Labour

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, commenting on the Government’s response to Paul Gray’s second independent review of the personal independence payment assessment, said:

“It is clear the Personal Independent Payment (PIP) assessment process is not fit for purpose. Instead of supporting people, the process leaves individuals and their families lives in tatters. The recommendations from Paul Gray’s second review regarding improving trust and transparency, timely reporting and quality assurance have not been accepted in full. 

“There remains an evident distrust of the assessment process by sick and disabled people. This is no surprise with a record 68% of PIP decisions taken to tribunal being overturned by judges. The assessment process is getting worse, not better.

“Labour will scrap the Personal Independence Payment and Work Capability Assessments and replace them with a personalised, holistic assessment process which provides each individual with a tailored plan, building on their strengths and addressing barriers, whether finance, skills, health, care, transport, or housing related. ”

Ends

Richard Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to the speech by Secretary of State David Lidington on prison reform, said:

“This speech was shockingly complacent, failing to outline a serious plan to tackle the prisons crisis caused by Tory cuts to staff numbers and budgets.

“One in four prisons has seen a fall in officer numbers over the last year, including those housing the most dangerous prisoners and those prisons that the government itself labels as being of concern. Yet the Secretary of State failed to guarantee that those prisons would see any increase in officer numbers. Nor did he set out a vision for tackling widespread prison overcrowding.

“When understaffing and overcrowding mean prisoners spend 23 hours a day locked-up in their cell, this makes a mockery of the government’s claims that it is turning prisons into places of reform.

“With further drastic budget cuts planned by the Ministry of Justice over the coming years, there is a real danger that our prisons will move beyond crisis to a full-blown emergency.“

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to Dame Judith Hackitt’s interim report into the Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, said:

“This interim report is welcome but Ministers have already been told that building safety rules need to be rewritten.

“It is now four and a half years since two Coroners’ reports into previous high rise fires recommended an overhaul of building regulations. Ministers ignored the recommendations then and their promise to issue new regulations was never honoured.  

“Rather than waiting for the final report of this inquiry, Ministers should start acting on existing recommendations immediately and incorporate recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt when her inquiry is completed.

“Ministers have been off the pace at every stage in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. They must now quickly give people confidence that our system of fire regulation has the clarity, accountability and proper standards needed so that no-one feels unsafe in their home.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the Government’s announcement to extend auto-enrolment to workers aged 18, said:

“The Government’s announcement to extend auto-enrolment to workers aged 18 is a small step in the right direction. However, it is worrying that the income threshold still means people on the lowest incomes are not automatically included and enrolled in a workplace pension, excluding hundreds of thousands of part-time and temporary workers. 

“Given that plans will also not be in place until the mid-2020s, coupled with the fact that people under 25 receive a lower living wage, many young people will continue to miss out both now and in their retirement.

“Labour will restore confidence in the workplace pension system ensuring it benefits the many not the few.”

Ends

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on reports today that Brexit ministers urge Theresa May to scrap EU working directive, said:

“This yet more evidence that senior Tories, including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, want to use Brexit as an excuse to rip up workers’ rights.

“Theresa May must publicly reject this approach and condemn it in this week’s Cabinet meeting. If she fails to do so then she will have turned her back on British workers. The directive offers protection to millions of workers who without it will be vulnerable to exploitation from unscrupulous employers.  

“It is becoming increasingly clear that a Conservative Brexit will weaken workers’ rights, deregulate the economy and slash corporate taxes. Labour will protect workers’ rights and ensure that everyone gets a fair deal at work.”

Ends