Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy for Jobcentre Plus staff to receive adequate training on autism.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Training and guidance is provided for working with different vulnerable groups, including customers with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Support is also provided by Disability Employment Advisers and Work Psychologists. Work Coaches can refer individuals to personalised provision and support such as the Work and Health Programme (available in England and Wales) or Fair Start Scotland (devolved programme available Scotland).
We are continuing to build on local initiatives in Jobcentre Plus, to ensure that we deliver a consistently supportive service across the country. For example:
• As part of Autism Awareness Week in April 2019, we introduced short ‘Bitesize’ Autism Awareness Learning for work coaches and promoted Calm and Quiet Sessions across the network
• North London District developed and organised Calm and Quiet sessions, including a toolkit for organising these elsewhere. This is being promoted across the Jobcentre network. The extension of service hours, from March 2020, will give more opportunities to run calm and quiet sessions and to schedule appointments at less busy times.
Through a contract with Autism Alliance DWP has:
• Developed the Disability Confident Autism and Neurodiversity Toolkit to help staff from all Government Departments to understand how to support people with Autism and associated Neuro-Diverse conditions. The toolkit was launched in April 2017.
• Developed the Disability Passport ‘About Me’, to encourage disabled claimants, including individuals with Autism, to disclose their disability/ health conditions at the earliest stage to their Adviser, to improve communication and ensure reasonable adjustments are put in place. The passport was launched in March 2017.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to encourage (a) managers and (b) employees to undertake autism awareness training in the workplace.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with disabilities, including people with autism. Through the scheme, DWP is providing advice and support to help employers feel more confident about employing disabled people, by signposting them to appropriate advice guidance and support. As of 31 December 2019, 15,832 employers have signed up. A Disability Confident Toolkit has been developed to provide employers with comprehensive information on autism and hidden impairments, as well as guidance on employment and local authority services. This Toolkit is hosted on the Autism Alliance website:
https://www.autismandneurodiversitytoolkit.org/
Access to Work has staff with a specialist knowledge of autism and offers customers and employers tailored packages of support and advice.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
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 help support people with autistic spectrum disorder in making job applications.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches provide personalised support to people to find jobs and move towards work, including individuals with Autistic Spectrum Conditions.
Training and guidance is provided for working with different vulnerable groups, including customers with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Support is also provided by Disability Employment Advisers and Work Psychologists. Work Coaches can refer individuals to personalised provision and support such as the Work and Health Programme (available in England and Wales) or Fair Start Scotland (devolved programme available Scotland).
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent comparative assessment she has made of the potential benefits to (a) workers, (b) employers and (c) the NHS of providing workers who have physical and mental health conditions with (i) early access to free clinical support and (ii) 28 consecutive days of absence.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is exploring a range of policy options aiming to reduce ill-health related job loss. The consultation ‘Health is Everyone’s Business: Proposals to Reduce Ill Health-related Job Loss’ closed in October 2019.
It set out proposals to boost Government support available to employers to support employees who are managing health conditions in work and to manage sickness absence more effectively. It included proposals to encourage employers to take early, sustained and proportionate steps to support a sick employee to return to work, reform Statutory Sick Pay, improve occupational health availability and improve the provision of advice and support for employers. We have received a good response from a range of stakeholders, which we are reviewing.
We know that being in the right work is good for health and that being out of work can have a detrimental effect on health. In addition to working with employers to help individuals get the support they need, at the right time, to return to work, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a minimum level of income for up to 28 weeks to employees needing to take time off to recover from short-term illness.
There is limited evidence to suggest that making the tax treatment more generous is the most effective way of incentivising more employers to offer occupational health provision, if the initial cost of provision is the main barrier for them.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on making (a) early intervention mental health support and (b) physiotherapy provided by employers non-taxable benefits-in-kind.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is exploring a range of policy options aiming to reduce ill-health related job loss. The consultation ‘Health is Everyone’s Business: Proposals to Reduce Ill Health-related Job Loss’ closed in October 2019.
It set out proposals to boost Government support available to employers to support employees who are managing health conditions in work and to manage sickness absence more effectively. It included proposals to encourage employers to take early, sustained and proportionate steps to support a sick employee to return to work, reform Statutory Sick Pay, improve occupational health availability and improve the provision of advice and support for employers. We have received a good response from a range of stakeholders, which we are reviewing.
We know that being in the right work is good for health and that being out of work can have a detrimental effect on health. In addition to working with employers to help individuals get the support they need, at the right time, to return to work, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a minimum level of income for up to 28 weeks to employees needing to take time off to recover from short-term illness.
There is limited evidence to suggest that making the tax treatment more generous is the most effective way of incentivising more employers to offer occupational health provision, if the initial cost of provision is the main barrier for them.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what stage her discussions have reached with the Office for National Statistics on including the number of autistic people in work as a recordable characteristic in the labour force survey; and when that recordable characteristic will be included in that survey.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following testing in late 2019, the Office for National Statistics has added a measure of autism to the Labour Force Survey questionnaire for interviews carried out from January 2020 onwards and I welcome this development. In time, this will give us a better understanding of the employment status for many people with autism as a long standing health condition. It is anticipated that early data will be available from May 2020, however, numbers are likely to be low to start with and it may be longer before numbers are high enough to support further analysis of the data.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps will be taken under the pilot scheme to co-locate mental health advisors in job centres to ensure that claimants enter into psychological therapy voluntarily.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To help claimants with mental health conditions access the support they need we have been working in partnership with the NHS and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
Work Coaches based at Milton Keynes Jobcentre are now able to make direct referrals to the local IAPT service. Following a referral, the initial assessment of needs takes place within the Jobcentre in a private interview room and is completed by the IAPT Assessor, a qualified Work Psychologist. Claimants can elect to have the assessment take place at an alternative venue other than the Jobcentre should they choose.
The initial assessment is a gateway to the IAPT service and claimants will continue to receive support through the IAPT programme where appropriate. Participation is completely voluntary and claimants are able to withdraw at any stage of the process.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure claimants’ privacy is upheld when receiving mental health treatment in job centre settings; and whether future mental health referrals will offer claimants alternative community-based treatment in non-job centre settings.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To help claimants with mental health conditions access the support they need we have been working in partnership with the NHS and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
Work Coaches based at Milton Keynes Jobcentre are now able to make direct referrals to the local IAPT service. Following a referral, the initial assessment of needs takes place within the Jobcentre in a private interview room and is completed by the IAPT Assessor, a qualified Work Psychologist. Claimants can elect to have the assessment take place at an alternative venue other than the Jobcentre should they choose.
The initial assessment is a gateway to the IAPT service and claimants will continue to receive support through the IAPT programme where appropriate. Participation is completely voluntary and claimants are able to withdraw at any stage of the process.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what level of training mental health advisors will receive prior to their appointment as part of the upcoming pilot scheme to co-locate mental health advisors in job centres.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To help claimants with mental health conditions access the support they need we have been working in partnership with the NHS and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
Work Coaches based at Milton Keynes Jobcentre are now able to make direct referrals to the local IAPT service. Following a referral, the initial assessment of needs takes place within the Jobcentre in a private interview room and is completed by the IAPT Assessor, a qualified Work Psychologist. Claimants can elect to have the assessment take place at an alternative venue other than the Jobcentre should they choose.
The initial assessment is a gateway to the IAPT service and claimants will continue to receive support through the IAPT programme where appropriate. Participation is completely voluntary and claimants are able to withdraw at any stage of the process.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled the Disability Price Tag 2019, published by Scope in February 2019, what steps she is taking to ensure that personal independence payments assessments accurately capture the extra costs incurred by disabled people.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a more modern, dynamic and fairer benefit than its predecessor, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), designed to focus support on those experiencing the greatest barriers to living independently. DLA had not been fundamentally reformed since it was introduced over 25 years ago and it lacked some of the basic checks and reviews that are integral to most other State-funded support.
Built on rules developed for disability benefits created in the 1970s, DLA was also a product of its time, focusing primarily on physical disabilities, whereas we now have a better understanding of the needs of individuals with mental health conditions, learning difficulties, and sensory impairments like blindness. Understanding of conditions like autism has also changed measurably. That is why we introduced PIP. Reform of DLA had long been overdue and the benefit had to be changed to better support disabled people to lead independent lives as they want to today. PIP provides an opportunity to better target support for disabled people and to enable them to lead full, active and independent lives.
At the core of the benefit’s design is the principle that awards of the benefit should be made according to a claimant’s overall level of need; entitlement being assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability. It is intended to act as a contribution
towards the extra costs that arise as a result of a long-term health condition or disability. We take all feedback regarding the benefit and assessment process seriously; and we remain committed to continuous improvements and working closely with claimants and
representative organisations.