Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 potential merits of reforming the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Child maintenance Service (CMS) is delivering a transformation programme to help improve outcomes for children.
The CMS recently consulted on a range of proposals to improve fairness for both parents and get more money to children. The consultation response can be found here: Government response: Child Maintenance: modernising and improving our service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to improve (a) response times to complaints and (b) customer service at the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP aim to contact customers within 15 working days to clear their complaint or agree how to investigate it if will take longer.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has made changes to the way they communicate with customers. This includes expanding the facilities offered through the online self-service and web chat, allowing parents to access their account 24 hours a day, seven days a week at a time that works for them.
CMS use customer feedback from complaints to drive improvements, we have an ongoing programme of activity including both technical and behavioural learning for our caseworkers.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints her Department has received in each year since 2010 regarding (a) customer service and (b) incorrect decisions from the Child Maintenance Service; and what the average response times to those complaints has been in each of those years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Complaints about customer service delivery are routinely published on a quarterly basis which can be viewed here: DWP complaints data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk
The Department logs a complaint under benefit type along with specific categories that focus on identifying broadly where service has failed. The category ‘You got it wrong’ would capture most complaints relating to incorrect decisions from the Child Maintenance Group. The Department does not measure complaints as described in the question and to determine this request, we would need to examine each individual case, which the Department considers to be a disproportionate cost to provide.
The Department aims to contact customers within 15 working days to clear their complaint or agree how to investigate it if it will take longer.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) unemployment and (b) youth unemployment rates in Enfield North constituency; what comparative assessment her Department has made of those figures and the equivalent UK rates; what assessment her Department has made of the factors that contribute to geographical disparities in unemployment rates; and what steps she is taking to reduce unemployment in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of (a) unemployment and (b) youth unemployment in the year to Jun 2021 based on the Annual Population Survey are published and available here. Guidance for users can be found here. The sample sizes for Enfield North mean that the youth unemployment rate is suppressed in the latest data, and the overall unemployment rate estimate is unreliable.
This geographical data is published and the Department keeps it regularly under review.
Through our Plan for Jobs, DWP has recruited an additional 13,500 Work Coaches to provide support to unemployed people to find a job. DWP has several targeted schemes to support people of all ages and to help them prepare for and progress into work. These include the Kickstart Scheme which has, so far, seen over 112,000 young people aged 18-24 start new jobs and Restart which provides up to 12 months intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who have been unemployed for a year.
The DWP Youth Offer has been extended to 2025 and has expanded eligibility to include 16 and 17-year olds, in addition to 18 to 24-year olds, who are claiming Universal Credit and searching for work through the 150 Youth Hubs across England, Scotland and Wales. DWP is also delivering a comprehensive package of support for young people in collaboration with the Department for Education and National Careers Service in England, the Devolved Administrations, and other partners.
In Enfield North, all customers have access to the Plan for Jobs offer, delivering a comprehensive range of support to help people back into work. We are in the process of establishing two Youth Hubs in Enfield. Mainstream employment support in Enfield is supplemented through DWP’s local Flexible Support Funded (FSF) provision, in response to needs identified within the local community, delivering tailored support to enhance employment prospects.
The Jobcentre also works with local employers to deliver Sector Work Based Academy Programmes (SWAPs). These deliver short vocational training linked directly to vacancies within a particular employer or in a particular sector. In Enfield we continue to host a range of employers in various sectors including care, construction, administration and warehouse roles.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 cases with the Universal Credit Risk Review Department are dealt with in a timely manner.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Risk Review Team (RRT) completes their reviews as quickly as possible. This is partly dependant on the co-operation of the claimant to provide any information requested to support the review.
We closely monitor the volumes of cases to ensure we have the correct resources on the team to take the necessary action on cases in a timely manner.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out the processes and procedures of the Universal Credit Risk Review Department.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The methods used to identify cases reviewed by the Risk Review Team are sensitive and, as such, we are not able to provide the mechanics of how they are identified.
By putting such methods or the guidance in the public domain we would undermine the ability of DWP to detect and counter fraudulent threats.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 risk of poverty among universal credit claimants whose payments are suspended whilst their case is with the Universal Credit Risk Review Department.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Any decision by the Risk Review Team to suspend a claim to benefit is not made lightly. Suspending a claim would be a last resort, based on the risk that a person may not be entitled to receive a benefit payment.
Should a claim be suspended, once the Risk Review Team is in possession of all material requested and a decision is made that a person is entitled to benefit, then any suspension can be lifted immediately.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 adequacy of legacy benefits for people with severe disabilities.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the honourable member to the answer to PQ UIN 68410.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to promote a sustainable pensions industry at COP26.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK leads the world on this issue. The UK was the first country in the world both to make climate disclosures in line with the Task Force on Climate- Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations mandatory for occupational pensions schemes, and to consult on measures to require pension schemes to measure and report their alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change. Our work on ESG is recognised worldwide. DWP are also consulting on guidance for trustees to improve stewardship and voting which will be key to ensuring high-carbon assets transition to net zero.
The Secretary of State played a very active role in encouraging other countries and industry to follow this precedent and to commit to TCFD/Paris aligned reporting for their pension sector at COP26. The Secretary of State also introduced a session to focus on mobilising finance to fight climate change in emerging markets and developing countries, which will be crucial in the fight against climate change.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent representations has she made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reducing the unemployment gap for Black, Asian, and ethnic minority people in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) Greater London and (c) England.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to supporting people from all backgrounds, including those from ethnic minorities, to move into work. It provides a national offer of support ensuring that no matter where they live, all customers receive the help they need, when they need it.
Our Job Centre Plus network offers tailored interventions which allow Work Coaches to adapt their approach to suit each customer’s needs. Our Plan for Jobs Programme protects, supports and creates jobs, targeting young people, the long term unemployed, and those in need of new training and skills. It includes the Kickstart scheme, an expanded youth offer, and the expansion of the Work and Health Programme, all offering new support to jobseekers, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
We also have a national programme of mentoring circles, involving employers offering specialised support to unemployed, ethnic minority jobseekers.