Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support disabled people into the workforce.
Answered by Chloe Smith
A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in employment. These include the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, the Work and Health Programme, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advisers in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Last year we published three major documents: Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper; the response to the Health is Everyone’s Business consultation on minimising the risk of ill-health related job loss; and the National Disability Strategy. These together form our holistic approach and vision for supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to live independent lives.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to tackle fraudulent activity by people seeking to exploit the benefits system.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department takes fraud against the benefits system very seriously and has taken huge steps to reduce and minimise fraud and error during the last 18 months, at a time when the Department processed an additional 3 million new Universal Credit claims as part of our response to the pandemic.
This has seen us:
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 increase collection rates of child maintenance payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) take rigorous action to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers. This approach is driven by the Payment Compliance strategy increasing CMG compliance influencing activities to tackle non-paying cases and challenge non-compliant behaviours.
CMS have worked in partnership with Courts and Enforcement Agents following the restrictions on Enforcement activity during the initial phase of the pandemic in 2020 to quickly return to normal operating practice.
During the quarter ending September 2021 £47.4 million was paid through the Collect & Pay service compared to the quarter ending December 2019 where £44.1 million was paid before the impact of the pandemic took effect. (Source – National Tables – table five ‘Money Due and Paid each quarter’ January 2015 to September 2021).
There has been a consistent downward trend in the proportion of unpaid maintenance as a proportion of maintenance arranged since 2017, falling from 12.5% in 2017 to 8.5% in September 2021 (Source – National Tables - table six ‘ how much maintenance CMS has arranged March 2015 to September 20).
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to young jobseekers.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Plan for Jobs provides a comprehensive package of support for young people, including the Youth Offer and Kickstart.
The Kickstart scheme is dedicated to helping 16 to 24-year olds at risk of long-term unemployment develop their skills and experience through fully funded six-month jobs. As of January, over 130,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people.
We are extending the DWP Youth Offer to 2025 and have 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. The Youth Offer currently provides intensive work search support through the Youth Employment Programme, specialised Youth Employment Coaches for young people with additional barriers to work, and over 160 Youth Hubs across England, Scotland and Wales.
DWP is 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.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress is being made by the work of Armed Forces Champions in jobcentres.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP’s network of 50 Armed Forces Champions and 11 Group Leads provide vital support to veterans and other members of the armed forces community, including providing additional help to get veterans in to work. Since the new model was introduced in April 2021 it has been well received by stakeholders.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support progression out of low pay.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
From April 2022 onwards, the Government will be enhancing its support to working claimants across Great Britain. Approximately 1.7 million working Universal Credit claimants across every Jobcentre, will be able to access Work Coach support to address any skills or wider barriers to progression. We will also appoint specialist Progression Champions who will make connections between employers, local authorities, and skills providers.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps work coaches are taking to get people who have been out of work for an extended period back into work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP offers significant support to unemployed people across Great Britain to access employment opportunities through our network of Jobcentres. Our Work Coaches engage with claimants on the basis of their individual need to provide support on finding a job, help with retraining or skills advice, job applications and access to the new vacancies, as well as signposting to our Jobhelp website.
Through our Plan for Jobs, the Department is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers. Currently, support includes the Kickstart Scheme, Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart. The Restart Scheme supports individuals who have been unemployed for at least 9 months and through regular, personalised support, providers work with participants to identify the best way to support them into sustained employment.
In addition, the Work and Heath Programme, and Intensive Personalised Employment Support, is available to support to support disabled people and people with long term health conditions, to enter and stay in work.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking help people who lost their jobs during the covid-19 outbreak back into work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to supporting everyone who has been affected by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19. We want everyone who is able to work to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market.
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided over £400 billion to support the economy, including funding for the Plan for Jobs. The Kickstart scheme to date has provided over 130,000 young people with Kickstart jobs, with many of these securing permanent employment. Alongside this, the Restart Scheme offers a fresh start to those who have been unemployed for over 9 months. The scheme breaks down employment barriers that could potentially prevent jobseekers from finding work.
Way to Work is a new concerted national drive to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs by the end of June 2022, supporting them to take their next step to building a more secure and prosperous future. While we have more people on company payrolls than before the pandemic, latest figures show there are around 1.2 million vacancies across the economy, including many in key sectors.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been auto-enrolled in workplace pensions in Crewe and Nantwich constituency since 2012.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 2012, 13,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension and 1,720 employers have declared compliance in the Crewe and Nantwich constituency.
This data is published by The Pensions Regulator each month:
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 effectiveness of the Plan For Jobs in supporting people into work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP Plan for Jobs programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. In addition, the Government supported people to remain in work through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Plan for Jobs has:
DWP is monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout and after its implementation and will continue to evaluate the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. Our Kickstart evaluation includes large scale surveys to capture the views and experiences of Kickstart participants and of employers and gateway organisations. The evaluation is considering how experiences and outcomes from the scheme vary and examine how participants’ and employers’ characteristics, local context and local approaches to delivery affect experiences. Qualitative case-studies will provide a detailed understanding of how different aspects of the scheme interact and we will draw on available data and insights. We will publish the findings of the evaluation once complete.
A comprehensive, multi-strand evaluation will be undertaken to provide a robust and timely analysis of Restart delivery and impact. It will be split into four strands: targeted qualitative research during the implementation phase; a longitudinal cohort survey and qualitative research; provider research, including locally-focused case studies and finally an impact assessment including cost-benefit analysis the evaluation will assess overall programme impact and participant outcomes, as well as providing evidence on wider participant experience.
An evaluation of how DWP’s plan for jobs policies worked together is being undertaken. This will include case studies of different areas and their delivery of plan for jobs policies, and a tracking survey of a sample of plan for jobs participants and non-participants. This research will run through 2022 into 2023.
DWP have also recently launched 'Way to Work’, a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs in the next five months. We will be bringing employers into jobcentres and matching them up with claimants. This is good news for employers who need to fill vacancies and for our claimants.