Taxpayers Against Poverty

WORK AND WORKLESS RELATED ILL HEALTH TO BE DEBATED BY THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

The House of Lords will now start work on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on Monday 7th December. TAP has lobbied for the following amendment No 34 to clause 4 which adds the impact on health of poverty incomes and sanctions to the annual reporting duties of the Ministers at the DWP.

We are also supporting amendment No 2...2

Lord Ramsbotham a Trustee of the Institute for Food, Brain and Behaviour. The peers who have added their names to his amendment are Baroness Hollins, Chair of the BMA Board of Science, Baroness Meacher the former social worker, and former chair of the East London NHS Foundation Trust and Baroness Manchoor, formerly chair of the Bradford Health Authority and Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions for the Liberal Democrat Party. We are only allowed four names. We have lobbied for support for the amendment from Labour Peers, Bishops and other independent peers.

I will publish Lord Freud's reply after the debate, which might be after Christmas.

LORD RAMSBOTHAM
BARONESS HOLLINS
BARONESS MANZOOR
BARONESS MEACHER

Amendment 34

Page 5, line 16, at end insert-

"Working and workless households: reporting obligations

A1AG Working and workless households and health
( ) The Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament a
report containing data on-
(a) the impact on the mental and physical health of men,
women and children in workless households of benefit
sanctions, and
(b) the impact on the mental and physical health of men,
women and children in working households of incomes
below the national minimum wage."

Amendment 22

Clause 4
LORD RAMSBOTHAM
BARONESS MANZOOR

Page 4, line 32, at end insert-
"( ) the progress of children living in England at age 5 in the
following developmental areas-
(i) cognitive;
(ii) personal, social and emotional; and
(iii) physical;
( ) the progress of disadvantaged children living in England at
age 5 in the following developmental areas-
(i) cognitive;
(ii) personal, social and emotional; and
(iii) physical;"