§ 7. Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans she has to invite (a) voluntary bodies and (b) other interested parties to submit their views on welfare reform for consideration by her Department's review of the social security system. [881]
§ Ms HarmanWe are committed to a review of the social security system. We want a modernised social security system which will tackle poverty and welfare dependency.
§ Mr. BayleyDoes my right hon. Friend agree that a range of voluntary bodies such as the citizens advice bureaux and those for one-parent families have a detailed working knowledge of how the benefit system operates in practice and how in many cases it fails the people whom it is designed to help? Will she make sure that those bodies are consulted as part of her Department's proposed welfare review so that they can help to build a social security system that is not only sustainable but targets benefits on those who really need them?
§ Ms HarmanMy hon. Friend is right. We need to draw on the ideas and experience of those who advise and speak up for people who use the benefits system. We want to build consensus for the modernisation of the social security system to ensure that it encourages rather than discourages work, savings and honesty. To do that, we need to draw on the experience of voluntary organisations such as the citizens advice bureaux. We also need to draw on the experience of Department of Social Security staff. I hope that they will be partners with us in modernising the system and fitting it for the 21st century. I have today written to all DSS staff members, stating that I look forward to working in partnership with them. I have placed a copy of that letter in the Library.
§ Mr. Andrew RoweI am sure that the right hon. Lady is as aware as I am that many voluntary bodies know that one of the most useful actions for a young unemployed person is to take on a job as a volunteer in one of those organisations. Such jobs prepare them better than almost anything for training and absorption into the workplace. Will the right hon. Lady undertake to look again at the extremely intractable problem of being available for work and how that interacts with taking on a responsible voluntary job?
§ Ms HarmanThe hon. Gentleman makes an important point. One of the four options that will be available under 9 our welfare to work scheme to people under the age of 25 who have been unemployed for more than six months will be work with a voluntary organisation. By offering that, we hope to ensure two outcomes. First, we shall help to build the all-important infrastructure of our voluntary organisations, which do so much in every community. Secondly, we want to give young people work experience so that they can understand the world of work, learn new skills, have something to put on their CVs and have a stepping stone to paid work.