Live webchat with Rachel Reeves, Labour shadow for work and pensions; THURSDAY 26 FEBRUARY 11.30-12.30

[RowanMumsnet]

We’re pleased to say that we’ll be welcoming Rachel Reeves MP to MNHQ for a webchat on Thursday February 26 at 11.30am.

Rachel is the MP for Leeds West, and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; among other things her brief includes the ‘bedroom tax’ (also known as the ‘removal of the spare room subsidy’ or ‘under-occupancy penalty’), which she has said Labour will abolish.

Before becoming an MP, she worked as an economist for the Bank of England, the British Embassy in Washington and at Halifax Bank of Scotland. Her second child is due in June and there was some controversy earlier this week when she announced her intention to take maternity leave should Labour form the government after the General Election in May.

Please join us on Thursday at 11:30 if you can; as ever, if you can’t join us live, then leave your question on this thread in advance. (And please remember our webchat guidelines.)

Thanks
MNHQ

Can you tell us three idealogical principals that underpin current Labour Party thinking?

That's it?

You'd get rid of targets for sanctions (but not sanctions).

And you'd pay awarded benefits on time.

But you wouldn't change who gets awarded the benefits or how?

So the change from 50m to 20m for mobility awards stays?

And the mandatory "Work Related Activity" assigned by JobCentre clerks stays?

And sanctions for anyone unable to complete the WRA or physically get to multiple JobCentre interviews on time even though the DWP agrees they are not fit to work - those stay.

And the removal of National Insurance contributions-based ESA after 12 months stays?

Thank you. At least I know who not to vote for.

@Rufus200

What is Labour going to do to stop EU immigrants coming to the UK and taking benefits when they have not paid a penny of tax into the system?

We want to change the rules so that no-one gets access to benefits or tax credits until they have been in the country for two years.

I'm pregnant and my husband is self employed and on a relatively low income. He would like to take two weeks paternity but in the current system he can't because he is not entitled to statutory paternity pay. Will this change under labour?

@Candycandle

My husband is part of the fire service. Do you support the fire service during their strikes and the changes to pensions and retirement age? Would labour being in power help the emergency services any more than conservative government?

We opposed the fire service changes in Parliament and I met with firefighters from West Yorkshire when they came to lobby in Parliament. The FBU have made some specific proposals about allowing firefighters to retire a bit earlier and I support it. I hope we will be in power in May to make changes.

While I'm on a rant, the Work Programme should also stop instantly in its current form, and Maximus should lose the contract for assessing people with disability.

Maximus don't have the best record or reputation, do they ?

@meglet

hi Rachel.

Are you planing to do any more to encourage employers to allow flexible working? My role is highly flexible but my flexible working request was rfused because 'they can't risk everyone wanting it' . I haven't had the time to appeal because I know they won't budge. as it is I struggle to juggle everything around my rigid office hours.

as a working single parent flexible working would take some pressure off me.

and a sneaky second question about csa charges. will the labour party end them? I have an abusive ex and he will hit the roof when he is asked to pay more . he won't blame the governing, he will come after us.

Thanks.

Apologies for any typo's, am on my lunchtime walk!

Hi Meglet, incredibly disappointing that your employer won't grant you flexibility. i doubt everyone you work with does want it or need it, but even if they did, as long as managed properly, what's the problem? i have a number of people who work part-time and flexibly for me, and it works well for me and for them. i would try again and explain why it would be good for them too - they keep you motivated and if you can balance work and family you're going to be better at work. i know it's a last resort, but if that doesn't work you can challenge the decision in an employment tribunal. Labour have committed to reform the fee system, as i know they are deterring lots of people from getting their rights enforced too. Good luck - I really hope you can make it work for you and your family.

thank you rachel

Once again as you didn't answer in your response!

How are you going to fund the abolition of the bedroom tax and other changes you plan to make? What tax rises are you planning?

Thanks for your honesty Rachel, with regards to your reply regarding child benefit. The fact is though, that a single income family on little over 50k with 4 children is in the 4th income decile group for earnings according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. However, it also seems from your post that you are not going to do anything to change the fact that families on much higher incomes, i.e. 90k will still receive the benefit. Oh well, at least I now know where I stand.

@MrsVamos

You would ban zero hour contacts ?

Good to hear.

Will you also insist on a living wage, for the whole country ?

Thank you. We would raise the minimum wage to at least £8 an hour in the next Parliament which would be a £3k pay rise for someone who works full time on the NMW.

We would also do more to ensure that more workers are paid a living wage (LW) which is currently worth £7.85 an hour outside of London and £9.15 in London. We would do this by introducing Make Work Pay contracts with employers who adopt a LW. Sharing some of the savings to taxpayers in terms of higher tax and NI contributions and lower tax credits and housing benefit payments, we would also make big organisations publish the number of workers they employ on less than the LW which should shame some big employers into doing the right thing as well.

Can you assure disabled people that you will scrap the cruel WCA?

