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Government wins three benefit votes in Commons Government wins three benefit votes in Commons
(40 minutes later)
  
MPs have overturned three of seven defeats inflicted on the Welfare Reform Bill in the House of Lords.MPs have overturned three of seven defeats inflicted on the Welfare Reform Bill in the House of Lords.
Seven amendments were backed by peers over the past week but the government has pledged to overturn them.Seven amendments were backed by peers over the past week but the government has pledged to overturn them.
MPs have voted down Lords changes to reduce entitlements to employment and support allowance (ESA).MPs have voted down Lords changes to reduce entitlements to employment and support allowance (ESA).
Prime Minister David Cameron said the plans were "right and fair" but Labour criticised changes that would affect cancer patients as "dreadful".Prime Minister David Cameron said the plans were "right and fair" but Labour criticised changes that would affect cancer patients as "dreadful".
As the debate got under way on Wednesday, MPs voted by 324 to 265 to back the government over plans to stop young disabled people who have never worked from being able to claim "contributory" ESA.As the debate got under way on Wednesday, MPs voted by 324 to 265 to back the government over plans to stop young disabled people who have never worked from being able to claim "contributory" ESA.
They backed ministers by 332 to 266 over plans to means-test the same allowance after 12 months.They backed ministers by 332 to 266 over plans to means-test the same allowance after 12 months.
'Complete silence''Complete silence'
And they voted down a peers' amendment that would have exempted cancer patients from means testing by 328 to 265.And they voted down a peers' amendment that would have exempted cancer patients from means testing by 328 to 265.
Earlier Mr Cameron challenged Labour to support the government's plans for a £26,000 annual cap on benefits to working-age households. They are now debating whether to overturn the Lords amendment which would exclude child benefit from counting towards the £26,000-a-year, or £500-a-week cap on benefits to working-age households - set at the equivalent to the average post-tax salary of a working household.
Labour's position on the cap - which is set at the equivalent to the average post-tax salary of a working household - is that they support it in principle - but want changes to the way it is implemented. Labour says it supports the cap in principle but it is arguing that rather than one national cap - there should be local caps, set by an independent commission.
Mr Cameron repeatedly pressed Labour Leader Ed Miliband to say whether he would support the government, on what ministers say is a plan that has a lot of public support, accusing him of "complete silence" on the issue. In the Commons Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling said that idea was "ill-thought out" and "would be more credible if it was not being made at the very last minute".
At the weekend, Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said Labour would not be supporting the cap as it stood - because of concerns that it would force many families out of their homes. He said there were already exemptions to the cap - such as families in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Working Tax Credit - and outlined "transitional arrangements" to minimise the impact.
He said the party would instead push for a local cap on benefits - to vary across the country and reflect different housing benefit rates - rather than one £500-a-week/£26,000-a-year cap across England, Scotland and Wales. People who had been in work for the previous 12 months would get a nine-month "grace period" before the cap kicks in.
Labour sources said on Wednesday the party would vote against the benefits cap and will put down their own amendment on a flexible cap set by an independent commission. And additional payments would be made to families in certain circumstances, following a similar model used when the housing benefit cap was introduced - at a cost of up to £80m for 2013/2014 and £50m in 2014/2015.
MPs are now debating whether to back other amendments made by peers, or throw them out - re-introducing aspects of the proposed legislation rejected by peers. Mr Grayling told MPs the government would use parliamentary rules known as "financial privilege" to get their measures on ESA and the benefit cap through - it refers to the principle that the Lords cannot oppose tax and spending decisions agreed by the Commons.
The government says it intends to overturn the following measures agreed by the Lords: It will have to be formally signed off by a special committee of MPs tonight before the bill returns to the Lords.
  • Excluding child benefit from the £26,000 cap on total benefits to households
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  • Not charging single parents to access child maintenance if they take reasonable steps to reach a settlement
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  • Exempting cancer patients from means-testing of employment support allowance
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  • Extending eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) prior to means-testing from one to two years
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  • Allowing young disabled people to continue claiming National Insurance contribution-based ESA
    •
  • Exempting social tenants with one spare room from "under-occupancy" penalties
    •
It means that the Lords cannot send their same amendments to the welfare bill back to the Commons, preventing parliamentary "ping pong" over aspects of the bill.
For Labour, Liam Byrne suggested the reason the government had resorted to the measure was because they wanted to block a Labour amendment calling for a flexible, local limit on the benefits cap.
He told MPs there were "dangerous flaws" in the "one cap fits all approach". Mr Byrne dismissed government claims that Labour had never raised the issue of a local cap before and said they had made plenty of calls for safeguards in the cap.
He said the government had already "burnt a third of the savings they proposed for this measure" - because they had got the policy wrong - and the proposal had become a "dog's breakfast".
The government suffered its latest defeat on Tuesday when a coalition of crossbench and Labour peers - supported by two Conservatives and seven Lib Dems - voted to limit a proposed reduction to the lower rate of the "disabled child element" of Child Tax Credits.The government suffered its latest defeat on Tuesday when a coalition of crossbench and Labour peers - supported by two Conservatives and seven Lib Dems - voted to limit a proposed reduction to the lower rate of the "disabled child element" of Child Tax Credits.
A crossbench amendment tabled by Baroness Meacher calling for the lower rate to be at least two-thirds of the value of the higher rate - which ministers have proposed raising - was passed by 16 votes.A crossbench amendment tabled by Baroness Meacher calling for the lower rate to be at least two-thirds of the value of the higher rate - which ministers have proposed raising - was passed by 16 votes.
The government says it wants to target support at the children with the highest care needs - and say there will be transitional protection so those already in receipt of the benefit will not lose money.The government says it wants to target support at the children with the highest care needs - and say there will be transitional protection so those already in receipt of the benefit will not lose money.
But SDLP MP Margaret Ritchie said at prime minister's questions it would hit working people facing severe financial difficulties - and could cost them over £1,300 a year.But SDLP MP Margaret Ritchie said at prime minister's questions it would hit working people facing severe financial difficulties - and could cost them over £1,300 a year.
Mr Cameron said ministers needed to revamp tax credits and said: "Disability living allowance, the absolutely key benefit, is going up by 5.2% this April, which will be well ahead of inflation." Mr Cameron said Disability Living Allowance was going up by 5.2% this April, "well ahead of inflation", and said anyone currently on the current lower tax credit disability rate would be "completely protected through transitional payments" under the universal credit.
He added that with the universal credit anyone currently on the lower tax credit disability rate would be "completely protected through transitional payments"
He said the higher rate had not yet been set but would be "at least what it is now, and possibly higher".
However Labour MP Sheila Gilmore accused him of "being so much tougher on the vulnerable than the powerful".However Labour MP Sheila Gilmore accused him of "being so much tougher on the vulnerable than the powerful".
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Byrne said Labour was determined to force the government to change the bill.
"Welfare to work needs jobs - and this bill doesn't create a single one," he said.
"Instead it cuts support for people trying to do the right thing, like mums trying to go back to work and families trying to save, and quite frankly it crosses a line of basic British decency."