Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2019 to Question 253698 on Universal Credit: Domestic Abuse, what progress has been made on establishing the practicalities of delivering separate payments in Scotland.
Answered by Will Quince
The development of a detailed policy to split payments of Universal Credit in Scotland is something for the Scottish Government to determine.
Any policy has to be capable of implementation and as a consequence must fit with the existing architecture of the system if it is not to undermine system stability for all claimants across Great Britain.
Scottish Government final proposals have not yet been shared with the Government. We welcome the great care Scottish Government is taking with this.
When a comprehensive set of proposals has been decided upon by the Scottish Government, we will provide advice on timing and implementation dates, with regard to the wider plan to deliver Universal Credit and the relative priorities of split payment proposals against other demands.
Officials from both Governments continue to explore these issues together to see if a workable solution to the many issues raised can be found.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2019 to Question 212664 on Universal Credit: Domestic Violence, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Scottish Government on the implementation of separate universal credit payments by default; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
When an individual suffering from domestic abuse requests a split payment, we will make split payments available to them.
Whilst DWP is not intending to introduce split payments by default, as a department we respond positively to requests for split payments, and can take other actions to support those experiencing abuse, such as making a managed payment of rent direct to landlords. We also ensure that claimants who disclose domestic abuse are signposted to specialist organisations for support. All work coaches undergo mandatory training regarding how to support vulnerable claimants, including recognising the signs of domestic abuse.
We will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to establish the practicalities of delivering split payments in Scotland.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the information for British Sign Language users to contact the universal credit helpline through a video relay service.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Universal Credit has been designed with accessibility in mind and we are committed to providing personalised support for all claimants.
Where our customers need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. DWP customers who have a specific communication barrier are able to use a variety of different communication methods including via third party interpreters for British Sign Language (BSL) and textphone and next Generation Text services are available to customers who are unable to contact the Department by phone.
In addition, Universal Credit claimants can use their online accounts to send messages direct to their Work Coach or Case Manager, check their Universal Credit benefit payments and notify us of any changes.
We are currently in the design stage of a test to implement Video Relay Service for our Universal Credit British Sign Language customers in one geography by June 2019. This will be robustly evaluated incorporating customer insight ahead of any decision to roll out the service nationally.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of British Sign Language users who have not received adequate support in accessing the universal credit helpline.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Universal Credit has been designed with accessibility in mind and we are committed to providing personalised support for all claimants.
Where our customers need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. DWP customers who have a specific communication barrier are able to use a variety of different communication methods including via third party interpreters for British Sign Language (BSL) and textphone and next Generation Text services are available to customers who are unable to contact the Department by phone.
In addition, Universal Credit claimants can use their online accounts to send messages direct to their Work Coach or Case Manager, check their Universal Credit benefit payments and notify us of any changes.
We are currently in the design stage of a test to implement Video Relay Service for our Universal Credit British Sign Language customers in one geography by June 2019. This will be robustly evaluated incorporating customer insight ahead of any decision to roll out the service nationally.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March to Question 234216 on Universal Credit: Disability, what plans the Department has for improving data collection to capture accurate, aggregate data on claimants, including claimants with vulnerabilities.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has already introduced a function on the Universal Credit system to ‘pin’ key profile notes so they are instantly visible to all staff helping a claimant. The Department continues to develop its approach to capturing accurate, aggregate data on claimants, including those with complex needs.
Further work on understanding any vulnerabilities our claimants may have, and apply this learning to the design of Universal Credit is ongoing. This has been prioritised for the current Universal Credit development phase. The Department will report back to the Work and Pensions Select Committee with an update on its progress in late Spring 2019.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons funding for the Community Partner Programme will be withdrawn from March 2019; and what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the provision of disability employment support for people with mental health problems of the withdrawal of that programme.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Community Partner roles were time limited and funded for a two-year period, which comes to an end in March 2019.
The Community Partners have made a valuable contribution including helping us understand good provision better, helping build disability awareness and working with local employers to inform them of advice available and good practice in employing disabled people.
A review of existing roles identified that there was some overlap in the support provided. In order to remove the overlap and focus on key areas, two new job roles will be introduced from April 2019:
These new roles will be instrumental in driving the government’s commitment to providing high quality support to disabled people and those with health conditions. The new roles are initially funded for two years and will be fully embedded in the Jobcentre network. They will be fully evaluated to inform future discussions about how the support they deliver may be continued.
There will be no reduction in resources and we anticipate that these changes will improve the support offered to disabled people, including those with mental health conditions.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to undertake an evaluation of (a) the Community Partner Programme and (b) that programme’s effect on claimants with mental health problems.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We currently have no plans to conduct an external evaluation of the work of the Community Partners and the contribution that they have made, but an internal review of the Community Partner role and other disability employment enabling roles identified that there was some overlap in the support provided to claimants. In order to remove the overlap and focus on key areas we are introducing new disability employment roles from April 2019.
We are committed to continually improving the employment support we offer disabled people, including those with mental health conditions, and will ensure valuable learning from the Community Partners is built into the ongoing support we provide through our Jobcentres. We will not be reducing the amount of resource devoted to supporting disabled people into work.
We are investing up to £115 million of programme funding to support the work and health agenda to enable investment in new models and to build the evidence of what works. This includes mental health trials - more than doubling the number of Employment Advisers in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services - and the £3.9 million Challenge Fund, which was launched in November 2018.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether data collected by her Department on universal credit claimants is disaggregated to take account of disabilities.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The self-reported health condition or disability of individual Universal Credit claimants are recorded on our system and can be viewed by work coaches. However, it is not centrally collated in a way that allows aggregated analysis to be undertaken.
Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support for all claimants, including those with a disability. All claimants receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person. Our work coaches receive extensive training to ensure they can offer effective support to different claimant groups.
We continue to develop our approach to capturing accurate, aggregate data on claimants, including care leavers and claimants with vulnerabilities. This work is ongoing and has been prioritised for the current Universal Credit development phase.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mental health training is provided to work coaches supporting claimants of universal credit; and what assessment has been made of the adequacy of that training.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including the most vulnerable in society. We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs.
Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service to all claimants. Specific training and guidance is provided for working with different vulnerable groups and those with complex needs including claimants with mental health conditions.
We are providing all Work Coaches with an additional two day workshop, designed by experts in mental health and psychologists, and delivered where possible alongside external mental health partners. The training began in November 2017 and will be completed by end of March 2019. Next month we will start delivering this training to staff across the entire organisation who are employed in a claimant facing role, whether this is engaging with claimants by telephone, face to face or digitally.
In June and July 2018, activity was undertaken in a number of operational sites where the Mental Health training had been delivered in order to evaluate the learning provided to work coaches and ensure it was delivering the requisite skills and behaviours originally envisaged.
The outputs of that activity were used to refine the training products, where required, and supported decisions on the delivery approach for the training that will commence in April 2019.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets have been put in place for universal credit helpline call handlers to promote the use of the digital channel to claimants.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Department has not set any targets for Universal Credit helpline call handlers to promote the use of the digital channel to claimants. I refer the hon. Member to my answers to Questions 212666 and 212668 on 30 January 2019.