Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding has been spent to date from the up to £6 million committed for Armed Forces Champions in 2019.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department was allocated specific funding for Armed Forces Champions work in the then Chancellor’s 2019 Spending Round, to be used in 2020/21.
The Department’s main priority during the pandemic was to focus on processing claims and paying people quickly, while supporting all those using Jobcentre Plus services. As a result, the planned restructuring of the Armed Forces Champions service planned for April 2020 was paused.
The Department introduced a new Armed Forces Champions model in April 2021 using its own existing resources. Officials in the Department have discussed the new model with a number of Armed Forces stakeholders, and it continues to be very well received.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of (1) the social security system, and (2) the Department for Work and Pensions' services, in supporting armed forces veterans in making the transition to civilian life.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Most veterans make a very successful transition back to civilian life. 83 percent of those supported by the Career Transition Partnership gain employment within 6 months of discharge – higher than the employment rate of the wider population.
This success will mostly be down to the efforts of the individuals concerned. But support from the Career Transition Partnership and DWP Work Coaches and Armed Forces Champions, as well as others, and wider partnership working to support veterans, may also play a part.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances they waive the recovery of overpayments of Universal Credit due to no fault of the claimant.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department is not able to specifically match the official error cases to debt recovery figures. However, all overpayments of UC are recoverable, irrespective of how the overpayment arose.
The Department did not record waiver requests by overpayment classification prior to February 2021. From February to the end of the 2021, DWP Debt Management received a total of 96 waiver requests in relation to UC overpayments with a classification of official error, 9 of which were agreed.
Waivers are only granted in exceptional circumstances, usually where the recovery of the overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and it can be clearly demonstrated that the debtor’s circumstances will only improve by waiver of the debt.
However, any claimants struggling with the proposed rate of deductions are encouraged to contact DWP Debt Management to discuss affordability, so that a lower repayment rate can be negotiated as appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claimants, who were overpaid Universal Credit due to no fault of their own in the financial year of 2020/21, asked for a waiver of the recovery of the money; and how many claimants were granted such a waiver.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department is not able to specifically match the official error cases to debt recovery figures. However, all overpayments of UC are recoverable, irrespective of how the overpayment arose.
The Department did not record waiver requests by overpayment classification prior to February 2021. From February to the end of the 2021, DWP Debt Management received a total of 96 waiver requests in relation to UC overpayments with a classification of official error, 9 of which were agreed.
Waivers are only granted in exceptional circumstances, usually where the recovery of the overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and it can be clearly demonstrated that the debtor’s circumstances will only improve by waiver of the debt.
However, any claimants struggling with the proposed rate of deductions are encouraged to contact DWP Debt Management to discuss affordability, so that a lower repayment rate can be negotiated as appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claimants were overpaid Universal Credit, due to no fault of their own, in the financial year 2020/21; and in what proportion of those cases the overpaid money was recovered.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department is not able to specifically match the official error cases to debt recovery figures. However, all overpayments of UC are recoverable, irrespective of how the overpayment arose.
The Department did not record waiver requests by overpayment classification prior to February 2021. From February to the end of the 2021, DWP Debt Management received a total of 96 waiver requests in relation to UC overpayments with a classification of official error, 9 of which were agreed.
Waivers are only granted in exceptional circumstances, usually where the recovery of the overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and it can be clearly demonstrated that the debtor’s circumstances will only improve by waiver of the debt.
However, any claimants struggling with the proposed rate of deductions are encouraged to contact DWP Debt Management to discuss affordability, so that a lower repayment rate can be negotiated as appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding has been spent to date from the up to £6 million commitment for Armed Forces Champions which was made in 2019.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The planned additional recruitment to increase the number of Armed Forces Champions in April 2020 was paused due to the Department’s top priority during the pandemic being to focus on processing claims and paying people quickly, while supporting all those using Jobcentre Plus services. Due to the action we took, Universal Credit stood up to the test, providing a vital safety net for millions.
Just as we delivered for them, we are determined to deliver for veterans which is why the Department has now introduced a new Armed Forces Champions model. The new model will comprise of 50 Armed Forces Champions alongside 11 Group Leads at managerial level.
It means there will be at least one Armed Forces champion in each Jobcentre Plus district and for the first time they will provide help directly to veterans and others where additional support is needed.
