Speaker admonishes Work and Pensions Secretary on questions
SPEAKER SIR Lindsay Hoyle has admonished the Government after the Work and Pensions Secretary failed to answer any questions from MPs in the Commons.
Therese Coffey was due to respond to the final three questions – including two related to the Covid-19 pandemic – during work and pensions questions, but time elapsed before she could be called to speak.
Her junior Ministers answered other questions related to coronavirus during the 30-minute session. Sir Lindsay tried to give ministers the hurry-up, before expressing his displeasure with the situation.
He told the Commons: “That concludes what are referred to as questions to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
“The arrangements for hybrid proceedings allow for departments to reorder questions according to answering minister.
“But I do not believe that this was the House’s expectation that this would lead to the Secretary of State not answering any questions and three important issues being raised by members from the opposition parties being relegated to the bottom of the list.
“I will raise this matter with the Leader of the House (Jacob Rees-Mogg) and do not expect to see this repeated.”
During the session, Ministers were warned that food bank and soup kitchen use have surged during the Covid-19 crisis, amid calls to reform benefits payments. Labour’s Sarah Jones said there has been a “massive increase in demand” in her area of south London, adding new claimants should receive a grant rather than a loan ahead of their first payment under Universal Credit (UC).
Work and pensions minister Will Quince said the department does not have the “capacity” to make such structural changes, arguing staff are focused on helping claimants. He earlier told MPs that more than 90 per cent of UC claims will be paid “in full and on time” despite around two million new claims since mid-March.
Employment minister Mims Davies also encouraged firms to reopen if they can allow safe working but said “safety at work guides” will not be published until “later this week”.