Seema Malhotra

The Start Up Loans company, part of the Government-backed British Business Bank, provides loans to start and grow new businesses. Since the programme’s launch in 2012, 2,550 loans have been made in the London region worth £17,460,947 to entrepreneurs aged 18-24. In the same period, 4,935 loans have been made worth £40,522,593 in the London region to individuals aged 24-30. This information is not held by constituency.

Business Support Helpline is a national service that provides information to help entrepreneurs of all ages to start up. In the past 12 months the Helpline supported 534 entrepreneurs under the age of 25 and in London Economic Action Partnership area covering Feltham and Heston.

Nationally, as part of the Plan for Jobs, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 8 July 2020, businesses will be given £2,000 for each new apprentice hired under the age of 25. This will be in addition to the £1,000 payment the Government currently provides for new 16-18-year-old apprentices and those aged under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan. £111 million was also announced to triple the scale of traineeships in the UK.

On 18th August 2020 the British Business Bank published updated Future Fund data which gives a regional breakdown of 590 companies that have been approved for £588.3 million.

In England, a total of 562 loans have been approved at a value of £573.1m since the scheme was launched 20 May. In the North West, 29 loans have been approved, worth £27.6m, and in Yorkshire and the Humber 19 loans have been approved, worth £14.6m. In the North East 21 loans have been approved at a value of £19.5m, and in the West Midlands 17 loans have been approved at a value of £15.6m. In the East Midlands, 4 loans have been approved at a value of £2.1m and in the East of England 43 loans have been approved at a value of £45m. Furthermore, in the South West 21 loans have been approved at a value of £12.9m and in the South East 76 loans have been approved, worth £89.5m.

This data is only available at regional level and not constituency level; therefore, figures for Hounslow are unavailable. However, in London 332 loans have been approved at a value of £346.3m. In Scotland, 11 loans have been approved at a value of £4.1m and in Wales, 12 loans have been approved, at a value of £6.1m.

This Government has a proud history of protecting and enhancing workers’ rights.

We remain committed to delivering the workers’ rights enhancements set out in our 2019 manifesto.

We have already made significant progress in implementing recommendations arising from the Taylor Review, including legislating for stronger protections for vulnerable agency workers and extending the right to a written statement to workers.

We have passed legislation that means almost 300,000 workers, including people in low-paid work and the gig economy, will have a right to a payslip for the first time. This helps workers in the flexible economy to better understand their pay and identify if their employer is not meeting their minimum pay obligations.

As we set out in our 2019 recent Manifesto, this Government is committed to continue building on this record by testing proposals to ensure that people are treated fairly at work.

However, as Matthew Taylor himself has said, many of his recommendation are complex and highly technical to implement. It is only right that we take time to consider how best to achieve change that works for all.

We continue to work with stakeholders to test proposals, thus ensuring that employment law reflects the reality of modern and new working relationships.

We intend to make further announcements on the next stages in due course.

Although the UK has left the EU, under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU State Aid rules continue to apply in the UK until the end of the Transition Period. The EU Commission have introduced a ‘temporary framework’ providing flexibility on State Aid rules to support businesses impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government has notified the European Commission of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) under the temporary framework, in line with State Aid rules.

Certain State Aid rules apply to businesses accessing the CBILS, including around the business in difficulty criteria. In recognition of the impact of Coronavirus, companies that do not pass the business in difficulty test are eligible for the CBILS, unless they were in difficulty on 31 December 2019, prior to the outbreak.

On 20th April, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £1.25bn coronavirus package to protect firms driving innovation in the UK.

This included £750 million of targeted support for the most R&D intensive small and medium size firms which will be available through Innovate UK’s grants and loan scheme.

The Government has since confirmed that up to £500m of this is for existing customers including £200m of accelerated payments and up to £300m for continuity grants and loans. £20m of the remainder has been used to double the number of businesses receiving funding through the IUK call for business led innovation in response to the crisis which was open to new customers. Over 800 companies have been successful in this competition. IUK has also allocated up to £39m to increase the business advisory support services available new and existing high-growth potential SMEs. Announcements for the remaining money will be made in due course.

Beyond the Fast-Response competition, it is currently too early to state the number of businesses that have accessed this funding.

The Government has introduced important social distancing measures for all types of businesses to consider in order to minimise the risk of transmission in the workplace. The Government has been clear that it is vital that all employers follow this guidance, which is clinically led and based on expert advice.

The Government has stated that vulnerable people who are at increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus (COVID-19) need to be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures. Additionally, the government guidance sets out that members of staff who are vulnerable or extremely vulnerable, as well as individuals whom they live with, should be supported by their employers as they follow the required social distancing and shielding measures. Employers should help these individuals work from home if possible.

If clinically vulnerable people cannot work from home, they should be offered the safest available on-site roles, staying 2m away from others wherever possible. If they have to spend time within 2m of other people, employers need to carefully assess whether this involves an acceptable level of risk.

If a business is not operating in line with the government guidance, there is a role for the relevant health and safety enforcing authority – the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or a Local Authority. Where the enforcing authority identifies employers who are not taking action to comply with the relevant public health legislation and guidance to control public health risks – for example, employers not taking appropriate action to socially distance or ensure workers in the shielded category can follow the NHS advice to self-isolate for the period specified – the enforcing authority will consider taking a range of actions to improve control of workplace risks. These actions include the provision of specific advice to employers through to issuing enforcement notices to help secure improvements with the guidance.

Manufacturing is a critical part of our economy and the Government is engaging with industry to ensure that we can support our manufacturing sectors during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many businesses across the aerospace, chemical, automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical, packaging, and other sectors have answered the call to action. These businesses are playing a direct role in combatting COVID-19 by producing the materials and equipment necessary, as well as enabling the services that we need to fight the spread of the virus and keep the country running.

We have put in place an unprecedented package of Government support to give manufacturers and their suppliers the support they need to ensure business continuity. These measures include:

• £330 billion worth of Government-backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses across the UK.
• The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to help small and medium-sized businesses to access vital financial support.
• The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) to allow more firms to benefit from Government-backed support at this difficult time.
• The Bounce Back Loans scheme for small businesses, which complements the CBILS and CLBILS schemes.
• Deferring VAT payments for firms to the next quarter, until the end of June, which represents a £30 billion injection into the economy.
• Our Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, where small and large employers will be eligible to apply for a Government grant of 80% of workers’ salaries up to £2,500 a month. This will be backdated to 1 March 2020 and available for at least three months.

The Government regularly speaks with Rolls-Royce and has worked closely with the company in response to COVID-19. The company has set out the steps it has taken, consistent with the Government’s guidance, on worker safety; job protections utilising the Job Retention Scheme; developing and donating Personal Protective Equipment; and manufacturing ventilators.

We have discussed with Rolls-Royce the various Government business support schemes available to the company and its suppliers. Rolls-Royce has also been part of the Department’s regular engagements with the wider aerospace sector about business support during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The deadline for transposing the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is 27 June 2022. As the Government has committed not to extend the Transition Period the UK will not be required to transpose the EAA.

The UK already has robust legislation on accessibility through the protections covered by the Equality Act 2006, Equality Act 2010, and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland. The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination on grounds of disability and imposes a duty on providers of goods and services to make reasonable adjustments to prevent this.

The Government will consider how further to improve or enhance accessibility through domestic legislation, including by using emerging technologies to develop innovative solutions to accessibility challenges, and provide real benefit to citizens with disabilities over the years ahead.

The COP26 Team in Cabinet Office consists of 140 civil servants (as of 12th February), including an international engagement team. The unit works closely with colleagues across Whitehall, and with the FCO’s overseas network, on the successful delivery of COP26.

The Government is committed to making a success of COP26, working across Departments.

A key element of this is working towards the UK’s net zero commitment, which is very important to this Government both domestically and internationally.

We are committed to delivering on our world-leading target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. As announced by the Prime Minister, 2020 is a Year of Climate Action which aims to inspire positive action on climate change across the UK in the build-up to COP26.

The Government considers a wide variety of viewpoints on how to reach net zero. We agree with the advice of the Committee on Climate Change that a full range of solutions will be needed to meet our targets, including behaviour change, new technologies to reduce emissions across the economy, as well as greenhouse gas removal technologies that can capture carbon dioxide from the air.

The UK has cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country. In doing so, we are now the world leader in offshore wind and have many other strengths in key decarbonisation technologies such as smart energy systems and electric vehicles. In the next decade, we will work with the market to deliver two million new high quality jobs in clean growth, creating opportunities across the country from future export markets.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The government announced on 20 March that the national commemorations to mark VE Day 75 are being scaled back due to the ongoing spread of coronavirus.

The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations are working on plans to ensure the nation can mark VE Day in May and provide a fitting tribute to the Second World War generation.

In light of the COVID- 19 outbreak, all VE Day 75 event organisers should follow the guidance and advice that is regularly being issued and updated by the Government and Public Health England.

The Government is working closely with the Royal British Legion which has issued up to date advice to its branches.

The Civil Service aims to increase opportunities for people of all backgrounds and create a

Civil Service fit for 21st century Britain through work experience, internships and

apprenticeship schemes.

DCMS does not run a central work experience scheme and therefore does not hold data on work experience placements for people under 16. The figures for people over 16 years old are as follows:

2017: 3 on the Summer Diversity Internship Programme

2018: 2 (1 on the Summer Diversity Internship Programme and 1 on the Autism Internship Exchange Programme)

2019: 5 (4 on the Summer Diversity Internship Programme and 1 on the Autism Exchange Internship Programme)

Government commissioned an independent consortium to carry out a meta-evaluation of the benefits of London 2012. These reports are published on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/london-2012-meta-evaluation) and cover a broad range of research areas such as economic benefits, sustainability standards and the impact on volunteering.

