Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that people receiving Universal Credit have adequate support for accessing (a) employment opportunities and (b) training in Gloucester.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team in Gloucestershire are committed to ensuring that all customers, including those claiming Universal Credit, have ample support in accessing employment opportunities and training. They take a multifaceted approach that draws on locally gathered information and data to deliver a bespoke service to meet the needs of customers and employers.
Through employer networking events and visits to local businesses the team communicate how they can support employers with their recruitment needs, including advice on streamlining hiring practices and application processes to take account of diverse capabilities and health challenges, as well as offering space in the Jobcentre for job interviews, support with redundancy and retention, and disability awareness.
Monthly recruitment events are held in Gloucester, in collaboration with trusted partners, showcasing a range of vacancies and pre-employment opportunities with local and national employers, with an event at GL1 Leisure Centre on 13 February. The team also hold monthly drop-in sessions on employment support in venues across the community, including Noah’s Ark in Tewkesbury and Bespoke Mentoring in Lydney. Furthermore, the 100 Futures program provides 6-week work placements for young individuals, offering valuable workplace insights and development across several employment sectors. We are working with NHS Integrated Care Boards to collaborate on the Volunteer to Career Scheme, with the first cohort starting this month.
In terms of training and provision, Gloucester Jobcentre actively collaborate with partners to offer support, including Sector Based Work Academy Programmes and Movement to Work, meeting regularly with Employment and Training leads at Gloucester County Council, to share information and discuss priorities and plans. The National Careers Service deliver career advice and training support in every Jobcentre. The Restart program offers intensive employment support and in addition to Work Coach support, customers aged 50 and over can benefit from a 12-week employability support program, run in collaboration with Forest Green Rovers and the Employment and Skills Hub. We also deliver outreach services in locations across Gloucestershire, including Cinderford, Coleford and Stroud.
These initiatives ensure that customers in Gloucester receive the necessary support to access employment opportunities and training, fostering a pathway to sustainable employment, and you would be welcome to visit Gloucester Jobcentre to see this work at first hand.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the average increase in the State Pension in each of the next five years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has committed to uprating the basic and new State Pensions by the Triple Lock for the length of this parliament.
Based on OBR Autumn 2024 forecasts, over the course of this parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension will go up by around £1,900. At the same time, the full yearly rate of basic State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,500.
Table A.3 of the Economic Fiscal outlook sets out the OBR’s economic and fiscal forecasts in each year, including the Triple Lock uprating forecast which is the rate at which basic and new State Pension is increased by for the following financial year. For example, the 2024-25 rate will determine the rate of increase for basic and new State Pension for the year 2025-26.
Forecast year | 'Triple-lock' guarantee |
2024-25 | 4.0%* |
2025-26 | 4.3% |
2026-27 | 2.5% |
2027-28 | 2.5% |
2028-29 | 2.5% |
2029-30 | 2.5% |
* Note: After the forecast was finalised, inflation and earnings outturn data and revisions were released which have changed state pension triple lock rate for 2024-25 (to be used in uprating for 2025-26) to 4.1 per cent.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
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 the extension of the Household Support Fund in 2025-26 on low-income households in Gloucester.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made on the potential impact of the extension of the Household Support Fund in 2025-26 on low-income households in Gloucester.
We are currently conducting an evaluation of the Household Support Scheme that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published in due course.
Management information on the Household Support Fund from April 2023 to March 2024, including details of how funding was spent in Gloucestershire, of which Gloucester is a part, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-4-management-information-for-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
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 the number of children in poverty in Gloucester.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025.
Our publication on 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we will develop the Strategy, harnessing all available levers to deliver a reduction in child poverty this Parliament.
The Strategy will look at policies across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
The Taskforce will hear directly from experts on each of the Strategy’s themes including children and families living in poverty and work with leading organisations, charities, and campaigners.
The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple our investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, extend the Household Support Fund for an additional year until 31 March 2026, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.