Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many passports and driving licences have been removed from paying parents as a result of them not paying their child maintenance.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions uses sanctions such as sending Paying Parents to prison, disqualifying them from holding, or obtaining a passport or driving licence as a last resort and only used when every other method of recovering unpaid child maintenance has been tried. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) on behalf of the Department only pursues these sanctions when they believe the Paying Parent can pay but is refusing to do so. In these circumstances enforcement powers will have a deterrent effect on Paying Parents.
From the latest Child Maintenance Service official statistics, table 6.2, in the National tables, provides the outcome information where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents for non-compliance. The latest statistics show there were three immediate passport confiscations and seven immediate driving disqualifications in Great Britain between July 2019 and March 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people who have entered the Universal Credit system as a consequence of increased employer labour costs, including higher employer National Insurance contributions, particularly in low-margin sectors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made.
Data on the Universal Credit caseload, including up-to-date trends information, is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement welfare strategies specifically for those areas excluded from highly clustered, high-productivity economic sectors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Get Britain Working White Paper set out our cross-Government plan to get people into work and on in work.
As part of that, we are planning to offer greater employment support in every part of the country to those who need it to get into work and fulfil their potential.
This Government is also taking action to deliver strong, secure, and sustainable economic growth to boost living standards for working people in every part of the UK. Central to this will be the Industrial Strategy, which will help us seize the most significant opportunities and create the most favourable conditions for growth and investment in key UK sectors – spread throughout the country. Through our 643 Jobcentres and unique high street presence, DWP will help growth driving sectors recruit the people they need to thrive.
Government has held several skills summits with industry, including on construction, clean energy and water, and has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DEFRA to improve JCP customer access to a wider pool of vacancies, with others to follow with relevant sectors.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to deliver additional employment support to young men aged 16 to 24 years old.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The steps set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper set us on a path to bring down economic inactivity levels and to take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate. The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.
DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.
This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.
The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have set a target to reduce the number of economically inactive men aged 16 to 24 years old.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The steps set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper set us on a path to bring down economic inactivity levels and to take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate. The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.
DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.
This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.
The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many policy reviews and consultations the Department for Work and Pensions has launched since the General Election on 4 July 2024; what the subject of each review is; and what the anticipated timescales are for their completion.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones - across the missions - for this Parliament.
As the House would expect, Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.
Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the review of devolution and local government will impact any plans to (1) publish the job entry and sustainability rates for Jobcentre Plus and its contractors, and (2) merge JobCentre Plus and the National Careers Service.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.
DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.
Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.
Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the job entry and sustainability rates for Jobcentre Plus and its contractors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.
DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.
Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.
Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in the merger of Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. We will design, develop, and test options for the new service in partnership with key stakeholders as we move into policy design and delivery.
As a first step to better integrate employment support and careers advice in England, we will launch a pathfinder in early 2025 to test more enhanced collaboration between Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. The department has also worked with the Department for Education to put in place a new agreement on data sharing between the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus in England. This will be used to encourage closer co-operation in the collective delivery of jobs and careers guidance for adults and promote a simpler and more streamlined process for our customers. Joining up the support a customer receives from both a work coach and national careers advisor can remove unnecessary repetition, link up advice and ensure holistic support for the customer to help improve outcomes.
We currently have two large scale trials in progress contributing towards our vision for the new jobs and careers service. The first, to test providing support for people by telephone and video as well as face to face appointments. The second, to test whether meeting unemployed people less frequently in a Jobcentre would have an impact on their work outcomes and whether this approach is more beneficial for particular groups.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Pension Credit applicants are currently waiting for a decision on their eligibility for Pension Credit from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The total outstanding Pension Credit claims as at the end of week commencing 18th November 2024 was 91,075. This includes 9,343 advanced claims where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age.
These figures are taken from data held on DWP’s Pension Credit system. This is collected for internal departmental operations use only and whilst it is the best source of information available, it is not intended for publication or quality assured to National Statistics standards.
The Department is significantly increasing the resource on Pension Credit to ensure it processes claims as quickly as possible, with around 500 additional staff to support the increase in applications generated from the successful Pension Credit take-up campaign.
If a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.