Government, in conjunction with the Mayor of London, published four annual reports on legacy between 2013 and 2016. These described legacy benefits in the areas of sport and physical activity, economic impact, communities, East London regeneration and the impact from the Paralympics. Again, these reports are available on GOV.UK via https://www.gov.uk/society-and-culture/2012-olympic-and-paralympic-legacy.

The Secretary of State regularly meets with film and television representatives from a range of backgrounds as part of her role. However, due to the confidential nature of many of these meetings, we are unable to give details of such engagements. Increasing screen diversity is a priority for government, and we continue to work with our arm’s length body the British Film Institute (BFI) to improve representation both on and off screen, including through supporting the wider adoption of their world-leading Diversity Standards.

Almost every premise in the UK is able to get broadband through a fixed, wireless or satellite connection. However, a small minority of premises are unable to get a decent service, providing 10 Mbps download speeds and 1 Mbps upload speeds. In their latest Connected Nations report, Ofcom estimated that these premises numbered only around 155,000 and was likely to reduce further by March 2020, when the Government’s Broadband Universal Obligation (USO) will come into force. The USO gives households without a decent service a legal right to request one up to a Reasonable Cost Threshold of £3,400 per premise.

Alongside the USO, investment by Government and the commercial sector has ensured that superfast broadband, providing download speeds of at least 24 Mbps, is now available to 96% of UK premises, and that access to full fibre broadband has increased by 1.5 million premises over the past year and is now available to 10% of the UK. The Government is ambitious to go further and, as part of this, has committed £5 billion to subsidise the deployment of full fibre and gigabit broadband in less commercially viable areas.

Further information on broadband availability in each local authority area can be found on the Connected Nations section of Ofcom’s website.

Government’s strategy on tackling loneliness in England includes a range of new policies that are benefiting people across England, including in Hounslow. This includes improving and expanding social prescribing and running a new communications campaign on social connection.

Government established the £11.5m Building Connections Fund in 2018. This funds 126 projects across England that bring people and communities together. 15 grants, totalling £1.25m, have been made to projects in London. This includes a £93,000 grant to the Afghanistan & Central Asian Association for a project based in Hounslow offering activities such as tea sessions, one to one mentoring and social events.

In October 2019 the Minister for Civil Society announced £2m of new grant funding for frontline organisations tackling loneliness. Details of this funding, including the application process, will be announced in due course.

The Department is providing funding support to schools on autumn exam fees and we expect school and colleges to pay these on behalf of all the students they enter in the autumn. This is set out in our guidance on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responsibility-for-autumn-gcse-as-and-a-level-exam-series/centre-responsibility-for-autumn-gcse-as-and-a-level-exam-series-guidance.

The autumn exams are an important backstop to the summer grade process and we are helping schools and colleges to offer them to students by assisting with additional space and invigilators where required, as well as covering exam fee deficits to ensure that exam fees are not passed on to students.

Ofqual has published summary guidance, agreed with school and college leaders, which makes clear what the process was for putting together centre assessment grades and the grounds of appeal which are available. The guidance can be viewed here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/887018/Summer_2020_Awarding_GCSEs_A_levels_-_Info_for_Heads_of_Centre_22MAY2020.pdf.

Any students who have evidence of bias or discrimination will be able to go through the normal complaints procedure at their school or college or complain to the exam board, which could investigate potential malpractice.

The Government’s School Sport and Activity Action Plan set out a range of measures to ensure that all children have access to high quality PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day, to help them do the 60 minutes a day of physical exercise recommended by the Chief Medical Officer.

The Government has provided £2.4 million in funding to support this activity in 2019-20 and has worked with Active Partnerships, teaching schools and sport providers to support children to take part in activities that encourage good physical health.

Physical activity is important for children’s physical and mental wellbeing and will be especially important for children who have had restricted opportunity to exercise while at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department has published online educational resources approved by subject experts for schools and parents to help children to learn at home, including for PE:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources/online-science-pe-wellbeing-and-send-resources-for-home-education.

The Department is working to ensure that schools are fully supported as they re-open and are able to give pupils opportunities to be physically active during the school day.

The Department will confirm arrangements for the primary school PE and Sport Premium in the 2020-21 academic year as soon as possible.

Apprenticeships will have an important role to play in creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, and supporting employers in all sectors to access the skilled workforce they need to recover and grow post COVID-19. The flexibilities we have introduced are enabling apprenticeships to continue. We are looking to support employers of all sizes, and particularly smaller businesses, to take on new apprentices this year. We will set out further details in due course. We will also ensure that there is sufficient funding to support small businesses wanting to take on an apprentice this year.

We are continuing to meet with employers and their representative organisations. I hosted a series of round tables with employers and business representative groups to discuss what more is needed to support employers, including the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The National Apprenticeship Service continues to support employers, intermediary organisations and stakeholders through regular virtual meetings, and timely communications about changes to apprenticeship policies in response to COVID-19. Insight gathered from our engagement with employers and their representative bodies is used to help shape further flexibilities.

The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.

The Government is providing over 200,000 laptops and tablets to vulnerable and disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. The Government is also providing over 50,000 4G wireless routers to care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged children in year 10 who do not have internet connections.

The Department has also partnered with BT to give 10,000 young people free access to BT WiFi hotspots, who do not have access to good internet by other means.

Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify and distribute the laptops and tablets to children and young people who need devices. The Department invited local authorities to order devices for the most vulnerable children first, children with a social worker and care leavers.

Devices are being delivered to local authorities and academy trusts daily and will continue to be distributed throughout June.

The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.

The Government is providing over 200,000 laptops and tablets to vulnerable and disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. The Government is also providing over 50,000 4G wireless routers to care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged children in year 10 who do not have internet connections.

The Department has also partnered with BT to give 10,000 young people free access to BT WiFi hotspots, who do not have access to good internet by other means.

Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify and distribute the laptops and tablets to children and young people who need devices. The Department invited local authorities to order devices for the most vulnerable children first, children with a social worker and care leavers.

Devices are being delivered to local authorities and academy trusts daily and will continue to be distributed throughout June.

It is up to each school to determine how to deliver education to its pupils and we recognise that many schools have been regularly sharing resources with pupils. This could be in the form of online learning as well as high quality printed resources where needed.

The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G routers.

The Department has also partnered with BT to give 10,000 young people free access to BT WiFi hotspots, who do not have access to good internet by other means.

We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 4G routers.

We are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways during these very difficult circumstances, and are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy. This brand-new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from reception through to Year 10. By 24 May, over 2.3 million users had visited the Oak Academy site and over 10.7 million lessons had been accessed.

Schools can also utilise the many resources which have been made by publishers across the country.

The Department has published an initial list of high quality online educational resources, which have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts to help pupils learn at home.

Schools and families will also be able to draw on support from the BBC which is broadcasting lessons on television. Some of the BBC educational content is offline, via the red button, which disadvantaged pupils without digital devices or connectivity will still be able to access.

The government has committed over £100 million to help schools and young people continue their education at home and access online social care services. We have committed over £14 million on technical support to give schools access to cloud-based education platforms, nearly £6 million to support a new demonstrator school network who are offering peer support on how to use education technology, and over £85 million to provide laptops, tablets and 4G internet devices, including security and e-safety packages and their distribution, and to top up the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund.

The department has also partnered with BT to give 10,000 young people free access to BT Wi-Fi hotspots, who do not have access to good internet by other means.

The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education. We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. We are also providing 4G routers to care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged Year 10 pupils who do not have sufficient internet connections.

The Department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and allocated devices based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device.

Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year as usual, regardless of any periods of partial or complete closure, and this will ensure they are able to meet their regular financial commitments, while delivering the provision required during this unprecedented period.

Where possible, schools are encouraged to work with their existing suppliers to provide meals or food parcels. If they are unable to use this, we have developed a national scheme to provide supermarket vouchers via the Edenred online portal. This portal allows schools to directly order vouchers to be sent to families for use at Aldi, McColl’s, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. Schools will not have to pay for these vouchers as the costs of this scheme will be picked up centrally by the Department for Education.

We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for schools in some areas to use these supermarkets. Where schools use their own alternatives to the national voucher scheme they are able to claim for additional costs incurred in supporting free school meal pupils. As set out in our guidance, schools will be able to claim up to a certain limit, depending on their number of pupils, and where they are unable to meet these additional costs from their existing resources. In exceptional instances where individual schools face additional costs that are higher than the grant’s limits, schools will be able to able to apply to increase their limit. The full additional costs guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools.

Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year as usual, regardless of any periods of partial or complete closure, and this will ensure they are able to meet their regular financial commitments, while delivering the provision required during this unprecedented period.

Where possible, schools are encouraged to work with their existing suppliers to provide meals or food parcels. If they are unable to use this, we have developed a national scheme to provide supermarket vouchers via the Edenred online portal. This portal allows schools to directly order vouchers to be sent to families for use at Aldi, McColl’s, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. Schools will not have to pay for these vouchers as the costs of this scheme will be picked up centrally by the Department for Education.

We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for schools in some areas to use these supermarkets. Where schools use their own alternatives to the national voucher scheme they are able to claim for additional costs incurred in supporting free school meal pupils. As set out in our guidance, schools will be able to claim up to a certain limit, depending on their number of pupils, and where they are unable to meet these additional costs from their existing resources. In exceptional instances where individual schools face additional costs that are higher than the grant’s limits, schools will be able to able to apply to increase their limit. The full additional costs guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools.

The government is working closely with the sector on a wide range of issues and student wellbeing is at the heart of those discussions. It will be a matter for universities to deal with individual students’ situations.