I support Rachel's right (any MP's right!) to take parental leave (and congratulations Rachel by the way )

I'd be interested in your views though on the other bit of my question. Should rules about this be set across Parliament? It feels as though it's all very ad hoc at the moment, so that MPs who put their heads above the parapet get shot down a bit. Maybe some proper employment rights for MPs wouldn't be a bad idea and would encourage more women to go into politics?

@bedunkalilt

Hello Rachel,

In the plans for making changes relating to wages and benefits, does Labour have any plans or ideas related specifically to people trying to transition from benefits into more paid work? To clarify, at the moment people can be penalised - usually through a loss of benefits or significant decrease - for working more hours and/or earning more. It is right that the benefits diminish, but it seems to happen at a rate where people can end up worse off financially. When you have a family to support it becomes untenable in the short term to take the hit, even though in the long term it would be much better if you were working and supporting yourself financially without state support. How are people supposed to move into higher paid jobs or more hours if they have to suffer a significant drop in income for what could be years until their next increase or promotion?

I know the sort of things you mean would be cliff edges for people. We introduced tax credits to help people on low or modest incomes as well as giving more free childcare. Obviously more is needed, including our policy of 25 hours free childcare for three and four year olds for working families and wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm at primary schools to help with the extortionate costs of childcare.

Living wage should be equal across the country.

Make Work Pay contracts and shaming companies ? Hasn't worked so far with the minimum wage.

You say that you aren't going to scrap child benefit not being available for higher income families but are you planning to make this fair. Currently if one partner earns over 50k you start paying it back, under this system someone who earns £60k but who's partner earns nothing or very little gets no child benefit where as a household where both parents are earning £49k and are therefore better off get the full allowance. How is this fair? How do you plan to change this?

Hi Rachel you keep mentioning child care costs they are almost double for families with disabled children of you can find any provision at all?.what does labour plan to do about this?

@LineRunner

Dear Rachel Reeves,

I will probably vote Labour but I still need some convincing after Harriet Harman's performance on here recently. Which policies ARE Labour going to reverse which have been so damaging to people with disabilities and additional needs (and their carers)?

Thank you.

Dear LineRunner, A Labour government will scrap the Bedroom Tax which has cost hundreds of thousands disabled people £3800 since it was introduced in 2013. Scrapping the Bedroom Tax will be the first thing I do if Labour win and I become Work and Pensions secretary in May. We will introduce a specialist Work Support programme to give disabled people the support they need to find a job. We will get a grip of the huge backlog of people waiting for Personal Independence Payment assessments. And we'll get tough on failing Work Capability Assessment contractors with penalties when they get assessments wrong and we'll give disabled people a real say in how Work Capability Assessments are run. Also, something that I know matters to so many families but perhaps those with someone who is disabled most of all, we are going to integrate health and social care and invest an extra £2.5bn a year in the NHS to make sure doctors, nurses and care workers have time to care.

And on your later question on zero hour contracts, we would ban the exclusivity clauses that mean you can't take work somewhere else, even if you're on a zero hour contract with your current employer, and if you do a regular number of hours, then you have the right to a contract for those hours. It's something we'll be able to do quickly in the next Parliament and we already have done a lot of work in opposition to get us ready.

Re increasing paternity leave/pay - why should this weekly figure be greater than that offered to women via SMP? I thought we had an equal 'pay' act?

TBF, there has to be some sort of medical assessment for disability benefits.

It's the WCA of the last few years which is the problem: "assessment" shouldn't mean "any old shite so we don't have to pay out, but can still pretend there's a system to look after the disabled".

Any brainwaves about how we can lower the cost of childcare? With the 15 hours funding in place for my oldest child, it will still cost me around £1500 per month for three days a week for two children. Throw in my travel card and that's everything I earn. I don't love my job that much to do it for free and I'm extremely lucky that my husband earns enough to cover our bills so I should be able to take time off until our oldest starts school - but then I'll have a life time of making up for the time I have had off to contend with. I'm in that top 10% where one of us earns over £60k, so I can cope, what about everyone else?

@Luckystar82

I'm pregnant and my husband is self employed and on a relatively low income. He would like to take two weeks paternity but in the current system he can't because he is not entitled to statutory paternity pay. Will this change under labour?

Thank you for the question and I will check that with Gloria de Piero who is our Shadow Minister with responsibility for this.

So you won't actually ban zero hour contracts, then ? You'll just adjust the terms so that people can get another zero hour contract, just to try to earn enough to eat and pay the bills.

@Vix286

Hi Rachel,

I will try to join live, baby permitting, but would like to know what Labour plan to do in regards to tuition fees? Will you reduce / remove them?

Thanks

Hi Vix286. One of the first things I had to vote on when I became an MP in 2010 was whether to treble tuition fees to £9k. I voted against because I think it is wrong to saddle young people with so much debt and bcs I think it deters working class kids from going to uni. Ed Miliband has made it clear he wants fees cut and I do too. In the next few days we will set out the specifics on what we will cut them to and how we will pay for it. I hope you will agree with our proposals!... Sorry I can't tell you the detail today but you will have them really soon.

Rufus, perhaps you're new? Web chat rules state one question per member.

I disagree with you wholly on the subject if maternity rights.
They should apply to all, at every level.