Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall was grilled by MPs on benefit cuts (Image: )

       Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has come under fire for allegedly not engaging with disabled individuals regarding proposed benefit cuts during a heated exchange. Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling challenged the Cabinet minister on the catastrophic plans to cut ￡5billion from the welfare budget, which were gutted to prevent a Labour rebellion. The government has now postponed any changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the primary disability benefit, until DWP Minister Sir Stephen Timms conducts a review next year.

       During a session of the Work and Pensions Committee, Ms Kendall claimed the revised plans were now in "the right place" but conceded that the process had been a "bumpy ride". Mr Darling, who is registered blind, reminded Ms Kendall of her previous assurance that reforms would not be driven by cuts. He criticised the green paper released in March as representing the most severe reductions in ten years, questioning: "What went wrong?".

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       Ms Kendall responded: "Forgive me for not agreeing with the characterisation that you put forward. I have never started with pound signs or spreadsheets. I've always started with what I believe can help people with long term health conditions and disabled people build a better life for themselves.", reports the Mirror.

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       MP Steve Darling (Image: )

       However, Mr Darling countered by stating that those affected by the PIP adjustments had not been consulted beforehand. Ms Kendall defended her department's approach, stating they were consulting with Parliament and that various committees were examining the issue collaboratively. Mr Darling pressed the minister twice, demanding: "Why did you ignore disabled people?" To which the minister responded: "We are not ignoring disabled people. They will be at the heart of the Timms review."

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       The Work and Pensions Secretary further contended that the Government was excessively spending on the "costs of failure", with her department bearing the brunt of issues such as poor health, unemployment, and inadequate skills. "This department ends up picking up the pieces of the problems that are deep rooted from many other government areas and we've got to change that," she declared. "Poor health, poor opportunities, low skills, not enough jobs. Those are the problems we have to tackle together. We are at the sharp end of it."

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       Ms Kendall acknowledged that the journey of the welfare legislation had been a "bumpy ride", stating: "We have to start shifting resources into the things that really help create better lives for people. We are spending I believe too much on the costs of failure, and not enough on the better health, better jobs, better skills that we need.

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       "That is extremely difficult to shift because people rely on those benefits and they've built their lives around them. But unless we grapple with this, benefits alone is not the solution to a better life." When questioned about the delayed child poverty strategy, expected now in the autumn, Ms Kendall refuted any "slippage" in the Government's commitment to assisting the 4.5 million children living in poverty.

       She highlighted measures like the recent expansion of free school meals to children in Universal Credit households and free breakfast clubs as a "down payment" on addressing the problem. In a heated exchange, Mr Darling challenged: "Childhood is a really short period of time, we're letting our children in poverty down, why is the Government doing that by not publishing as it promised previously?" Ms Kendall responded: "I think action speaks louder than words, we have taken action to tackle child poverty."

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       Pressed further, she was asked: "Can you explain why you haven't published the child poverty strategy so far?" She retorted: "Would you like me to answer the question?" The MP shot back: "You are very well avoiding it. Why haven't you published the child poverty strategy?".

       Ms Kendall answered: "We want to get this right, we understand there will be funding implications and we think its really important that we spell out a comprehensive strategy. But we have not had slippage on tackling child poverty, we're putting that into action."

       She concluded: "I am very proud of the start we have made, we have got a hell of a long way to go. But I think we've had some down payments on our chid poverty strategy and myself and Bridget Phillipson will forging forward to do even more in the autumn."