Eligible students studying on full-time and part-time courses will continue to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for the remainder of the current, 2019/20, academic year.

We have engaged closely with the Office for Students to enable providers to draw upon existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. As a result, providers will be able to use the funding, worth around £23 million per month for April and May, towards student hardship funds, including the purchase of IT equipment, and mental health support, as well as to support providers’ access and participation plans.

Students with a part-time employment contract should speak to their employer about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been set up to help pay staff wages and keep people in employment. Information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronaviruscovid-19.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach where it is possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi were added to this list and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.

Where none of these supermarkets are convenient for families, schools can directly purchase vouchers for alternative supermarkets and be reimbursed for the costs.

Full details are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, directly addressed young people in the Downing Street press conference on Sunday 19 April, acknowledging the challenges that they are facing in their lives and education and the contribution that they are making to the national effort:

“And to any young people watching, I wanted to say to you how sorry I am that you have had your education disrupted in this way. I know how hard it must be and I would like to thank you for making the adjustments you have had to make.

I know you will be missing your friends, your teachers and your lessons. I want you to know that you are an important part of this fight too and I cannot thank you enough for all that you are doing.”

The department continues to plan a range of activities in the coming weeks to engage with diverse groups of young people who have been affected in different ways by the outbreak. This included a recent address to young people on the new national online learning platform Oak National Academy via an online assembly on Thursday 30 April, which is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgdhOstV6iI&feature=emb_logo.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach where it is possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi were added to this list and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.

Where none of these supermarkets are convenient for families, schools can directly purchase vouchers for alternative supermarkets and be reimbursed for the costs.

Full details are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

The government is doing everything it can to ensure that all parts of the education system are getting the guidance and support they need to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and protect the most vulnerable groups. The government has already announced it will make extra funding available for schools to cover the unique challenges and financial costs of the COVID-19 outbreak. The money will cover specific unforeseen additional costs up to the end of the 2019 to 2020 summer term including £3.2 billion for local authorities.

We know that there will be many challenges across the sector, and we are working hard to mitigate the impact on education, childcare and children’s social care and prepare to help the sector recover from the crisis.

We are working with schools, teaching unions and other partners to make sure we have the right guidance and support in place once we are ready to re-open education settings.

The government recognises the significant effect COVID-19 may have on children and will do whatever it takes to protect them. The government has taken a range of actions to ensure that children are supported, particularly those who are most vulnerable. This includes keeping schools and other educational settings open for vulnerable children, such as those with a social worker or with an Education, Health and Care Plan, and encouraging attendance from them where that would be in their best interests; providing resources to support children to continue learning at home; funding vouchers for free schools meals; and providing additional funding for the NSPCC to support their helpline for those with concerns about children. The government has also given local authorities more than £3.2 billion to support local services at this time, including children’s social care. The department has also announced additional support for adoptive families and up to £12.1 million of new money to continue 14 separate projects that are aimed at supporting vulnerable children and families.

Ministers and officials have had, and continue to have, discussions with organisations representing the interests of children, including with the Children’s Commissioner for England, in order to monitor and minimise the impact for children, particularly for those who are most vulnerable. The department has also already established a Vulnerable Children and Young People National Board to provide a forum to share good practice across the sector and provide a cohesive and ambitious system-wide response to support vulnerable children and young people through the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Secretary of State for Education will therefore not appoint an additional role of a Special Envoy for Children.

On 19 April 2020, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that devices will be provided for the most disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for exams (in Year 10), or receive support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Local authorities, trusts and other relevant organisations overseeing schools have been given guidance on how to place online orders for government-funded and allocated devices for eligible children and young people.

Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we will also provide the capability for them to access the internet.

Additionally, the country’s major telecommunication companies will make it easier for families to access selected educational resources by temporarily exempting these sites from data charges.

For those in rural areas or without a connection, schools will be able to draw on support from the BBC which is broadcasting lessons on television; as well as their existing resources and the many resources offers which have been made by publishers across the country.

Ministers at the Department for Education have not discussed nurture groups with their counterparts in the Scottish Government.

I met with Nurture UK in January 2020 to discuss the use of nurture groups in schools and the evidence they have collected.

In 2018, the Department published updated Mental Health & Behaviour in Schools Guidance, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2. The purpose of this guidance is to help schools to identify pupils whose behaviour may be a result of an underlying mental health difficulty, and to understand when and how to put in place support. It includes links to further sources of practice and advice, including Nurture UK. It is for schools to decide whether a nurture group might be of benefit, based on the evidence of impact and the needs of their pupils.

As part of our careers strategy setting out our aim to develop a world-class careers system, the Careers and Enterprise Company is taking forward work in this area.

It has developed the Enterprise Advisers Network, resulting in schools, colleges and businesses working together on a national scale. Over 150 businesses are engaged as cornerstone employers and more than 2,500 business people are working with schools and colleges as Enterprise Advisers to improve careers provision. This has led to at least 2 million young people regularly meeting employers and learning about the world of work.

It is establishing 40 Careers Hubs around the country, which are groups of 20 or more secondary schools and colleges located in the same geographic area, working together, and with partners in the business, public, education and voluntary sectors to ensure careers outcomes are improved for all young people and providing young people aged 11-18 with employer encounters.

In addition, schools must open their doors to providers of technical education and apprenticeships to give all young people a better understanding of the qualifications, courses and subjects available. This is enshrined in law, requiring all maintained schools and academies to publish a policy statement setting out how they will do this.

We also offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. As part of the ASK project, we work with employers to offer Apprenticeship Live broadcasts that schools can stream directly into the classroom. Employers can use these to showcase their apprenticeship programmes and they give students and teachers the opportunity to speak to employers and their apprentices directly. In 2018/19 we delivered over 40 live broadcasts covering a variety of sectors, reaching over 130,000 students and 1,965 teachers.

The Government is taking forward an ambitious programme of action on behaviour, exclusion and alternative provision (AP). This will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, enable schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensure that excluded children continue to receive support and a good education.

Engagement in full-time, high-quality education is a protective factor against children’s risk of involvement in serious violence. Research has shown that excluded children have a higher risk of being both a victim and perpetrator of crime. However, we must be careful not to draw a simple causal link. The surrounding issues and causes of serious violence are complicated. The Department is working with the education and care sectors, the Home Office and other Government Departments to help make our streets safer by supporting children and young people who are at risk of being caught up in serious violence.

The Department recognises that timely access to full-time, high-quality AP plays a critical role in improving outcomes for excluded pupils who may have vulnerabilities that make them at risk of involvement in crime. We will expand AP and improve the quality of the sector so that pupils in AP receive the right support and an education on par with that received by their mainstream peers. Further information on the timeframes for this work will be provided in due course.

The Government is taking forward an ambitious programme of action on behaviour, exclusion and alternative provision (AP). This will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, enable schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensure that excluded children continue to receive support and a good education.

Engagement in full-time, high-quality education is a protective factor against children’s risk of involvement in serious violence. Research has shown that excluded children have a higher risk of being both a victim and perpetrator of crime. However, we must be careful not to draw a simple causal link. The surrounding issues and causes of serious violence are complicated. The Department is working with the education and care sectors, the Home Office and other Government Departments to help make our streets safer by supporting children and young people who are at risk of being caught up in serious violence.

The Department recognises that timely access to full-time, high-quality AP plays a critical role in improving outcomes for excluded pupils who may have vulnerabilities that make them at risk of involvement in crime. We will expand AP and improve the quality of the sector so that pupils in AP receive the right support and an education on par with that received by their mainstream peers. Further information on the timeframes for this work will be provided in due course.

The Government is taking forward an ambitious programme of action on behaviour, exclusion and alternative provision (AP). This will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, enable schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensure that excluded children continue to receive support and a good education.

Engagement in full-time, high-quality education is a protective factor against children’s risk of involvement in serious violence. Research has shown that excluded children have a higher risk of being both a victim and perpetrator of crime. However, we must be careful not to draw a simple causal link. The surrounding issues and causes of serious violence are complicated. The Department is working with the education and care sectors, the Home Office and other Government Departments to help make our streets safer by supporting children and young people who are at risk of being caught up in serious violence.

The Department recognises that timely access to full-time, high-quality AP plays a critical role in improving outcomes for excluded pupils who may have vulnerabilities that make them at risk of involvement in crime. We will expand AP and improve the quality of the sector so that pupils in AP receive the right support and an education on par with that received by their mainstream peers. Further information on the timeframes for this work will be provided in due course.

The Department commissions or co-funds a number of studies with young people. Current live projects include longitudinal studies such as the Millennium Cohort Study and the second Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE2), which collect evidence about the lives and experiences of young people and the transitions they make from education into early adulthood.

Other surveys include the ‘Pupils and their parents or carer: omnibus survey’, which gathers the views from pupils (and their parents or carers) in state-funded secondary schools on a wide range of topics, including subject choice, careers guidance and career aspirations. In addition to commissioned social research, the Department also engages with young people on an ad hoc basis to inform policy development and improve existing services.

Information on the number of children in care since 2010 is published in table H1 of the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2018 to 2019’, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

The drivers of demand are complex. A sector-led ‘Care Crisis Review’ in 2018 found that there are many inter-linked factors contributing to the rise in care proceedings and children entering care. We are funding a What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care whose first research priority is to look at what works in safely reducing the need for children to enter care.

The government is committed to supporting children in care and wants all looked-after children to have a secure, stable and loving family environment to support them through childhood and beyond. In December, we announced an additional £45 million for the adoption support fund to reduce the number of children waiting for a permanent home and to strengthen relationships with their adoptive parents. We are also providing councils with an additional £1 billion for adults and children’s social care in every year of this Parliament. As set out in the manifesto, we are committed to undertaking a review of the care system. This review will allow us to go even further and to ensure that all care placements and settings provide children and young people with the support they need.

