11 September 2007

Rt Hon Peter Hain MP

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

TUC, Brighton

Tuesday, 11th September 2007

[Check against delivery]

Congress, I have always fought for social justice: as a trade unionist who was a delegate to Congress, and as an MP.  And today I pledge to Congress that I will continue to fight for it as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Because there is no point in being in Government, or in the trade union movement, if you don’t work to deliver a real difference to the people who need it most.

The trades union movement is rooted in social justice and the Government  is committed to delivering social justice.

Justice for pensioners by re-establishing the link to earnings; 

Justice by compensating those robbed of their pensions when companies went bust; and

Justice by legislating for a new personal occupational pension to bring in the millions people of working age in the UK who are not currently contributing to a pension.

Justice also for children by abolishing child poverty.

Justice for the many on long term benefit who need help into a job.

And – yes justice in the workplace.

I will not tolerate a continued increase in construction deaths. 

Booming house building: yes. Booming infrastructure building: yes. 

But not with the blood of construction workers in the foundations.

On Monday I have called the construction industry, the Health and Safety Commission and the main trade unions to a special forum.

This will not be a talking shop.  It must deliver an urgent action plan to reverse the macabre toll of rising death and injury in construction.  

Figures out today from the HSE show that nearly 1 in 3 construction refurbishment sites inspected put the lives of workers at risk - this is completely unacceptable. The HSE closed down 244 of the sites immediately. But safety should never have been compromised in the first place.

Nevertheless, Congress, we should be proud of what we’ve delivered together these last ten years. 

Not everything you’ve wanted, of course. 

Your members have been angry from time to time.

I understand that.  Over the years we made mistakes. 

We got some things wrong.

But, our achievements together dwarf any disagreements. Far, far more should unite than divide us.

[We have made great progress since 1997].

The curse of mass unemployment banished with more people – 2.6 million more - in work than just a decade ago.

For the first time in a generation the number of people on incapacity benefits is falling, compared with the three-fold increase in numbers between 1979 and 1997 as people were thrown on the scrap heap and smuggled off the claimant count figures.

For the first time in our history more than half of working age lone parents people are in employment.

Over 600,000 children have been lifted out of poverty.

Over 1 million pensioners are no longer living in relative poverty.

We have had the longest and most sustained period of economic growth for over two hundred years.

Yes, much to be proud of.

But so much more to do.

Because of what we have achieved, for the first time, we can talk about ‘full employment in our generation’, not as it once would have been-- an impossibly naÏve aspiration -- but as a real, achievable goal at the heart of our anti-poverty policy.

And if ‘full employment’ is an ambitious target, then we are right to be ambitious.

We must be ambitious.

Because if we aren’t ambitious for social justice, how can we expect the most disadvantaged to be ambitious for themselves and their families?

If we aren’t ambitious what can we say to the children of a lone parent who does not work,  who are five times more likely to live in poverty than the children of a lone parent who does work full time?

If we aren’t ambitious what do we say to someone with even a mild disability who never expects to work at all, let alone have a career?

If we aren’t ambitious what do we say to the worker who feels the daily insecurity of seeking to compete in an ever more competitive labour market?

That is why the reform agenda set out in the Green Paper, ‘In work Better Off’ is so important.

It sets out the next phase to help families and individuals who have been trapped in poverty, out of the shadows into a better life.

There is no doubt that the next steps to full employment will be much more challenging than the approach, envied by other countries, which has delivered such good results to date simply because the long term unemployed are much, much harder to reach.

But we have a duty to provide opportunities: by which I mean REAL opportunities; for careers not just for jobs. 

With a renewed focus on sustained employment, career development and making work pay.

And in return for these new opportunities it is right that we expect that these will be taken, as Gordon spelled out in our new proposals yesterday.

And by the end of the year we aim to have over 200 major employers committed to offering job opportunities to people on benefits.

On Remploy, I am committed to both change in Remploy and justice for Remploy workers.

Change because, over the last 60 years, the expectations and ambitions of disabled people have risen immeasurably, away from segregation in sheltered factories and towards participation in the mainstream workforce.

But, of course, there will opportunities for those whom sheltered employment continues to be the best option.

So let me be clear.  Remploy has a good future. Every one of its workers will get the protection and the opportunities they deserve.

That’s why I want a negotiated settlement between trade unions and management.

Both sides agree that change is necessary, and that Remploy has a future, both providing employment services and jobs in factories. The dispute is about proposals for change, not the need for change.

So I have asked the former NUPE and UNISON national officer Roger Poole to chair new consultation meetings between Remploy and the trade unions to see if an agreement is possible.

Congress, we also want to get many more people with pensions when they retire from work.

Today we have achieved what no one would have thought possible – a consensus on a new settlement for pensions.

And it was the trade unions that played a decisive role in forging that consensus – sounding the wake-up call over the looming crisis.

You called for the earnings link to be restored – which we have now delivered.

You called for justice in pensions for women and carers – which we have now delivered.

And you called for everyone to have access to a workplace pension – a key demand of the TUC. Now it is my job to deliver that too.

The Pensions Bill, to be introduced in a few months, will renew the social contract for retirement based on shared responsibility:

Employer responsibility, through minimum compulsory contributions into a pension scheme – a key demand of the trade union movement.

Worker responsibility through employee contributions, and all workers automatically enrolling workers into a scheme.

And government responsibility, with a guaranteed basic standard of living through a basic state pension linked to earnings.

Implementing the new pensions settlement will be a hugely challenging and important task for the new Personal Accounts Delivery Authority.

In Paul Myners, we have appointed an excellent chair. And I can think of no better person to work alongside Paul than your former President Jeannie Drake - which is why I am delighted to announce today that I am appointing her as a non-executive director of the Delivery Authority.

We are determined to deliver justice for pensioners not just in the future, but today as well.

As a result of this year’s Budget, we have raised the level of the Financial Assistance Scheme from £2.3bn to £8bn in cash terms, ensuring all those affected will now receive up to 80 per cent of their expected core pension.

Now, I am committed to doing all I can to increase assistance level towards 90% and arrive at a settlement acceptable to trade unions and pensioners themselves.  

Through the Pension Protection Fund, we have legislated to ensure that such a scandal will not be repeated in future.

We will also address past pension inequalities – mostly affecting women.

Congress I said at the outset that we had to be ambitious to deliver real change to the people who need it most.

People who live on the margins of society and are stigmatised for it.

People whose aptitudes, talents and abilities go unrecognised, their potential unrealised.

People who fear retirement.

I know that you won’t give up on them.

Neither will I.