Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the average waiting time on calls to the disability service centre for queries on (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) the Disability Living Allowance and (c) the Attendance Allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no current targets for the Average Speed of Answer (ASA) for calls to the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines.
The average waiting times for the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines for the month of March 2023 were:
PIP - 00:37:01
DLA - 00:33:36
AA – 00:02:11
DLA65+ - 00:06:22
We are currently experiencing higher than forecast call volumes to the PIP and DLA telephony enquiry lines. We have recruited additional staff onto our telephony teams and have on-going recruitment to further increase resources.
The average speed of answering calls within AA and DLA65+ is within acceptable levels.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Leader of the House of 16 March 2023, Official Report, column 996, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring employers to ensure equal access to hygiene bins in private workplace toilets.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regulation 20 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (‘Workplace Regulations’) state that toilets should be kept in a clean and orderly condition. The Approved Code of Practice covers provisions of a disposal method for sanitary dressings in toilets used by women.
Regulation 2(3) of the Workplace Regulations aims to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of each member of the workforce, therefore, HSE believe the current Workplace Regulations are fit for purpose in this respect though they intend to consider whether the guidance regarding disposal of sanitary dressings in toilets fulfils that aim.
Provisions for public toilets, including hygiene bins in men’s toilets, would be the responsibility of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, if he will publish the details of his scheme to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP publishes the total value of non-consolidated performance related pay annually, this information is published on Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Further information on the scheme is included in the written statement published on gov.uk on Monday 27 February 2023.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, what assessment he has made of the affordability of travel for claimants to attend daily one to one work search conversations with work coaches as part of the Additional Jobcentre Support pilot.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Claimants will be reimbursed for additional travel costs to Jobcentre appointments, over and above their weekly/fortnightly attendance, during the two-week period of intensive support.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the standards of advice and decisions provided by Job Centre staff are maintained under the proposed scheme to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Guidance has been provided to Jobcentre colleagues to ensure service standards continue to be maintained.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, whether he discussed the scheme to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets with (a) PCS union and (b) other staff representative bodies before its publication.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Additional Jobcentre support and the provision of incentives for teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets were discussed with the Trade Unions recognised within DWP: PCS, Prospect and FDA. DWP met with these Unions at Departmental level on three occasions ahead of launching the Jobcentre Innovation Challenge. Trade Unions were given the opportunity to review and comment on internal products and communications.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, how many two week periods of daily one to one work search conversations with work coaches a claimant will be required to submit as part of the Additional Jobcentre Support pilot.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Pilot started 9 days ago. Claimants could potentially participate in the Additional Jobcentre Support Pilot twice, once at 13 weeks and then again at 26 weeks if they remain in the Intensive Work Search Regime and are still eligible for the intensive support. We will review this approach as the pilot progresses.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Written Statement of 27 February 2023 on Additional Jobcentre Support – Pilot rollout, HCWS582, if he will publish the evidential basis for daily one to one work search conversations with work coaches increasing a claimant’s employability.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has previously published evidence on the impact of Work Coach Support on Claimant outcomes including JSA Weekly Signing (2015) and the Intensive Activity Programme (2015) JSA Weekly Signing (2015): Jobseeker’s Allowance signing trials (publishing.service.gov.uk) Intensive Activity Programme (2015): Intensive Activity Programme trial evaluation: evidence synthesis (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will consider the potential merits of the Support for Mortgage Interest standard interest rate mirroring real-time changes in the Bank of England's published monthly average mortgage interest rate.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The primary purpose of SMI is to provide owner-occupiers receiving an income-related benefit with a level of support that is sufficient to protect them from the threat of repossession. Lenders recognise that the payments we make will not always mirror the mortgage-holders liability, but we expect that they will, nonetheless, exercise forbearance.
On 31st January 2023, the Bank of England released their latest monthly average mortgage rate. This relates to December 2022 and stands at 2.51%.
The rate at which SMI is paid changes only when the Bank of England average varies from the rate in payment by 0.5% or more. Through guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority, lenders are aware that a change to the rate of SMI payments is triggered only in these circumstances and so should continue to offer tailored forbearance to their customers.
While SMI is kept under review, particularly when markets are more volatile, there are currently no plans to amend this policy. No assessment has been made of the financial impact on recipients of changing the standard interest rate before the trigger point.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 financial impact on recipients of the delay in uprating of Support for Mortgage Interest standard interest rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The primary purpose of SMI is to provide owner-occupiers receiving an income-related benefit with a level of support that is sufficient to protect them from the threat of repossession. Lenders recognise that the payments we make will not always mirror the mortgage-holders liability, but we expect that they will, nonetheless, exercise forbearance.
On 31st January 2023, the Bank of England released their latest monthly average mortgage rate. This relates to December 2022 and stands at 2.51%.
The rate at which SMI is paid changes only when the Bank of England average varies from the rate in payment by 0.5% or more. Through guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority, lenders are aware that a change to the rate of SMI payments is triggered only in these circumstances and so should continue to offer tailored forbearance to their customers.
While SMI is kept under review, particularly when markets are more volatile, there are currently no plans to amend this policy. No assessment has been made of the financial impact on recipients of changing the standard interest rate before the trigger point.