All articles written by Stephen Timms MP on PoliticsHome.com

16 Jul 2025 Social affairs

Disabled people must be placed at the heart of employability reforms

The government needs to include the voices of disabled people to shape and deliver much-needed reform of employability programmes across the UK.

15 Apr 2024 Social affairs

Committee Chair Tells DWP To "Get A Grip" On Carer's Allowance Overpayments

Labour MP Stephen Timms, chair of the work and pensions select committee, has insisted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must "get a grip" on carer's allowance overpayments.

30 Nov 2023 Economy

Forcing unready people into ill-suited work is not the answer

The Chancellor made a lot of strengthening the sanctions regime in his statement. His focus on sanctions took away from several welcome changes.

30 Sep 2022 Economy

Government must act to avoid a generation retiring with inadequate pensions

The middle of a cost of living crisis, with an inflation rate not seen for a generation and millions worried about how to make ends meet, is a far from ideal time to be thinking about putting away money for the future.

28 Sep 2022 Communities

Committee Corner – Work and Pensions Committee chair Stephen Timms on his in-tray

Amid a cost of living crisis and stretched public services, the next 12 months will be busy for Parliament’s select committees. Labour chairs set out their priorities – next up, Stephen Timms

A delayed Online Safety Bill puts us all at risk

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11 Aug 2022 Education

A delayed Online Safety Bill puts us all at risk

As new technologies such as the metaverse develop, a whole host of additional risks are emerging without proper safeguards to protect online Britons. Delays on the Online Safety Bill risk us falling behind on important advances, and MPs agree.

01 Jun 2022 Parliament

Champions of LGBT rights among MPs awarded in Jubilee honours list

Two champions of LGBT rights in Parliament, Maria Miller and Nia Griffith, are among the MPs being awarded damehoods in the new Jubilee honours list.

25 Mar 2022 Economy

Permanently extending free school meals to families with No Recourse to Public Funds is a welcome lifeline

Yesterday the Department for Education announced that free school meals will, from 19 April, be permanently extended to all families affected by No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). This is very welcome news.

10 Feb 2022 Home affairs

We must provide targeted support for homeless EU migrants if we are to end rough sleeping

The scale of homelessness and housing difficulties among EU citizens across Britain has become a growing concern.

28 Sep 2021 Economy

Out of work families can not afford the cut to Universal Credit

The cut will reduce real terms support for an out of work family to the lowest level since Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.

29 May 2021 Health

Fully Paralysed Terminally Ill Patients Still Face "Inhumane" Benefits Process Almost Two Years After Promised Review

Excl: Ministers are facing demands to urgently publish a review of the "barbaric" benefits programme first announced by the government in summer 2019.

10 Mar 2021 Communities

Covid has highlighted the need for new investment in council housing to tackle overcrowding

For those forced to live, learn and work in one room, the psychological impact of lockdown has been extraordinary. As we build back from this crisis, we must ensure everyone has access to a safe, secure and affordable home - with space to live.

11 Feb 2021 Economy

Removing the £20 uplift to Universal Credit now would be a failure by government to recognise the reality of so many struggling families

With the impact of the pandemic still being keenly felt, removing the £20 increase now makes no sense for the idea of UC as a safety net for all - or for the millions of families who rely on it to get by.

26 Nov 2020 Economy

We must ensure our social security system is providing a safety net for everyone who needs it

The Chancellor’s spending review is a missed opportunity to end agonising uncertainty for millions this Christmas. There is still much the DWP can to do to help people get back into work.

01 Jun 2020 Coronavirus

Boris Johnson must suspend the No Recourse to Public Funds policy during the coronavirus crisis

More and more law-abiding, hard-working families, whose contributions we have all benefited from for years, are sinking into destitution.

27 May 2020 Coronavirus

Boris Johnson hints at u-turn on Universal Credit ban for thousands of migrants after ‘jaw-dropping’ committee grilling

Boris Johnson has hinted that the Government will review rules that prevent thousands of migrants living in the UK from accessing a raft of state benefits despite paying taxes here.

24 Jan 2020 Home affairs

I would bring extensive experience of the social security system

My reputation for effective cross-party working stands me in good stead to steer the Work and Pensions Committee, writes Stephen Timms MP