Since 2010 we have improved support for children in care, and have invested funding and support in local authorities in a range of areas including:

• £200 million in the Innovation Programme, testing new approaches in children’s social care, including targeted support for looked after children
• established the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care to drive improvement and ensure that innovation and best practice are at the heart of local authority social work
• introduced the Corporate Parenting Principles through the Children and Social Work Act 2017, for the first time setting out how local authorities can be a good ‘corporate parent’
• put in place measures such as the local authority Virtual School Head, giving looked-after children top priority in school admissions and extra funding to meet their needs through the Pupil Premium Plus, worth £2,300 per child
• invested £1 million to pilot high quality mental health assessments for children on entry to local authority care

This is in addition to the commitments we have made to improve the lives of children in residential and foster care, through our strategies published in 2016 and 2018.

Information on the number of children in care since 2010 is published in table H1 of the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2018 to 2019’, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

The drivers of demand are complex. A sector-led ‘Care Crisis Review’ in 2018 found that there are many inter-linked factors contributing to the rise in care proceedings and children entering care. We are funding a What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care whose first research priority is to look at what works in safely reducing the need for children to enter care.

The government is committed to supporting children in care and wants all looked-after children to have a secure, stable and loving family environment to support them through childhood and beyond. In December, we announced an additional £45 million for the adoption support fund to reduce the number of children waiting for a permanent home and to strengthen relationships with their adoptive parents. We are also providing councils with an additional £1 billion for adults and children’s social care in every year of this Parliament. As set out in the manifesto, we are committed to undertaking a review of the care system. This review will allow us to go even further and to ensure that all care placements and settings provide children and young people with the support they need.

Since 2010 we have improved support for children in care, and have invested funding and support in local authorities in a range of areas including:

• £200 million in the Innovation Programme, testing new approaches in children’s social care, including targeted support for looked after children
• established the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care to drive improvement and ensure that innovation and best practice are at the heart of local authority social work
• introduced the Corporate Parenting Principles through the Children and Social Work Act 2017, for the first time setting out how local authorities can be a good ‘corporate parent’
• put in place measures such as the local authority Virtual School Head, giving looked-after children top priority in school admissions and extra funding to meet their needs through the Pupil Premium Plus, worth £2,300 per child
• invested £1 million to pilot high quality mental health assessments for children on entry to local authority care

This is in addition to the commitments we have made to improve the lives of children in residential and foster care, through our strategies published in 2016 and 2018.

Information on the number of children in care since 2010 is published in table H1 of the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2018 to 2019’, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

The drivers of demand are complex. A sector-led ‘Care Crisis Review’ in 2018 found that there are many inter-linked factors contributing to the rise in care proceedings and children entering care. We are funding a What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care whose first research priority is to look at what works in safely reducing the need for children to enter care.

The government is committed to supporting children in care and wants all looked-after children to have a secure, stable and loving family environment to support them through childhood and beyond. In December, we announced an additional £45 million for the adoption support fund to reduce the number of children waiting for a permanent home and to strengthen relationships with their adoptive parents. We are also providing councils with an additional £1 billion for adults and children’s social care in every year of this Parliament. As set out in the manifesto, we are committed to undertaking a review of the care system. This review will allow us to go even further and to ensure that all care placements and settings provide children and young people with the support they need.

Since 2010 we have improved support for children in care, and have invested funding and support in local authorities in a range of areas including:

• £200 million in the Innovation Programme, testing new approaches in children’s social care, including targeted support for looked after children
• established the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care to drive improvement and ensure that innovation and best practice are at the heart of local authority social work
• introduced the Corporate Parenting Principles through the Children and Social Work Act 2017, for the first time setting out how local authorities can be a good ‘corporate parent’
• put in place measures such as the local authority Virtual School Head, giving looked-after children top priority in school admissions and extra funding to meet their needs through the Pupil Premium Plus, worth £2,300 per child
• invested £1 million to pilot high quality mental health assessments for children on entry to local authority care

This is in addition to the commitments we have made to improve the lives of children in residential and foster care, through our strategies published in 2016 and 2018.

The department funds education and training, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) for adults aged 19 and over, through the adult education budget (AEB). With effect from 1 August 2019, approximately half the AEB has been devolved to 6 mayoral combined authorities and delegated to the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority (GLA). These authorities are now responsible for funding adult education provision, including ESOL, for learners who are resident in their areas.

As the London Borough of Hounslow is within the area of the GLA, they are now responsible for commissioning and funding ESOL provision for adults who are resident in their areas, rather than the department.

A core function of the Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) will be to afford policy makers a chance to discuss issues further with those outside of government, as it considers robust and sustainable proposals that will facilitate safer international travel. In its work, the GTT will therefore seek to consult representatives from across the sector.

Further information on the GTT can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/global-travel-taskforce

The aviation sector is crucial to the UK’s economy and businesses across the industry are able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures we have put in place during this time. This includes a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, two business interruption loan guarantee schemes for different sizes of business, Time to Pay flexibilities with tax bills, financial support for employees and VAT deferrals.

In exceptional circumstances, where a viable company has exhausted all options and its failure would disproportionately harm the economy, the Chancellor has made clear that the Government may consider bespoke support on a ‘last resort’ basis.

The Department for Transport is in close contact with the travel sector, ensuring that the Government is kept fully aware of the latest developments with all firms and to understand where additional policy measures may address specific industry issues.

Business rates are managed by HM Treasury in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Local Authorities. The Department for Transport and HM Treasury have been engaging closely with industry, through the Expert Steering Group, to understand their assessment of the outlook for the sector and implications of any sector specific support measures, including business rates.

The Department does not collect data on drivers affected by obstructive sleep apnoea in road accidents specifically.

There were 1,528 reported road accidents involving personal injury where a contributory factor of driver fatigue was reported in Great Britain in 2018.

Detailed final statistics on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2019 will be published on 30 September 2020.The latest annual published statistics are for 2018.

Contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene. Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included.

Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH) would provide extensive benefits to the areas surrounding Heathrow and the South East of England, making getting to the airport quicker, easier and greener for millions of travellers in the boroughs surround the airport, across the south of England as well as creating regeneration opportunities and making Britain a more attractive place to invest and connect UK exporters to new international markets.

While a fast pace on SAtH is important, the scheme is very much in its infancy, and there is as yet much to be developed. It is crucial to the success of the project that time is taken in this early stage to ensure that the initial outcome based specification and commercial model on which the scheme will developed, are appropriate and the right solution to ensure value for money to the fare payer, the scheme proposer and the tax payer.

My Department continues to work closely with the market, including scheme promoters, operators and capital investors, along with the wider private sector and following Ministerial approval and alignment to the HM Treasury Infrastructure Finance Review; my Department intends to provide further guidance to the market regarding the commercial approach for SAtH early in 2021.

We also are continuing to work alongside Network Rail and Heathrow Airport Limited, to integrate with Western Rail Link to Heathrow, while ensuring alignment with other major infrastructure projects, to guarantee the most efficient design and delivery of SAtH.

The government have been developing a recovery plan for aviation, and are aiming for this to be published this autumn.

We have worked closely with the sector alongside Treasury colleagues on the question of Government support. As we have always stated Government stands ready to support companies during this pandemic. Companies can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures, including: schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees. If firms find themselves in trouble because of coronavirus, and have exhausted the measures already available to them, the Government is prepared to enter discussions with individual companies seeking bespoke support as a last resort, having exhausted all other options.??Any intervention would need to represent value for money for taxpayers.

It would be inappropriate to comment on discussions held with individual companies.

The Department for Transport is in regular contact with HM Treasury regarding the challenges facing the aviation sector as a result of COVID-19. The sector is crucial to the UK’s economy and businesses across the industry will be able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures we have put in place during this time.

The Government is working with a range of aviation sector representatives and international partners to drive forward a shared agenda on public health and aviation through regular meetings and correspondence, and remain committed to an open dialogue to actively engage with the sector as we work towards our shared ambition of getting aviation up and running again.

The Government recognises the importance of international standards, and the UK has been working with a range of international partners to drive forward a shared agenda on public health and aviation through regular meetings and correspondence, including through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The UK is a member of the governing Council of ICAO and has played a leading role in the ICAO Civil Aviation Recovery Taskforce (CART), which was set up specifically to address the aviation industry’s recovery from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CART published guidance, including on public health measures for aviation, on 2 June. As a member of the governing Council of ICAO, the UK will continue to drive the agenda on public health measures for aviation as the sector’s recovery progresses and as the global health situation evolves, including exploring options for testing air passengers.

The Government is working round the clock to keep people safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Public Health England has developed specific guidance for flight crews on keeping themselves and their passengers safe, including guidance on safe principles of working and on the use of personal protective equipment.

Officials are continuing to engage with the aviation sector to ensure they are supported in implementing new operational practices. This includes facilitating a weekly phone call with Public Health England to enable the aviation industry to raise operational questions directly wherever necessary.

Officials are in regular contact with Trade Unions and are seeking their input on best practice guidance for safe working during COVID-19. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has also introduced a requirement for aircrafts to be disinfected after every flight, this will further mitigate health risks to staff and passengers.

The Civil Service aims to increase opportunities for people of all backgrounds and create a Civil Service fit for 21st century Britain through work experience, internships and apprenticeship schemes.

For people aged 16 years and over there was the following number of work experience placements offered through the Summer Diversity (SDIP) and Autism Exchange (AEP) Internship Programmes, and the Fast Stream Early Talent Work Experience Social Mobility Programme (FSET).

