Government wins welfare reform vote

THE government has won the latest vote in its battle over changes to the welfare reforms.

Further votes are due later today on changes including a £26,000 per year cap on benefits.

In the House of Lord peers, led by the group of Bishops, had voted to remove child benefit from the cap.

But changes to the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) have been reversed by MPs.

The Bill as now drafted means people who are recovering from an illness or injury can get contributory ESA for one year rather than two.

The limit would also apply to cancer patients, despite moves by peers to exempt cancer sufferers from the time limit. Further changes relating to when people join the ESA as children were also overturned.

Mr Grayling told the Commons the changes in the Welfare Bill were the right ones.

He said: “I do accept anxiety around cancer but I should also say the approach we are taking to all of our reforms, in particular those in relation to sickness and disability, is we should not write off automatically any individual affected by a particular condition.

“Applying a one size fits all to any one condition we believe is the wrong thing to do.

“The important thing in relation to this measure is we have to have a welfare system in which people have confidence. What we have is a system that reflects, in jobseeker’s allowance, the principle people should get something back from their contributions but not indefinitely. These measures simply seek to extend that to the group on ESA.

“It is a principle of our welfare state, which operated under the previous government and has done for a long time, it is there to provide a safety net for those people who have no other income. It provides some degree of support to those who have another form of income but, as in jobseeker’s allowance, it is not unlimited.”

Shadow welfare minister Stephen Timms said the changes proposed by the Government would hit 100,000 people “who had all their lives done the right thing” as he told MPs that the Government was wrong to set a “literally indefensible” benefit cut-off at 12 months as it was “not enough” time to expect cancer sufferers to return to work.

“After 12 months many people are still experiencing the debilitating physical and psychological effects of cancer and from its treatment,” he said. “People cannot be expected to go back to work.”

He added: “This is a dreadful proposal. By removing contributory benefit long before most people will have a chance to get back to work, it removes an absolutely key plank of the contributory system - people having the paths to be able to depend on support in event of a disaster.

“This change will mean that will be the case no more. The Lords was absolutely right; what the Government is trying to do is shameful and we should throw it out.”

MPs are next due to debate the benefits cap. At PMQs earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron challenged Labour to support the cap, saying “The cap is right and the cap is fair”.

On the amendment lifting the time limit on contributory ESA, MPs voted to make the limit one year by 332 to 266, a majority of 66.

The amendment exempting cancer patients from the time limit was overturned by 328 to 265, a majority of 63.

An amendment which would allowed the Lords to stop changes to the youth element of ESA was defeated by 324 to 266, a majority of 58.