One of my many and varied roles as a Member of Parliament is to sit on the Work and Pensions Select Committee. This is cross-party, and is chaired with great aplomb by Dame Anne Begg MP (Labour, Aberdeen South). I sit with the other Government members Kwarsi Kwarteng MP, Nigel Mills MP, and Paul Maynard MP.
The DWP Committee does vital work. Welfare and benefits will touch most people’s lives, whether it be their pensions when they are old, Jobseekers Allowance when they are unemployed, or sickness benefits when they fall ill. The Committee meets at least once a week to question ministers, senior civil servants, officials and interested groups or individuals about many aspects of welfare. Today for instance we have questioned the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP, about his Department’s performance in the last 12 months.
The Government has embarked on many ambitious and much needed reforms to welfare since 2010. Universal Credit will eventually see a welcome simplification of the entire process. It is also right that we expect people to put in to the system before they take out, and for there to be no expectation of people living a life on benefits as we saw develop under Labour. It is also important that changes to benefits are handled with care and sensitivity so that the least advantaged members of our society do not suffer.
All of these issues and many more are looked at by the Work and Pensions Select Committee every week.