*FSET is also open to 15 year olds.

After careful consideration of the ongoing public health situation, the temporary suspension of the minimum income floor (MIF) for UC self-employed claimants has been extended to the end of July 2021. Gainful self-employment tests and the MIF, where applicable, will be gradually reintroduced from August, at which time Work Coaches will be given discretion to further suspend the MIF to ensure that those claimants who continue to be severely affected by covid-19 restrictions can be supported on a case-by-case basis.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given for PQ 157063.

Over 150,000 jobs have been approved for the Department of Work and Pensions’ Kickstart scheme. Over 50,000 of these jobs have been made available for young people, including almost 6,000 jobs started.

The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) supports people on eligible benefits who want to move into self-employment.

It is available to:

• people aged 18 and over in receipt of Universal Credit and in eligible regimes;
• over 18s claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA);
• the dependent partners of JSA and ESA claimants; and
• Income Support claimants who are sick or who are lone parents.

The Department for Work and Pension’s continues to actively engage with employers around the Kickstart Scheme. We have established Kickstart District Account Managers to enable local engagement and we continue to work closely with employers and partners at a national level, to gather insight and feedback. In response to such feedback we recently removed the threshold for 30 jobs required for a direct application to the scheme, to allow employers a choice in how they engage with Kickstart. We will be monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout its implementation

This Government is committed to providing support to help young people move into work, as we recover from the Covid pandemic. Our Plan for Jobs continues to address youth unemployment and has been designed to deliver targeted support to those most in need and continues to adapt to a changing labour market.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme is available for young people aged 16-24, on Universal Credit and at risk of long term unemployment. Work Coaches refer eligible young people to Kickstart jobs and support them through the application process.

The DWP Youth Offer is for all 18 to 24 year olds making a claim for Universal Credit and who are in the Intensive Work Search (IWS) group. As part of this, the 13-week Youth Employment Programme, which focuses on referring young people to the most appropriate support. This could include Kickstart placements, but also Sector-based Work Academy Programmes, traineeships, work experience, Mentoring Circles or apprenticeships.

Youth Hubs are co-located and co-delivered with our network of external partners, for those young people who need support with any skills gaps to bring them closer to labour market opportunities. DWP Youth Employability Coaches across the country are flexibly supporting young people with significant complex needs and barriers to help them move into employment.

Data regarding the average number of applications from eligible young people for each Kickstart job is not available.

Since the launch of the Kickstart Scheme we have made changes to the assessment process to enable a quicker turnaround of applications, whilst ensuring that we continue to protect taxpayer’s money through robust and fair procedures. We have over 400 staff deployed to process and approve Kickstart applications.

As of 16^th March 2021, the average actual time between the issuing of a grant agreement and the time the associated application was received by the department was around 21 days.

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.

Information relating to the number of adults seeking to upskill that have been referred by Work Coaches to adult education courses in each of the last 12 months is not centrally collated by DWP.

There has not been a formal DWP assessment of the effect of undertaking adult education courses on employment outcomes for unemployed adults seeking work.

Although some employers and Gateway organisations have suggested that they would like to advertise their Kickstart jobs, this has been resisted to ensure that these funded opportunities are provided to the young people most likely to benefit from them.

Kickstart has been created in response to the Covid19 pandemic, with the key aim of offering jobs to those young people aged between 16 and 24 claiming Universal Credit who are most at risk of long term unemployment. It is a central part of the scheme design that a young person can only access a Kickstart job through a Work Coach referral. Work Coaches will identify young people who meet these criteria and who are most likely to benefit from the support offered by the Kickstart Scheme. The Work Coach will match those young people with suitable Kickstart job opportunities and encourage them to apply.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given for PQ 165550

I refer the honourable member to the answer given for PQ 165550

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.

As of the 12^th March 2021, there have been over 900 unique gateway applications approved and over 1,200 unique employer bids accepted on the Kickstart Scheme. Over 150,000 jobs have now been approved and over 5,000 young people have started their placements.

We are currently unable to break applications down by region. An employer can make multiple applications and, at the application stage, provide their registered address rather than the location of the jobs being applied for.

We are able to provide this information for jobs that are available for young people to apply to. Figures for 25th of February show over 30,000 have been made available for young people to apply to, including the almost 4,000 jobs that had started at that time. Below is a table showing this information split by region.

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.

DWP is leading cross-government collaboration to identify and promote opportunities in sectors with immediate or growing demand for jobs, including for Young People. DWP launched the Job Help website in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which offers job search advice, showcases recruiting sectors and signposts to job vacancies to help people successfully find work. In addition, the package of support put in place by this Government, including the furlough scheme, has protected many jobs during the pandemic, including for young people.

This Government’s Plan for Jobs is delivering a comprehensive package of support for young people, which DWP is providing in collaboration with the Department for Education, schools and other partners. This means that whatever their needs, young people can find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment.

DWP is committed to providing targeted support for young people, including those who are still claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance. This support offer involves basic skills training, traineeships, apprenticeships, work experience and Sector-Based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs).

For young people not accessing benefits, the DWP Youth Offer includes Youth Hubs co-located and co-delivered with our network of external partners to offer a range of skills and work related services to help young people access the labour market. Some Youth Hubs will offer a drop-in service for all young people (subject to location capacity), at which point they will be offered advice and signposting to opportunities.

In addition, DWP Support for Schools is a demand-led programme for young people aged 12-18 at risk of becoming NEET or might face disadvantages when looking for work. It facilitates school-to-work transition, training and further study for young people better suited to vocational qualifications, such as traineeships or apprenticeships, instead of a traditional degree, to help them fulfil their career ambitions.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will be introduced in 2022 and a portion of the Fund will be targeted to people most in need through bespoke employment and skills programmes that are tailored to local need. This will support improved employment outcomes for those who face labour market barriers, including Young People. To help local areas prepare for the launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022, the Government is providing an additional £220m funding through the UK Community Renewal Fund (UKCRF). This Fund aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and innovative new approaches, and will invest in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment.

Ministers and officials from the Department for Work and Pension’s engage across government regularly to promote the Kickstart Scheme to encourage employers and organisations to participate in Kickstart

The Flexible Support Fund may be used for a wide range of activities at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus District Managers and Work Coaches, but must support core Department for Work and Pensions objectives.

Data available for the most recently audited Financial year is provided below.

Flexible Support Fund Expenditure by DWP Region £’000

Source : Hyperion

Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

The data provided in the above table forms part of the expenditure position reported within the DWP Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20.

Flexible Support Fund Expenditure by Category £’000

Source : Hyperion

Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

* Childcare is only reported as a separate category from October 2019. Childcare expenditure between April 19 – September 19 cannot be separately identified and is reported within the Removing Barriers category.

The data provided in the above table forms part of the expenditure position reported within the DWP Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20.

No such estimates have been made.

The number of Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) applications received, and awards, for each month since March 2019 is provided in the table below.

FEP devolved to Scotland on 16 September 2019. From this date FEP is only awarded in England and Wales. Therefore, the figures report on Great Britain up to 16 September 2019, and on England and Wales from that date onwards.

Monthly official statistics for Bereavement Support Payment, including claims received and decisions made between April 2017 and September 2020, are published and can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Programmes procured through the Dynamic Purchasing System are monitored at a Jobcentre district level against the criteria agreed with the partner organisation as part of the procurement process. This information is discussed at district performance review meetings and is not collated nationally.

Department for Work and Pensions’ officials work closely with a range of partners including local authorities, key stakeholders and colleagues in other Government Departments (including the Department for Education, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury) to deliver against our shared goal to support young people into employment.

Since September 2020 the DWP Youth Offer has provided wrap-around support for 18-24-year-old claimants in the Intensive Work search regime of Universal Credit. This is through the 13-week Youth Employment Programme, complemented by joined-up local delivery through Youth Hubs and with additional support offered by specialist Youth Employability Coaches for those young people with complex needs. This tailored intervention allows Work Coaches to adapt their approach to suit each claimant’s needs.

The Youth Offer is providing a guaranteed foundation of support for young people, ensuring they are able to access the right support, education or training to support their work and career ambitions.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Throughout the pandemic, jobcentres have remained open for anyone who needs face-to-face support and cannot be helped in any other way. To help keep customers and staff as safe as possible in the latest phase of the pandemic, jobcentre opening hours have changed to 10am to 2pm. This temporary change means we can continue providing safe, essential services for those who need to come into the Jobcentre and who are unable to interact with us on the phone or digitally. The opening hours of our phone lines remain as they were.

All Jobcentre Plus offices across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet.

Mentoring Circles are one of the ways we are supporting young people through the Plan for Jobs. Mentoring Circles form part of the wider suite of initiatives available to young people, including the DWP Youth Offer and Kickstart.

Mentoring Circles are employer-led virtual sessions where employment experiences are shared with mentees aged 16 – 24 years old. Alongside receiving practical advice on their CVs and job applications, participants are given the opportunity to practice interviews and develop employability skills. The sessions also give young people the opportunity to hear from their peers facing similar barriers.

Sessions are accessed via various digital platforms. Steps can be taken via the Flexible Support Fund to facilitate access to virtual sessions for participants requiring additional support to do so.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ is committed to delivering high quality Kickstart jobs across GB. We have put a rigorous approval process in place to ensure Kickstart jobs support young people to develop basic work skills, build their experience and CV. Ongoing customer insight work and regular contact between Kickstart Scheme participants and their work coaches is being undertaken. We will continue to gather insight and in due course, evaluate our findings.

While our current focus is on supporting people back into work, our longer-term ambition remains to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to progress. Alongside an existing programme of research and tests, the In-Work Progression Commission was launched in March 2020 and will report in the coming months with recommendations on what more the Department, wider Government and employers can do to support individuals to progress in work.

