Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the use of food banks in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape. We also continue to provide substantial funding to Local Authorities to support those most in need and extended the Household Support Fund by a further year until March 2026, providing funding of £742 million in England. This will ensure low-income households can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The Strategy will look at four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty. Our plan to Make Work Pay, will help more people to stay in work, improve job security and boost living standards, including by increasing the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour to boost the pay of three million workers. It is a core part of the mission to grow the economy, raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support autistic people into employment in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Neurodivergent people bring many positive benefits to workplaces but face particular barriers to employment, which is reflected in a poor overall employment rate.
In Surrey Heath, the Jobcentres work closely with employers and providers to support customers with autism into employment. Our Disability Employment Advisers work closely with Surrey Choices who regularly attend both job fairs and events to support neurodivergent and autistic job seekers. The Employer and Partnership Team also identify Disability Confident employers to highlight/implement reasonable adjustments and signposting to Access to Work where appropriate to do so.
At national level, on 29 January this year, the Government launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. Many of the panel are diagnosed or identify as neurodivergent and/or have familial experience alongside their professional experience and expertise. Recommendations are expected to include employer actions that can support the inclusion of neurodivergent people, including in recruitment and day to day workplace practices.
Under the Government’s new Get Britain Working Strategy, the forthcoming voluntary, locally led Supported Employment programme ‘Connect to Work’ will support disabled people, those with health conditions and other complex barriers including neurodivergent people, to get into and on in work.
Our support to employers also includes the online Support with Employee Health and Disability service, to support employers managing health and disability in the workplace. This includes questions of disclosure and equipping employers to feel confident having conversations about health and disability.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a Commissioner for Older People to amplify the voices of older demographics in policy-making.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP offers employment support for eligible older people through the network of Jobcentres across the UK.
The White Paper published on 26 November focuses on support for people who are economically inactive, people who are looking for work or want to progress, and people who are at risk of economic inactivity despite having a desire to stay in work. This includes and goes beyond people who are claiming benefits. The new national jobs and careers service will be instrumental in achieving this objective. This service will be available for anyone, including older people, who wants to look for work, wants help to increase their earnings, or who wants help to change their career or re-train. The service will be tailored to local needs.
We are committing to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ to further develop the reforms set out in our Pathways to Work Green Paper. These we will bring together groups of people for specific work areas, collaborating with civil servants to provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations. Each group will have a different mix of people including older people.
My department also engages with employers to ensure their recruitment practises attract and support the retention of older people and encouraging employers to sign the Age-Friendly employer pledge.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed changes to disability benefits on people in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course with some information published this week alongside the Spring Statement.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support disabled people with increases in the cost of living in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The extra costs disability benefits, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), provide a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. These additional costs are not defined, and customers are able to spend the money they receive according to their own priorities.
In England, the Household Support Fund (HSF) provides discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy, and water.
The Government is further extending the HSF by a year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. Funding of £742 million will be provided to enable the HSF extension plus additional funding for the Devolved Government through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. This builds on the previous investment of £421 million to extend the current HSF in England for six months, running from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce youth unemployment rates in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will also be 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.
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.
One such provision is our DWP Youth Hubs. The Surrey Heath Youth Hub provides employability support, mental health support and confidence building sessions, and also works alongside partners such as Surrey Young People’s Fund and Surrey Choices. Surrey Young People’s Fund provides funding for disadvantaged young people aged 16-25, who are resident in Surrey, to assist them in moving towards an identified goal in education, training, apprenticeship, or employment. Surrey Choices offer specialised programmes for young people aged 16-24 with a range of support needs – the aim of these programmes is to prepare disabled, neurodivergent and autistic people for work.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to (a) tackle discrimination and (b) enhance inclusion policies for neurodiverse people in the workforce in Surrey.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Neurodivergent people bring many positive benefits to businesses but can face stigma and disadvantage. We understand the importance of tackling discrimination and encouraging employers to adopt neuro-inclusive working practices so that everyone can thrive at work.
In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. We will be gathering expert evidence on how best to improve employment for all neurodivergent people and will be considering the Buckland Review of Autism Employment’s findings.
Employers have a key role to play. Our support to employers includes a digital information service for employers, and the Disability Confident scheme. Both help employers to understand their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. We will be considering how to enhance our work with employers in the months ahead, including in response to the independent employer review announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper.