Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 that the way in which benefits are paid to a household do not facilitate abuse or condone inequality in relationships.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Research carried out for the Department for Work and Pensions suggests that only 2 per cent of married couples and 7 per cent of cohabiting couples keep their finances completely separate. So the starting point in Universal Credit is one single monthly payment which people in the household then manage as they see fit. We recognise that there will be circumstances in which this is not appropriate and so split payments are also available. This option is designed to prevent hardship to claimants and their families, where there is vulnerability in the household leading to financial mismanagement. Where a claimant suffering from domestic abuse asks for a split payment we will support them in putting this arrangement in place.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to (a) improve and (b) extend training on (i) domestic (ii) financial and (iii) economic abuse to staff in her Department.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
In April 2018 we updated our Universal Credit learning products to include additional information on domestic abuse, covering physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and financial abuse, and controlling and coercive behaviour. These products are regularly reviewed.
Our jobcentre staff undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service to claimants.
Specific training and guidance is provided for staff who work with different vulnerable groups, including people who have been the victims of domestic abuse. Work coaches can also signpost claimants to national and local organisations who provide specialist support.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will put in place agreements to support direct working between occupational therapists and the Jobcentre Plus network.
Answered by Sarah Newton
In our Command Paper, Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability, we announced wider support to assist people with health conditions and disabilities in moving closer to the labour market. We are testing a three-way voluntary conversation between customers, work coaches and healthcare professionals, such as occupational therapists, and we will make decisions on further rollout in due course.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 suitability of the universal credit single payment in cases of financial abuse towards one person in a couple.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have made an assessment about the suitability of Universal Credit single payments in cases of financial abuse towards one person in a couple. This was outlined in the attached letter, dated 15 May 2018, to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to prevent exceptional split payments of universal credit that require the disclosure of abuse.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We do not require formal disclosure of abuse to establish split payments for Universal Credit claimants, and we do not ask for any evidence relating to the abuse. An individual can be accompanied by a representative from a third party organisation to provide expert support when disclosing domestic abuse to a work coach.
All personal information is treated in confidence, and we do not disclose information to third parties without explicit consent. If requested, we can provide access to a private area where information can be disclosed.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Thriving at Work: a review of mental health and employers, published jointly by her Department and the Department of Health and Social care in October 2017, what the timetable is for the implementation of the recommendations of that report.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government responded to the full review as part of our response to the consultation on the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper on 30th November. As part of our recently published command paper Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, we set out a broad ranging strategy to further support disabled people and people with health conditions – including mental health conditions - to enter and thrive in work. This publication also included our formal response to all of the Stevenson/Farmer review’s recommendation. The Government is overseeing progress across recommendations that range from short term deliverables to longer term reform.
The Prime Minister accepted the recommendations that apply to the Civil Service and NHSE as employers on the day of publication. The Civil Service is in a good place to meet the standards and has identified areas of positive practice particularly surrounding mental health awareness, support and demonstration of accountability, and the NHS is implementing the mental health standards through the new single NHS Workforce Health and Wellbeing Framework, which will be published in the summer.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Thriving at Work: a review of mental health and employers, published jointly by her Department and the Department of Health and Social care in October 2017, what the timetable is for establishing a Mental Health and Employer Leadership Council to oversee the progress on the recommendations of that report.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government responded to the full review on 30th November as part of the command paper Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability. As set out in this publication, we agree with the review’s recommendation on the need to provide leadership and accountability, and maintain the momentum generated by the review. We will set out further plans shortly.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of working days lost to the UK economy as a result of work-related stress in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The latest available estimates are given below. They are published annually and show the estimated number of days lost (full day equivalent) due to self-reported stress, depression or anxiety, caused or made worse by work, for people working in the last 12 months in Great Britain. Figures are not separately available for the United Kingdom.
Year | Estimated days lost | 95% Confidence interval |
2014/15 | 9.9 million | 8.4m to 11.6m |
2015/16 | 11.7 million | 9.6m to 13.7m |
2016/17 | 12.5 million | 10.5m to 14.6m |
Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of her Department's staff have had days off sick because of mental illness or stress in each of the last three years; and how many days off that amounted to in each of those years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In November 2016 DWP launched its health and wellbeing strategy covering mental wellbeing. DWP supports mental wellbeing through a number of initiatives including: 24/7 sign-posting to mental health support in DWP; an Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7 offering confidential counselling (face to face, telephone and live chat), advice and information services for all colleagues and managers, including critical incident debriefing services; an immediate or early referral to Occupational Health for expert advice on how to handle mental health conditions at work; and a range of wellbeing programmes and a series of campaigns to raise awareness of mental health/wellbeing and help reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental ill-health.
The Department has also established a network of Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) who provide acute, short-term and structured support to individuals, provide reassurance, and signpost colleagues to DWP and external sources of support as appropriate. They also actively promote and raise awareness of mental health agenda within their local area. 200 colleagues are currently trained to fulfil this role with a further 300 to be trained by 2019.
The percentage of staff absence and the Working Days lost for reasons related to stress or mental health is as follows:
| No. People | Percentage Staff | Working Days Lost |
1 Apr 15 to 31 Mar16 | 6,866 | 8.0% | 157,648 |
1 Apr 16 to 31 Mar-17 | 7,038 | 8.2% | 161,806 |
1 Apr 17 to Mar-18 | 7,695 | 9.1% | 153,923 |
*The figures include those absences recorded under the following categories: Anxiety and Depression, Mental Health Issues or Stress until March 2017 and Anxiety and Depression, Mental Health Other, Stress, Mental Health Anxiety and Depression or Mental Health Issues for 2017-18. Working days lost excludes weekends but does include public holidays. Numbers of staff includes those currently on nil pay.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made in implementing recommendations 7 and 11 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Work and Health Programme is now in place across England and Wales, offering a more personalised local approach to supporting disabled people and those with mental health conditions to overcome barriers to employment. Better integration of health support is a particular priority, and providers will deliver integrated support to customers with multiple barriers. Across the whole programme we have been guided by the evidence, learning from the best of the Work Programme and Work Choice, and have set up the programme with high quality evaluation built in.
As the Government confirmed in its response to recommendation 7 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, individuals, even with similar barriers or characteristics, can respond differently to those barriers, and so require tailored support. This is why we have elected to give providers considerable freedom in how they support claimants to move into lasting work rather than specify particular services. This is supported by a payment model which gives providers a strong incentive to deliver outcomes, including a price accelerator element which seeks to deliver better performance by increasing the return for investment for those who are harder to help.
The key area on recommendation 11 is to stress that “The Government announced in October 2017 that it no longer intends to extend Local Housing Allowance rates to social sector tenants and in particular to those living in supported housing. The Government has also made clear that it is keen to ensure that those living in supported housing, and those who provide it, receive appropriate protection. The welfare system will therefore continue to fund long-term supported accommodation along with sheltered and extra care housing.