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Monday 30 June
I met with a
representative of the CREATE
consortium and heard about their proposals for a community
allowance. See
here for more
information.
Tuesday 1 July
I had a
productive meeting with Stephen Timms,
the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, about the
governments targets to reduce child poverty and we discussed
possible ways of moving ahead on this vital
issue.
Wednesday 2 July
At its
regular meeting the Select Committee met Stephen Timms for a
discussion on the new Employment Support
Allowance regulations.
In the
afternoon I met representatives with the End Child Poverty Campaign and pledged my
support to their campaign (see news section of my
website).
I popped in
to a reception held by Arriva
Yorkshire to meet their new Managing Director, Nigel
Featham, before going to the PCS (Public and Commercial Services
Union) annual reception.
In the
evening I went to the launch of a report on the Financial Impact of
Domestic Violence which had been commissioned by the Family
Welfare Association and One Parent
Families/Gingerbread. See
here for more about the report.
Then on to
hear Kitty Ussher, the Economic Secretary
to the Treasury, talk at the Association of British Insurers
reception.
Finally, I
attended a very interesting dinner, hosted by No.10, with a
visiting delegation of MPs and Ministers from Hungary where we talked about welfare
reform.
Thursday 3 July
In the
morning I attended the meeting of the Liaison Committee, which is made up of all the
Chairs of the Select Committees. The Prime Minister was in the hot seat, answering
a wide range of questions from members of the Committee.
My contribution was
to ask him about child poverty. You can see the transcript of this
exchange
here.
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Week beginning 30 June
