer of the extensive welfare powers devolved under the Scotland Act 2016.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a880.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;a country that works for everyone.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a880.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There is no more serious inequality than knowing that you&#8217;ll die sooner because you&#8217;re badly off.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a883.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">That at this day&#8217;s sitting&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a883.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">(a) the Motion in the name of Angus Robertson may be proceeded with, though opposed, until 8.00pm, and <phrase class="standing-order" code="41A" title="Deferred divisions">Standing Order No. 41A (Deferred divisions)</phrase> shall not apply; and</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a883.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">(b) the Second Reading of the Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill [Lords] may be proceeded with, though opposed, until any hour.&#8212;(Guy Opperman.)</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a887.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;have lived in the UK for the last two years and not have been abroad for more than four weeks continuously during that time&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a892.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the impacts of benefit sanctions are universally reported by welfare service users as profoundly negative. Routinely, sanctions have had severely detrimental financial, material, emotional and health impacts on those subject to them. There was evidence of certain individuals disengaging from services or being pushed toward &#8216;survival crime&#8217;&#8230;There is limited evidence to date of welfare conditionality bringing about positive behaviour change.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a893.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;for the vast majority of the four in five Scottish children who are not living in poverty, it seems to be an indulgent use of state cash.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a893.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The State in organising security should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility&#8230;it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than the minimum&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a893.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;If you let yourself be put in the &#8216;soft&#8217; box on welfare, then it&#8217;s almost impossible to do anything to tackle disadvantage and unfairness&#8212;because it will always be more grist to the mill of those who want to caricature you as weak and interested only in spending more taxpayers&#8217; money and undermining the work ethic upon which so much depends.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a897.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;we are exploring options to allow those who are not in receipt of the higher Motability component to have access to the Motability scheme.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-11-30">30 November</phrase> 2016; Vol. 617, c. 610WH.]</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="a901.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="a901.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 172, Noes 276.</p>