The Archbishop of Canterbury concludes the debate on shared values and thanks peers who have contributed.

And the House of Lords wraps up for the week, as does the Commons. We'll be back on Monday to cover what's going on in Westminster.

Have a good weekend, goodbye.

House of Commons
Parliament

Deputy Leader of the House of Commons Michael Ellis answers the debate on the Civil Service Compensation Scheme for the government.

Mr Ellis says that the government is moving to modernise civil service pay, pensions and compensation in the light of the need to cut costs across the public sector.  

"Six figure compensation packages are not appropriate" in the public sector, he says, and the government is moving to outlaw these.

Mr Ellis says the civil service unions were invited to meetings on the reforms, and five such unions joined in the negotiations. He says the decision not to participate was made by the PCS union, he denies any union was barred from negotiating.

Mr Ellis concludes by saying the process benefited from the involvement of those unions who "constructively participated" in the reforms negotiation.

The revised Civil Service Compensation Scheme is a "good deal" for civil servants, he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Chris Stephens leads the adjournment debate this afternoon, on the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

The government has announced changes to the scheme which covers redundancy payments for civil servants.

Mr Stephens says far from being "fat cats" many civil servants earn average wages and have already seen cuts to salaries and pension entitlements.

The government has capped the amount of redundancy that can be paid to a civil servant at a maximum of 18 months-worth of salary.

Mr Stephens says he and colleagues have called for debate on the matter and he now looks forward to the minister's response.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth sums up for the government. He praises and highlights individual contributions from the assembled peers.

Lord Bourne says the values spoken about should not just be designed as British values, but universal or core values. Rule of law, democracy, free speech, respect for minorities were all the values spoken of.

He says that at the heart of the values are the rights that allow people to live the lives they choose, and the rule of law. He also refers to the UK's private and public response to humanitarian causes.

A key part of our values is tolerance for others with different religious beliefs, Lord Bourne says. All are playing roles in inter-faith, he says.

"We should be very proud of our British values, we welcome the role of faith in helping deliver on many of these things. The government can put up housing, but it can't create communities," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Work and Pensions Minister Damian Hinds is now answering the second reading debate on the Benefit Claimants Sanctions (Required Assessment) Bill.

Evidence does show that sanctions have a positive effect, he says.

The government ensures that claimants are made aware of the availability of hardship payments, and that these are made within three days, he says.

Mr Hinds says the existing legislation refers to "causes" rather than "reasonable causes" so that discretion can be used to assess whether a person has failed to comply with a condition of their benefits.

As he launches into a line by line response to the bill, the Deputy Speaker calls the debate to order.

Debate on the bill ceases at this point, and although Ms Black asks debate to resume in February, it is unlikely there will be any private members' time left to return to the bill.

House of Lords
Parliament

Talking about shared values, Labour's Baroness Sherlock references the stories we tell and the songs we sing as part of our shared culture.

She remembers the opening of the Olympic Ceremony in 2012 as the story of who the British are. It referenced the Shipping Forecast, Wind in the Willows, James Bond, Mr Bean, Tim Berners-Lee and the NHS - among many others.

She moves on to talk about immigration. She says the 1930s "were not so long ago", and she warns about the rise of fascism again.

She says the biggest challenge post-Brexit is to continue to be an outward-looking country; and says that even at times of great trials, such as World War II, the country welcomed the Kindertransport, or in the 1970s, the Ugandan Asians.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Mims Davies is not in favour of passing the bill, but she is at pains to express her sympathy with the intent behind it in her speech.

She says as an MP, and previously as a councillor, she has dealt with many cases of people having difficulties with the benefits system.  

She says with the right help cases can be resolved, and she does not believe that adding more assessments into the process will help reduce the stress and cost.

Ms Davies says she believes the government is listening and cites the research that has been done by the Oakley Review and others. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Proceedings are briefly paused for a point of order from Conservative Victoria Atkins.

Ms Atkins says passions are "running high" in the chamber, but that the SNP are accusing Conservative MPs of saying things which have not been said.

Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing says the point is not a proper point of order, as the chair cannot decide on what words MPs should use in their speeches.  

She says Ms McLaughlin might want to temper her speech to be clear she is talking about what may have been implied, rather than what was actually said, but that there is nothing out of order about her speech.

Chris Stephens of the SNP makes a related point of order, complaining that some MPs have been shouting across the chamber at each other while others are speaking.

Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing says that again, this is not really a point of order, but reminds MPs not to make sedentary interventions.  It is, however, a debate on an important subject, she says, and she does not expect people to sit in silence.

SNP MPs have been accusing some Conservative MPs of shouting across the chamber, on social media.

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Anne McLaughlin argues that the sanctions regime does nothing to encourage more people to find work.

She's most people have aspirations and want to work.

Ms McLaughlin says she herself had to turn down an opportunity for starting her own business several years ago, because it clashed with the day she was required to sign on for her benefits.

She says the sanctions regime is "punishment".

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP MP Anne McLaughlin outlines a story about a constituent with a six-year-old girl, who was sanctioned after she tried to change an appointment.

Fellow SNP MP Hannah Bardell intervenes to mention a constituent with Parkinson's who was also sanctioned.

Many MPs who support Mhairi Black's bill and have spoken in the debate, have mentioned constituents' cases, and urged a change in the law as a result.

Conservative MP Helen Whately, who spoke earlier, said that it was important for MPs to follow up individual cases, to check where mistakes may have been made, but - along with many other MPs who oppose the bill - has defended sanctions as an important part of the system.

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Shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams and a number of other MPs have referred to a recent report by the National Audit Office (NAO).

The report says that benefit sanctions leading to "hardship, hunger and depression" are being imposed on people despite "limited evidence" on how well they work.

The public spending watchdog also said use of the sanctions "varies substantially" between jobcentres.

An estimated 400,000 sanctions were imposed against people on out-of-work benefits last year.

Read more about the NAO report here.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams speaks in support of the bill for Labour.

She warmly congratulates Mhairi Black on bringing forward the bill, and on the conciliatory tone she took in her speech.

Ms Abrahams describes the sanctions system as a "nonsense" and a "punitive regime".

House of Lords
Parliament

Baroness Bertin rises to her feet to give her maiden speech. She begins her speech by saying her "old boss" was "brave and honourable" - she was director of external relations for David Cameron and was created a peer in his resignation honours list. She is now the youngest member of the House of Lords.

"We live in turbulent times," she continues, and so it has never been more important that shared values are "sewn into" the fabric of public policy.

These values must be relevant and tangible, she goes on, showing that politicians understand what people go through in their daily lives, otherwise the connection between politics and people become ever more frayed.

She makes a central theme of her speech about children with learning difficulties, and their journey into adult life.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Conor Burns continues debate of the Benefit Claimants Sanctions (Required Assessment) Bill.

Mr Burns says that in recent years the government has accepted a number of recommendations from the Work and Pensions Committee, and from the Oakley Review into the system of benefits sanctions.

Responding to an intervention from SNP MP Alison Thewlis, Mr Burns agrees that all MPs will know of individual cases in their constituencies where people have been let down by the system.

"That is why there is a robust, independent appeals process" to correct things when they go wrong, and why there is a "continuous process of listening and improvement" on the part of government.

House of Commons
Parliament

Liberal Democrat Tom Brake takes the opportunity to welcome the election of new Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney in the Richmond by-election last night.

He goes on to ask whether the government will continue to work with EU development and trade organisations.

Mr Wharton says the government will continue to work with all agencies and partners who are doing important work in aid and development, wherever they are based.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Julie Cooper calls again for aid drops in Aleppo.

Mr Wharton says there are practical issues preventing aid drops, but that the government is committed to supporting humanitarian aid to Syria wherever it is "practical and possible" to deliver it.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative David Nuttall calls for a "laser-like focus" on value for money, and on encouraging "more trade and less aid".

Mr Wharton says "we want to help people support themselves out of poverty" and the Prosperity Fund is an example of the government's commitment to this.

House of Commons
Parliament

International Development minister James Wharton confirms the government's commitment to spending 0.7% of GDP on development aid, and on maintaining a separate department for international development.

Shadow international development secretary Kate Osamor asks why it has taken so long to publish the reviews.

Mr Wharton says the global political picture has changed rapidly and all new circumstances needed to be taken into account when compiling the aid reviews.