Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many starts have been recorded for the Youth Offer in (a) Greater London, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency as of 21 March 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Offer launched 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:
As of 01 March 2024, there have been 1,123,000 starts on the Youth Offer. Starts in the requested areas can be found in the table below.
The number of Youth Offer starts in (a) Greater London, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency as of 1st March 2024 | |
Greater London | 166,800 |
Bexley | 3,700 |
Bexleyheath and Crayford | 1,500 |
Attached are tables listing the number of Youth Offer starts to date by Region, Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receive Universal Credit in (a) the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Bexley.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In July 2023 there were 7,346 people on Universal Credit who live in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and 18,790 people on Universal Credit who live in the London Borough of Bexley.
The latest available statistics on the number of people who are on Universal Credit, by various geographical breakdowns including Westminster parliamentary constituency and local authority, are published monthly on Stat-Xplore.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were in receipt of Carer's Allowance in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The caseload statistics for Carer’s Allowance are available on DWP Stat-Xplore. The most recent refer to November 2022. Figures for the Carer’s Allowance in payment caseload for Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency are shown below:
Time period | Carer’s Allowance in Payment Caseload |
Nov ‘17 | 1,195 |
Nov ‘18 | 1,221 |
Nov ‘19 | 1,238 |
Nov ‘20 | 1,297 |
Nov ‘21 | 1,293 |
Nov ‘22 | 1,354 |
The link to access Stat-Xplore is https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.
Guidance for using Stat-Xplore is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support pensioners with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with their rising bills.
From April 2023, State Pensions, including the Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee, were increased by 10.1%, in line with prices in the year to September 2022.
Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits, including the 1.4 million pensioners currently in receipt of Pension Credit, will receive additional Cost of Living Payments totalling up to £900 in the 2023/24 financial year.
In addition, over 8 million pensioner households will receive a £300 pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top up to their winter fuel payment later this year increasing payments to £500 for households with someone aged 66-79 and £600 for households with someone aged 80 and over.
Specific statistics relating to the pensioner Cost of Living Payments are not available. However, the latest available winter fuel payment statistics (2021/22) show that 14,271 customers in Bexleyheath and Crayford received a winter fuel payment. We expect a similar number of customers will receive the pensioner Cost of Living Payment in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income and we want all eligible pensioners to claim it. That is why we have been running a comprehensive communications campaign since April 2022. Earlier this year we boosted our campaign with extensive television adverts which highlighted that Pension Credit is worth £3,500 a year on average. Most recently on 17 July we launched a new and innovative Pension Credit “Invitation to Claim” trial which will involve DWP sending letters to approximately 2,500 pensioner households in 10 Local Authorities across Great Britain identified via Housing Benefit data as being most likely to be entitled to Pension Credit encouraging them to contact DWP and make a claim.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve social mobility among young people.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Alongside education, employment plays a crucial role in helping to improve social mobility among young people.
The DWP Youth Offer provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group. This includes more intensive support early in their Universal Credit claim, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.
Our Work Coaches support young people’s individual aspirations, identify and help address skills gaps and wider barriers to entering work or progressing in their careers. They are supported by a network of dedicated Jobcentre Plus outreach leads specialising in areas including support for young care leavers or who – in the case of our support for schools’ advisers – are helping young people in schools in disadvantaged areas develop successful career pathways.
Spring Budget confirmed that the Youth Offer will be extended to the end of the Parliament and – from Autumn – will be expanded so more young Universal Credit claimants can access this dedicated support.
DWP is a strong champion for social mobility and has met with the Social Mobility Commission and celebrated National Social Mobility Awareness Day. Alongside this, DWP has established the Social Mobility Pledge Consortium in partnership with Talk Talk.
The pledge asks businesses to make measurable commitments to diversify the backgrounds of their workforce and help vulnerable people progress. We celebrated some of the achievements our nearly 120 employer signatories have made over the last year at a national conference at the Tottenham Hotspur football stadium on Tuesday 20th June.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help pensioners with the rising cost of living.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and that pensioners are more likely to suffer disproportionately from adverse health effects from living in a cold home and many low-income pensioner households do not claim the means tested benefits they are entitled to. That is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost of living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.
There are currently around 1.4 million pensioners claiming Pension Credit, through which they will be entitled to receive up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23. These payments are targeted at low income households in receipt of an eligible means-tested benefit.
Eight million pensioner households are receiving a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their Winter Fuel Payment, and pensioners in receipt of an eligible disability benefit should have received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment
All pensioners in England who pay Council Tax in bands A to D should have received a £150 rebate.
The Secretary of State announced on 17 November that State pensions and benefits will be up-rated from April 2023 by 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable households, an additional £1 billion to help with the cost of household essentials next year and the amended Energy Price Guarantee, which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.
For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
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 protect and increase employment levels in (a) Greater London and (b) the London Borough of Bexley.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to supporting everyone who has been affected by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the labour market. Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £370 billion. This includes key DWP programmes as part of the Plan for Jobs, such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills, and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. We have also launched Way to Work - a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022.
DWP offers significant support to unemployed people across London to access employment opportunities through our network of jobcentres. Our Work Coaches provide support on finding a job, help with retraining or skills advice, CV, job applications and access to the new vacancies, as well as signposting to our Jobhelp website.
We are working closely with GLA and London Councils on their No Wrong Door and Good Work for Londoners ambitions – to provide a joined-up approach to work and skills including Skills Bootcamps and Youth Hubs to connect with young people within the community.
The jobcentre team within the Bexley constituency are responding to the needs of the local labour market and work with employers such as Premier Inn, Morrisons, Tesco, Wetherspoons and many more to help them fulfil their recruitment needs. Local employers are attending jobcentres on a regular basis to conduct recruitment activities and interviews.
Sector based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) enable the team to support local employers and provide jobseekers with the skills and experience needed to get a start in a particular employment sector. Recent examples of SWAPs delivered in the area include, ‘Preparing to Work in the Food Industry’ in collaboration with London South East Colleges and Ferndale Foods, and the ‘Preparing to Work in Construction’ SWAP with O'Halloran and O'Brien Ltd.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
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 support available to people who have been made redundant as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Rapid Response Service (RRS) is all about working in partnerships to address the effects of job losses on individuals and on the local community. Our aim is to work with employers to deliver flexible, timely, and appropriate support for them and their employees and help individuals secure a job or move into self-employment quickly and ideally without the need to claim welfare benefits.
RRS is available to private and public employers. Third sector employers are also eligible where the job losses affect paid workers. RRS support can start when people are under threat of redundancy or during the period of notice.
Where individuals have not found alternative work before they lose their job, RRS support can continue for a further 13 weeks whether they make a claim for benefits or not.
This is in addition to the ongoing support provided by DWP for claimants moving them forward in their journey closer to/back into employment.
We continually review this support to ensure it meets the needs of those people who access this type of support.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs have been made available through the Kickstart Scheme in (a) the London Borough of Bexley, (b) Greater London and (c) England as at 17 May 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Delivering the Kickstart Scheme at pace has led to a limited data set which makes it harder to accurately present a snapshot of a smaller geographical area.
We are continuing to develop our data, which may help in sharing local authority level information in due course.
We are able to provide, however, that in the ONS defined region of London, as of 6 May 2021 around 22,740 jobs had been made available for young people to apply for and around 4,500 jobs started by young people on the Kickstart Scheme.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the level of youth unemployment in (a) the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Greater London.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department regularly publishes statistics on the Alternative Claimant Count, and these are available by local authority and constituency, this includes information defined by different age groups and is available on StatXplore, please see link below:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html