DWP Train and Progress is an internal campaign designed to reinforce the importance of Work Coach engagement to identify and help address claimants’ skills needs as part of the overall support offered to help claimants meet their work and career goals.

The initial phase of this campaign to better align the DWP employment and skills offer was launched on 8 February 2021.

The department employs 20217 Work Coaches and their average workload for IWS (Intensive Work Search) cases is 180. These figures were correct at the date of the last reporting period which was 31 January 2021 for the number of Work Coaches employed and 21 February 2021 for the average caseload. We are currently recruiting an additional 13,500 Work Coaches which we are on track to achieve by the end of the financial year.

As of 4 February 2021, there have been (a) over 100,000 approved job placements and (b) over 2,000 young people starting jobs as a part of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart scheme.

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.

There will be no cap on the number of jobs that can be created by the Department of Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme and we are actively encouraging further applications from employers. The department plans to create as many new jobs for young people as possible.

The Government recognises that young people have been especially vulnerable during the pandemic and are committed to providing support to help them move into work in these difficult times. Our £30bn Plan for Jobs includes specific interventions targeted at young people.

From September 2020 we started the implementation of the DWP Youth Offer for all 18 to 24 year olds making a claim to Universal Credit and who are in the Intensive Work Search Group.

Our 13-week Youth Employment Programme delivers wrap-around support for many of the Plans for Jobs initiatives, and helps young people to take up work-related training or a job, such as Kickstart, which has so far seen over 100,000 successful applications with over 2,000 young people starting work, a traineeship, an apprenticeship and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes. The Youth Employment Programme is live and our dedicated Work Coaches are delivering the programme to young people.

Youth Hubs are co-located and co-delivered with our network of external partners and have been rolling out nationally, with many hubs providing support digitally to young people during the current restrictions.

Youth Employability Coaches are providing flexible support to young people with significant complex needs and barriers to help them move into employment. We are also offering this group of young people six weeks of in-work support when they find a job.

This programme will provide a guaranteed foundation of support for 18 to 24 year olds in the Intensive Worksearch Regime of Universal Credit. This means that whatever their needs, young people can find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment.

We will continue to monitor our policies and processes to ensure young unemployed people are effectively supported during the current economic situation.

The Department of Work and Pensions will publish a list of successful employers in due course, in line with normal government grant policy.

The commercial process commenced on 10th December 2020. We expect contracts to be awarded in Spring 2021, with go live Summer 2021.

Further detail on the scheme will be announced in due course.

The available information is in the table. It shows the total number of Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations requested by people in households where the benefit cap applies, and the reconsideration may not be related to the application of the benefit cap.

Table covers Great Britain only

Mandatory Reconsiderations by month requested

Answers are rounded to the nearest 10

We currently have 10 Older Claimant Champions at DWP regional level who work collaboratively with our 34 District Older Claimant Champions to raise the profile of our older claimants. The champions act as a single point of contact for cascading messages, communications and best practice to colleagues locally and nationally. They raise awareness with Work Coaches, employers and providers of the products available to them for example local groups, online tools and more.

The department employs 20217 Work Coaches and their average workload for IWS (Intensive Work Search) cases is 190. These figures were correct at the date of the last reporting period which was 21/01/2021.

By the end of January 2021, for the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart scheme, there were (a) more than 100,000 approved across the scheme. And again by the end of January (b) more than 2,000 young people had started a Kickstart job since the scheme launched.

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.

The Department for Work and Pensions was pleased to announce that more than 100,000 jobs placements have been approved with 2,000 young people having started in Kickstart jobs, and we are pleased that so many young job seekers are able to benefit from, and participate in, the scheme under current public health restrictions. The DWP is committed to publishing a more detailed breakdown in due course.

As of 04/02/2021 (a) over 550 Employer applications, and (b) over Gateway 1,650 applications have been approved for funding from the Department of Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme.

Data on the precise date applications were approved has not been fully quality assured. As such we have given cumulative figures.

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.

No estimate has been made.

Throughout the pandemic, jobcentres have remained open for anyone who needs face-to-face support and cannot be helped in any other way. To help keep customers and staff as safe as possible in the latest phase of the pandemic, jobcentre opening hours have changed to 10am to 2pm. This temporary change means we can continue providing safe, essential services for those who need to come into the Jobcentre and who are unable to interact with us on the phone or digitally. The opening hours of our phone lines remain as they were.

While face-to-face appointments and all face-to-face activity outside the Jobcentre have been suspended temporarily, Work Coaches continue to provide support and help to find work by phone, as well as through digital channels where available. All Jobcentre Plus offices across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet.

The department is supporting people of all ages back in to work. The Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged over 50, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895m to double the number of Work Coaches in Jobcentre Plus by March 2021; a £150m increase in the Flexible Support Fund which will also boost the capacity of the Rapid Response Service to help those facing redundancy move into other jobs; and £10m for a new online support service that will provide tailored one-to-one job finding support to the recently unemployed.

The Government also aims to triple the number of sector-based work academy programme placements, supporting unemployed claimants of all ages through training and work experience to find a job. We are also investing £238m into Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) to offer new support to those who have been made unemployed for three months.

To support the long term unemployed, in the Spending Review 2020, Government has also announced the Restart programme that will provide intensive and tailored support to over one million people and help them find work.

The Department also has a network of Older Claimant Champions throughout all of the 34 Jobcentre Plus districts. These Jobcentre Plus staff work collaboratively with Work Coaches to raise the profile of over 50s claimants, highlighting the benefits of employing them and sharing best practice.

Further, Government recognises the importance of planning effectively for the future and in encouraging productive workplace conversations. We therefore launched a webpage in 2019 to promote the mid-life MOT, which offers support from the National Careers Service, Public Health England and Money and Pensions Service to those considering a change in career by encouraging them to take stock across the key areas of skills, health and financial planning.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The information to undertake such an assessment is not currently available. The Benefit Cap quarterly statistics scheduled for publication later in the year will set out the volume of capped households for the periods in question. The relevant publication dates can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=benefit+AND+cap&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-work-pensions&order=relevance

The benefit cap grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap when the grace period ends.

Information relating to households not having their benefits capped as a result of the benefit cap grace period is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

No estimate on this has been made.

The Chancellor’s Plan for Jobs announcement in July outlined a comprehensive package of support for young people, which DWP is providing in collaboration with the Department for Education, schools and other partners. This will mean that whatever their needs, young people can find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment.

We are also committed to ensuring that young people, and those supporting them, are aware of the broader offer available. The national Good Place to Start campaign encourages young people to visit our advice and signposting hub, where they can access a range of advice about job search, specific initiatives such as Kickstart, and signposts to expert careers and skills help.

As of 12/01/2021 there have been 9,371 Kickstart job placements made available for Job Centre Plus Work Coaches to refer eligible young people to. The table below shows the total number job placements approved by the scheme as well as the total number of young people starting a job through Kickstart each month since the scheme started. January’s figures should be available at the beginning of next month. These numbers have been affected by the Christmas period and new public health restrictions but continue to grow each month as more applications are received.

Once approved and the grant agreement with the employer or Gateway is signed, a Kickstart job placement becomes available once the employer has provided the job details and confirmed when they want to fill it. It is then advertised via Job Centre Plus for referrals of eligible young people to apply for, ensuring they get a full rounded experience of both applying for and undertaking employment.

We are delighted that young people are able to continue to apply for, start and benefit from Kickstart job placements while public health restrictions remain in place.

The department employs 19457 Work Coaches and their average workload for IWS (Intensive Work Search) cases is 190.19. These figures were correct at the date of the last reporting period which was 31 December 2020 and 10 January 2021.

Youth Hubs are not currently operating a physical face to face service due to national lockdown restrictions, however 15 were open in the months ahead of this. Youth Hub locations are external partner owned premises who have the overall autonomy in the decisions for physical opening and offering of face to face appointments.

Support is currently being provided digitally through Work Coaches linked to existing and planned hubs across the UK, to make sure that young people who are unemployed continue to receive help whilst restrictions are in place.

When fully implemented, hubs will be located in every Jobcentre Plus district across England, Wales and Scotland.

There are no plans to amend the eligibility of the benefit cap grace period. Helping claimants back into work, including through delivery of our Plan for Jobs, remains a primary focus, as returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap.

The Secretary of State has reviewed the adequacy of the benefit cap grace period and has no current plans to alter it. Helping claimants back into work, including through delivery of our Plan for Jobs, remains a primary focus, as returning to employment will significantly increase the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap.

Ministers continue to fulfil the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty and to monitor the current situation as it develops. The published benefit cap statistics are currently available to August 2020. Statistics for the number of households capped in Universal Credit and Housing Benefit in November 2020 will be published on the 30 March 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-cap-statistics.

The data available shows cumulative starts to the programme for the current financial year. Data collection began in June 2020, with staff retrospectively reporting starts from April to June 2020 to provide a full picture of the financial year.

Data up to 6^th December 2020 shows that there have been a total of 44,130 starts to a Sector-based work academy programme (SWAP). The breakdown of these starts by nation and region is displayed in the following tables:

Table 1: SWAP starts by nation

Table 2: SWAP starts by region

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum due to rounding.

We do not hold data on Sector-based work academy programme starts by month, or by sector.

These figures reflect the number of starts by claimants in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support (IS).

Official Statistics for the period August 2011 (scheme launch) to November 2017 were published in July 2018. These show there were 330,090 starts to sector-based work academy training. This data covers legacy benefit claimants only.

Data for claimants using the current Universal Credit Full Service is not available for this time period.

