Liz Kendall insisted the Government’s welfare reforms were in “the right place” now after she was forced to scrap most of the planned changes in the face of a Labour revolt.
The Work and Pensions Secretary acknowledged it had been a “bumpy ride” but the review into the personal independence payment (Pip) would now be able to take a proper look at the system in conjunction with disabled people.
Ms Kendall insisted the reforms had not been motivated by the Treasury’s desire to cut spending but were driven by a desire to end a situation where people became dependent on benefits rather than working.
The Universal Credit Bill cleared the Commons after elements to restrict eligibility to Pip were scrapped, with any changes postponed until after a review led by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms.
Ms Kendall said: “I know, always, how anxious people are when they hear about proposed changes in the benefits system.
“I think we’ve ended up in the right place now and I think we have a really positive story going forward about how we will work with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts to make sure we get a system that’s fit for the future.”
She denied the proposals were motivated by the almost £5 billion they were due to save.
Ms Kendall said: “I’ve never started with pound signs or spreadsheets. I’ve always started with what I believe can help people with long-term health conditions and disabled people build a better life for themselves and our reforms are based on helping those who can work to do so, instead of writing them off and then denying them any support.”
She told MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee her department “ends up picking up the pieces of the problems that are deep-rooted from many other government areas”.
She said: “Poor health, poor opportunities, low skills, not enough jobs – those are the problems we have to tackle together.”
Her department was “at the sharp end of it” and after “admittedly, a bumpy ride over the welfare legislation” the Government has to “start shifting resources into the things that really help create better lives for people”.
“We are spending, I believe, too much on the costs of failure and not enough on the better health, better jobs, better skills that we need,” she said.
“That is extremely difficult to shift, because people rely on those benefits, and they’ve built their lives around them.”
But, she added: “Benefits alone is not the solution to a better life.”