Resources in the new network are targeted where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example in garrison towns, and here the Armed Forces work will form a significant part of that done in individual Jobcentres.
Officials in the Department have discussed the new model with a number of Armed Forces stakeholders, and so far it has been very well received.
In addition to the Armed Forces Champions roles, all 27,000 Department Work Coaches are trained to provide veterans and others with the help and support they need.
Our support to help veterans into jobs is unwavering with 84 per cent gaining employment within 6 months of discharge – higher than the employment rate of the wider population.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Department for Work and Pensions Armed Forces Champions there are (1) in total, (2) on Jobcentre sites, and (3) in Jobcentre plus districts.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department remains committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and will do what is necessary to provide members of the Armed Forces Community with the help and support they need and deserve.
It wants to move towards a situation where it helps serving veterans and others in a more intelligent and effective way and better matches available resources with demand.
The Department started to put in place new arrangements in April to transform the way it supports members of the Armed Forces Community, building on the successful network of Armed Forces Champions.
For the first time there will be a dedicated armed forces role at middle management level in each of the 11 Jobcentre Plus Groups. The 11 group Leads will form a virtual network and will be responsible for building capability and sharing best practice across the network. They will also be expected to be pro-active in liaising with the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force on both recruitment and resettlement.
These Armed Forces Champions Leads will oversee 50 Armed Forces Champions across the Jobcentre Plus network (including at least one in each of the 37 Jobcentre Plus Districts) who will have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces Community as part of their job – and again for the first time this will involve a front line role personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary.
Recruitment to these roles is largely complete and the Department expects all of the roles to be filled within the next few weeks. All of the Leads have been appointed, with most in post already. Armed Forces Champions have been appointed in 34 Districts so far.
Officials in the Department have discussed the new model with a number of Armed Forces stakeholders, and so far it has been very well received.
There are also many staff across the DWP network based in individual Jobcentre offices who will be the local “expert” on Armed Forces issues and the Department is continually working to build capability across the Jobcentre Plus network. It has also recently introduced an Armed Forces “identifier” on to the Universal Credit system which will help ensure that veterans and serving personnel making new claims to Universal Credit are given the help and support they need.
These dedicated Armed Forces roles will complement the investment in recruiting an additional 13,500 Work Coaches overall (and every Work Coach receives appropriate training to support members of the Armed Forces Community), as well as investing billions of pounds in employment support schemes (such as Kickstart and JETS). And this will come on top of the other support already in place. For example, veterans are given early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme. And using Service Medical Board evidence where possible, a severely disabled person does not have to undergo additional examinations for Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit purposes.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the 13,500 recruited work coaches since March 2020 have started work in Jobcentres.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Over 13.5k new Work Coaches have completed their initial learning and are now delivering Jobcentre services.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Jobcentre work coaches are employed (1) in total, and (2) as full-time equivalents.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The latest confirmed figure for Work Coaches, was taken on 31st March 2021 and is a headcount of 27,286, this is 24,956 full-time equivalents (based on contractual hours).
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new jobs have been created by the Kickstart Scheme, broken down by the region of England in which the job is located.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
As of the 6th May 2021, over 108,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply for through the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Kickstart Scheme. This includes over 20,000 jobs started by young people.
There have been over 200,000 jobs approved by the scheme.
We are unable at present to provide data on the number of approved jobs by region, as at that stage in the process we do not hold information about the exact location of a job, only the head office of the employer. We do hold regional information on jobs made available for young people to apply for and for placements started, which is provided below.
The tables below show these figures split by location, the data presented has been rounded according to DWP statistical rounding convention. Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Location | Jobs Advertised | Total Jobs Started |
East Midlands | 7,270 | 1,120 |
East of England | 8,240 | 1,320 |
London | 22,740 | 4,500 |
North East | 4,560 | 960 |
North West | 13,560 | 2,840 |
South East | 12,320 | 2,350 |
South West | 7,670 | 1,440 |
West Midlands | 10,030 | 1,850 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 8,310 | 1,580 |
Figures may not add up to provided totals due to rounding. 1,000 non-grant funded jobs are included in Jobs Advertised but not included under Jobs Started. Total jobs started includes those which have been completed or ended early. | ||