Further statistics can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017

In the latest data for August – October 2020 the estimated number economically inactive aged 16-64 was 8,602,000. Further information on this can be found here.

Source: ONS Labour Force Survey. Estimate is seasonally adjusted. Economically inactive individuals are not employed and have not looked for work in the last four weeks and/or are not available to start work within the next two weeks.

Our Discretionary Housing Payment statistics* give details of the amount of DHP expenditure related to welfare reforms, including the Benefit Cap. We do not specifically hold data on the number of DHP applications from Benefit Cap claimants.

* https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/discretionary-housing-payments-statistics

The department is supporting people of all ages back in to work. The Government’s recently announced Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including older workers, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895 million to double the number of Work Coaches in Jobcentre Plus by March 2021; a £150m increase in the Flexible Support Fund which will also boost the capacity of the Rapid Response Service to help those facing redundancy move into other jobs; £40m for a new online support service will provide tailored one-to-one job finding support to the recently unemployed.

The Government also aims to triple the number of sector-based work academy programme placements, supporting unemployed claimants of all ages through training and work experience to find a job. A further £95 million will expand the Work and Health programme to offer new support to those who have been made unemployed.

To support long term unemployed, in the Spending Review 2020, Government has also announced the Restart programme that will provide intensive and tailored support to over one million people and help them find work.

The Department can identify the number of households who have a grace period and when it is due to end. However, those volumes do not equate to the number of people who will be in scope of the cap when their grace period ends. This is because the grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap.

The Department is not able to provide information on the number of households who will newly be subject to the benefit cap at the end of their grace period because any estimate does not account for changes to personal circumstances which would see some claimants continue to be exempt.

i. The table below shows, for the latest available data as at August 2020, the number of Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in each calendar month of January 2021 to March 2021.

ii. A regional breakdown of the number of Universal Credit households in Great Britain with a grace period due to end in December 2020 is provided in the table below for the latest available data, as at August 2020.

iii. As at August 2020, there are 51,800 couples with dependent children and 18,800 single parents, who have a Universal Credit grace period due to end in December 2020.

The Department can identify the number of households who have a grace period and when it is due to end. However, those volumes do not equate to the number of people who will be in scope of the cap when their grace period ends. This is because the grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap.

The Department is not able to provide information on the number of households who will newly be subject to the benefit cap at the end of their grace period because any estimate does not account for changes to personal circumstances which would see some claimants continue to be exempt.

i. The table below shows, for the latest available data as at August 2020, the number of Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in each calendar month of January 2021 to March 2021.

ii. A regional breakdown of the number of Universal Credit households in Great Britain with a grace period due to end in December 2020 is provided in the table below for the latest available data, as at August 2020.

iii. As at August 2020, there are 51,800 couples with dependent children and 18,800 single parents, who have a Universal Credit grace period due to end in December 2020.

The Department can identify the number of households who have a grace period and when it is due to end. However, those volumes do not equate to the number of people who will be in scope of the cap when their grace period ends. This is because the grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. Many claimants who have the grace period applied will not be in scope of the cap.

The Department is not able to provide information on the number of households who will newly be subject to the benefit cap at the end of their grace period because any estimate does not account for changes to personal circumstances which would see some claimants continue to be exempt.

i. The table below shows, for the latest available data as at August 2020, the number of Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in each calendar month of January 2021 to March 2021.

ii. A regional breakdown of the number of Universal Credit households in Great Britain with a grace period due to end in December 2020 is provided in the table below for the latest available data, as at August 2020.

iii. As at August 2020, there are 51,800 couples with dependent children and 18,800 single parents, who have a Universal Credit grace period due to end in December 2020.

The frequency of interventions that Universal Credit Work Coaches undertake with claimants is determined by the individual circumstances of the claimant, the duration of their claim, and the level of support required at that particular time. Since Covid restrictions began earlier this year, claimants have been supported by Work Coaches applying a more flexible approach, using their knowledge of the customer and the local situation to determine whether support should be provided in person, by phone or through digital channels. Our job centres have remained open so that vulnerable customers needing face to face support have been able to access it.

Over 100 young people started working in Kickstart funded job placements within the first weeks of the scheme opening to participants on the 2nd November. As of 20/11/20 there were nearly 20,000 approved roles which we are currently matching young people to.

Since March 2020 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has carried out a total of 48,165 spot-checks to assess COVID-secure control measures in the workplace.

Note: Figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction (19 November 2020) and are subject to change. HSE is currently undertaking an extensive data cleansing and reconciliation exercise which means that these volumes are estimated. Updated volumes, post the reconciliation exercise, will be available from Wednesday 25 November 2020.

Since March 2020, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has carried out a total of 4508 spot-checks to assess COVID-secure control measures in schools.

To ensure all possible steps are taken to protect schools and continue providing education in the classroom, HSE planned a programme of spot checks and inspections at schools across England, Wales and Scotland.

The spot check and inspection programme enables advice and support to be given to individual schools and helps them manage any risk, keeping staff, pupils and others safe while providing confidence and reassurance to schools, staff, parents and pupils. Schools have been receptive and in the main HSE have found most of them are following the guidance to be COVID-secure. HSE has helped some schools by suggesting improvements, particularly in relation to social distancing, ventilation and frequency of cleaning regimes.

Note: Figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction (25 November 2020) and are subject to change e.g. there can be a delay between the spot check and the information being recorded on the database.

The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers. Universal Credit claimants may benefit from a nine-month grace period where their benefit will not be capped if they have a sustained work record with monthly earnings of at least £604 for the past year. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent gross earnings of around £24,000, or around £28,000 in London.

i. As at August 2020, there were 160,300 Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in December 2020. The grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. This does not necessarily mean that all of these claimants will actually be capped in December when their grace period ends.

ii. As at May 2020, 19,100 new Universal Credit claimants whose claims started since 23 March 2020 inclusive had been affected by the benefit cap.

iii. Information relating to Universal Credit claimants who started a claim in March 2020 and have been exempt from the benefit cap due to the nine-month grace period is not readily available; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. The Department is not required to calculate the level of benefit payment that takes a claimant above the benefit cap threshold while a claimant is in the nine-month grace period because the claimant is exempt from the benefit cap during this time.

There are currently no plans to change the benefit cap grace period. The benefit cap provides fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. Whilst this means that some claimants will have a limit on the total amount of benefits they can receive, there are a range of exemptions for when the cap should not be applied including exemptions for the most vulnerable claimants who are entitled to disability benefits and carer benefits

The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers. Universal Credit claimants may benefit from a nine-month grace period where their benefit will not be capped if they have a sustained work record with monthly earnings of at least £604 for the past year. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent gross earnings of around £24,000, or around £28,000 in London.

i. As at August 2020, there were 160,300 Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in December 2020. The grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. This does not necessarily mean that all of these claimants will actually be capped in December when their grace period ends.

ii. As at May 2020, 19,100 new Universal Credit claimants whose claims started since 23 March 2020 inclusive had been affected by the benefit cap.

iii. Information relating to Universal Credit claimants who started a claim in March 2020 and have been exempt from the benefit cap due to the nine-month grace period is not readily available; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. The Department is not required to calculate the level of benefit payment that takes a claimant above the benefit cap threshold while a claimant is in the nine-month grace period because the claimant is exempt from the benefit cap during this time.

There are currently no plans to change the benefit cap grace period. The benefit cap provides fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. Whilst this means that some claimants will have a limit on the total amount of benefits they can receive, there are a range of exemptions for when the cap should not be applied including exemptions for the most vulnerable claimants who are entitled to disability benefits and carer benefits

The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers. Universal Credit claimants may benefit from a nine-month grace period where their benefit will not be capped if they have a sustained work record with monthly earnings of at least £604 for the past year. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent gross earnings of around £24,000, or around £28,000 in London.

i. As at August 2020, there were 160,300 Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in December 2020. The grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. This does not necessarily mean that all of these claimants will actually be capped in December when their grace period ends.

ii. As at May 2020, 19,100 new Universal Credit claimants whose claims started since 23 March 2020 inclusive had been affected by the benefit cap.

iii. Information relating to Universal Credit claimants who started a claim in March 2020 and have been exempt from the benefit cap due to the nine-month grace period is not readily available; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. The Department is not required to calculate the level of benefit payment that takes a claimant above the benefit cap threshold while a claimant is in the nine-month grace period because the claimant is exempt from the benefit cap during this time.

There are currently no plans to change the benefit cap grace period. The benefit cap provides fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. Whilst this means that some claimants will have a limit on the total amount of benefits they can receive, there are a range of exemptions for when the cap should not be applied including exemptions for the most vulnerable claimants who are entitled to disability benefits and carer benefits

The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving out-of-work benefits and taxpayers. Universal Credit claimants may benefit from a nine-month grace period where their benefit will not be capped if they have a sustained work record with monthly earnings of at least £604 for the past year. Households can still receive benefits up to the equivalent gross earnings of around £24,000, or around £28,000 in London.

i. As at August 2020, there were 160,300 Universal Credit households with a grace period due to end in December 2020. The grace period is applied irrespective of whether or not the household has sufficient benefit income to be in scope for the cap. This ensures that a claimant will benefit from the grace period exemption should any change of circumstances bring them into the scope of the cap during that period. This does not necessarily mean that all of these claimants will actually be capped in December when their grace period ends.

ii. As at May 2020, 19,100 new Universal Credit claimants whose claims started since 23 March 2020 inclusive had been affected by the benefit cap.

iii. Information relating to Universal Credit claimants who started a claim in March 2020 and have been exempt from the benefit cap due to the nine-month grace period is not readily available; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. The Department is not required to calculate the level of benefit payment that takes a claimant above the benefit cap threshold while a claimant is in the nine-month grace period because the claimant is exempt from the benefit cap during this time.

