Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 progress of the Kickstart Scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the 31st January 2022, over 130,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people and over 235,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply to through the scheme.
The Department for Work and Pensions will be 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.
Jobs made available and starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs.
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: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on her consultation on Disability Workforce Reporting.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The consultation on disability workforce reporting for large employers, which is being led by the Disability Unit based in the Cabinet Office, was launched on 16 December 2021 and will close on 25 March 2022. The consultation is available at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/disability-workforce-reporting
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her priorities are for the next six months of the National Disability Strategy.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The National Disability Strategy (NDS), published in July 2021, sets out a wide range of tangible actions that will impact across the everyday lives of disabled people. From housing to transport, education to leisure and justice, to challenging the unhelpful perceptions of others. Delivery of the policies in the strategy is progressing well.
For example, DfE has invested over £8 billion in 2021/2022 on children and young people with complex needs, improving outcomes for disabled children. DWP is piloting an Adjustments Passport supporting disabled people in the transition to employment, and BEIS launched an online advice hub offering accessible information and advice on employment rights for disabled people.
Priorities over the next 6 months will be to continue to deliver on the commitments in the NDS and reporting on progress as we have previously committed to do.
In addition, this government is supporting the successful delivery of the British Sign Language Private Members Bill through the House of Commons and Lords to recognise British Sign Language (BSL) as a language of Great Britain, with ultimately the objective of increasing access to BSL interpretation.
Alongside recognising British Sign Language as a language of Great Britain, we will:
I am committed to delivering the government’s aim to address the challenges faced by disabled people so that we continue to build back better, and fairer, for disabled people.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 progress of the work of Armed Forces Champions in job centres.
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: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 Stockton South constituency since 2012.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 2012, 8,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension and 1,460 employers have declared compliance.
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: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with people who are (a) receiving personal independence payments and (b) over the age of 65 on the provision of mobility vehicles.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Our Health and Disability Green Paper Shaping Future Support included a section on disabled people’s mobility needs, inviting people to share their views on whether the Department met their mobility needs. In the 18 months prior to the formal launch of the consultation, we ran a significant stakeholder engagement programme to ensure that the views of disabled people and their representatives shaped the content of the consultation. This saw MPs from across the political spectrum host organisations and individuals from their own constituencies.
We are currently reviewing over 4,500 responses from individuals, charities and other organisations who took part in the consultation, and will respond with a White Paper next year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what formula her Department used to determine the funding given to each local authority from the Household Support Fund.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government has allocated the Household Support Fund according to the population of each local authority, weighted by a function of the English Index of Multiple Deprivation. Taking account of deprivation, as well as population, reflects the fact that the scheme is aimed at vulnerable families and individuals who may struggle to afford the cost of essentials over the Winter.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have enrolled on the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) programme in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland, broken down by region, since its inception; and how many of those people have gained employment as a result of that programme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Up to the end of April 2021 there have been 94,560 starts on the Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) scheme in England and Wales (launched 5 October 2020) and 3,795 starts on JETS Scotland (launched 25 January 2021).
By region:
JETS England & Wales | Total Starts |
Central | 9,790 |
North East | 26,615 |
North West | 8,470 |
Southern | 12,925 |
Home Counties | 8,630 |
Greater Manchester | 6,160 |
Central London | 5,415 |
West London | 2,610 |
South London | 2,305 |
Local London | 6,315 |
Wales | 5,325 |
Total England & Wales | 94,560 |
JETS Scotland | 3,795 |
Total | 98,360 |
So far there have been 12,665 job outcomes in England and Wales, and 160 job outcomes for JETS Scotland (a job outcome is defined as when an individual achieves £1000 cumulative earnings within eight months of starting).
By region:
JETS England & Wales | Total employment Outcomes |
Central | 1,160 |
North East | 3,600 |
North West | 1,430 |
Southern | 1,760 |
Home Counties | 1,090 |
Greater Manchester | 915 |
Central London | 570 |
West London | 360 |
South London | 325 |
Local London | 680 |
Wales | 770 |
Total England & Wales | 12,665 |
JETS Scotland | 160 |
Total | 12,825 |
It should be noted that JETS provides support for up to six months and many people who have started on the scheme will not yet have had time to achieve a job outcome.