There are currently no plans to change the benefit cap grace period. The benefit cap provides fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. Whilst this means that some claimants will have a limit on the total amount of benefits they can receive, there are a range of exemptions for when the cap should not be applied including exemptions for the most vulnerable claimants who are entitled to disability benefits and carer benefits

The number of full-time equivalent Work Coaches to have left the department in each of the last 12 months is below: -

Total 635.96

The numbers of COVID-19 related Health and Safety Executive (HSE) intervention cases where the outcome is recorded as being an enforcement notice are shown in the table below. A breakdown of notices by type (prohibition / improvement notices) is not available.

To date, there have been no COVID-19 transmission related prosecutions instigated by HSE.

Note - the above quoted numbers were taken from HSE’s live operational database on 5^th November 2020 and are subject to change e.g. as there can be a delay before actions are updated on the database.

This year the Health and Safety Executive has been provided with an additional £19m to help ensure that workplaces are COVID secure. Future funding decisions will be made as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

On 31st October 2020 HSE employed 960 full-time equivalent (FTE) inspectors plus an additional 9 FTE ex-HSE inspectors who have been employed on a temporary basis to work with HSE in delivering spot check inspections to ensure COVID compliance.

DWP’s current plan is to establish 116 youth hubs nationally; 94 in England, 17 in Scotland and 5 in Wales, including at least one youth hub in each Jobcentre Plus District within Great Britain.

Currently there are 15 youth hubs open offering either a face to face or digital offer. The opening schedule for face-to-face youth hubs, delivered with our network of external partners, is subject to COVID-19 restrictions at a national and local level.

Our 2020/2021 Flexible Support Fund(FSF) has been boosted by £150m as a result of Covid-19. Districts will be able to apply for funding from the FSF to support the opening of Youth Hubs.

After careful consideration of the ongoing public health situation and the national working environment, the current easement of the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor in Universal Credit that was due to expire on 12^th November 2020 will be extended to the end of April 2021.

Regulations will be laid and made prior to 12^th November 2020.

After careful consideration of the ongoing public health situation and the national working environment, the current easement of the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor in Universal Credit that was due to expire on 12^th November 2020 will be extended to the end of April 2021.

Regulations will be laid and made prior to 12^th November 2020.

I refer the honourable member to my answer to question 107629, answered on 2 November 2020.

The current number of Work Coaches employed is 15028 which includes 2194 recruited in October 2020. The average caseload for each full-time equivalent Work Coach is 280.25, this includes the light touch cases were some of the customers are already in work. However, the average caseload where the customer is on an intensive work search programme is just over 180.

(1) Covid-19 related concerns reported online

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has received a total of 14817 workplace concerns reported via its online concerns reporting process since March 2020 to 27^th October 2020. The notifier gave their status as ‘employee’ in 5263 cases, and as ‘member of the public’ in 4256 cases.

Table 1 shows the number of covid-19 related workplace concerns raised with HSE since March 20 to 27^th October 2020, identifying the numbers reported by employees and members of the public:

(2) Covid-19 related telephone enquiries

HSE has received a total of 22371 covid-19 related telephone enquiries since March 2020 to 27^th October 2020.

Table 2 shows the number of telephone enquiries by month since March 2020 to 27^th October 2020.

Notes

i. Table 2 figures include other covid-19 related enquires. A breakdown of specific covid-19 concerns by telephone and the breakdown of the source of the call (employee, member of the public or other) is not possible to obtain.

ii. All figures were extracted from HSE’s live database and provide the picture as at 27^th October 2020.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) places duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises (the Responsible Person) to report certain workplace injuries, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (near misses)

The tables below show the number of serious workplace injuries (fatal/non-fatal) which have been reported under RIDDOR since 2015 in the main industry sectors.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continues to use a blended approach combining communications with policy, sector and operational interventions to ensure appropriate measures are in place to protect workers and the public from the risks of Covid-19 in the workplace. This includes continuing spot check work, including on site interventions with employers as well as investigating reported concerns and the most serious reported cases of Covid-19 under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. Advice on Covid-19 related risks is provided by HSE’s Concerns and Advice Team and up to date guidance and information is available on or via HSE’s website. HSE continues to work closely across government, with the devolved administrations, industry sectors and a range of other stakeholders to enable employers to put practical measures in place to control Covid-19 workplace risks. Where necessary, HSE takes appropriate enforcement action to ensure compliance with health and safety law.

HSE does not have a role in establishing or enforcing the NHS Test and Trace service. However, when responding to queries or concerns, HSE signposts to relevant GOV.UK guidance on NHS Test and Trace service in the workplace which provides advice for employers on supporting employees when they are asked to self-isolate.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened a total of 36658 covid-19 related cases arising from social distancing concerns, spot checks, outbreaks and investigations following reports received under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. HSE currently has open 10691 such cases and has closed a total of 25967 since March 2020.

Table 1 shows the numbers of cases opened (which remain open) and closed in each month since March 2020:

Notes:

(i) The figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction (27^th October 2020). Any new cases yet to be added to the system will not be included.

Since March 2020, HSE has recorded a total of 10045 visits to workplaces on Covid-19 security. The visits include spot checks specifically on Covid-19, inspections as part of an investigation into a concern raised about Covid-19 and inspections and investigations into other matters at which Covid-19 is also checked.

Table 1 - Breakdown of visits by month:

Table 2 - Breakdown of visits by country:

Note: The health and safety at work regulator for Northern Ireland is the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) which is not a part of HSE. Figures given are therefore for visits in England, Scotland and Wales.

Table 3 Breakdown of visits by region.

Notes

i. Data is not available by region for Wales and Scotland.

ii. All figures were extracted from HSE’s live database and provide the picture as at 27^th October 2020.

Discussions on the specific recruitment needs of the aviation sector are happening at a local level where airports are situated, and nationally by our National Employer and Partnership Team. As part of our placed based approach we tailor the support required to meet local employer’s needs, and where pre-employment checks have been identified as a potential issue the District teams have proactively taken steps to address this. For example, in West London they build pre-employment security checks into the screening process for airport based opportunities; in Manchester a series of upskilling sessions were delivered to Work Coaches, including an overview of pre-employment requirements for working at the airport.

We have had a number of conversations with employers and their representatives across all sectors for the launch of the Kickstart Scheme. Whilst the responsibility for undertaking security and other pre-employment checks rests with those parties, the Department will fund a ‘start up’ payment of £1500 for each placement approved which would assist with the costs of such checks.

Discussions on the specific recruitment needs of the aviation sector are happening at a local level where airports are situated, and nationally by our National Employer and Partnership Team. As part of our placed based approach we tailor the support required to meet local employer’s needs, and where pre-employment checks have been identified as a potential issue the District teams have proactively taken steps to address this. For example, in West London they build pre-employment security checks into the screening process for airport based opportunities; in Manchester a series of upskilling sessions were delivered to Work Coaches, including an overview of pre-employment requirements for working at the airport.

We have had a number of conversations with employers and their representatives across all sectors for the launch of the Kickstart Scheme. Whilst the responsibility for undertaking security and other pre-employment checks rests with those parties, the Department will fund a ‘start up’ payment of £1500 for each placement approved which would assist with the costs of such checks.

The department is now processing many applications from across Great Britain for Kickstart. This is currently a clerical process, so reliable management information, particularly on geographical areas, is not yet available to publish.

The department is now processing many applications from across Great Britain for Kickstart. This is currently a clerical process, so reliable management information, particularly on geographical areas, is not yet available to publish.

The quality of the Kickstart vacancy and of the employability support will be assessed in the application process, and spot checks will also be held to identify any concerns in quality after a placement has started. Employers and Kickstart gateways commit to provide a quality placement and level of support as a part of their grant agreement with the department, and appropriate action will be taken in response to any breach of this agreement.

All Work Coaches within DWP are trained to help individual customers with their work search activity. As part of the Youth Offer, launched earlier this year we have introduced the role of the Youth Employability Coach to support those young people in receipt of Universal Credit who are furthest away from the labour market and require support to overcome multiple barriers to work.

Our local leaders are using their place based plans to establish the resource required to deliver all elements of the Youth Offer including the 13-week intensive support programme for all young people making a new claim to UC, alongside deployment of experienced Work Coaches into our network of Youth Hubs.

At the end of September 2020 circa 15,000 Full Time Equivalent Work Coaches were employed by the Department. We are on target to recruit 4,500 Work Coaches by end of October.

The size of a Work Coach caseload varies as it is dependent on a number of factors, including the level of customer support required, the needs of the local labour market, the Work Coach working pattern and each claimant’s Labour Market Regime.

The Department continually assesses the service being offered to customers and staff numbers, including the number of Work Coaches, are kept under constant review.

The total number of full-time equivalent Work Coaches employed by the Department is 14,007, broken down as follows:

Central England and Wales – 3,603

North of England – 3,852

Scotland – 1,414

South of England – 5,138

In line with Public Health guidance and with safety measures in place across the Jobcentre network, face-to-face appointments can be booked with claimants who will benefit from this support, including young people. Updated guidance has been issued to Jobcentres and is reviewed regularly.

Our teams are designated as key workers, determined to serve our communities face-to-face, over the phone and online. As we double the number of Work Coaches, we will continue to expand our multi-channel engagement with claimants, including booking appointments across our network to support people face-to-face where they need it.

In line with Public Health guidance and with safety measures in place across the Jobcentre network, face-to-face appointments can be booked with claimants who will benefit from this support, including young people. Updated guidance has been issued to Jobcentres and is reviewed regularly.

Our teams are designated as key workers, determined to serve our communities face-to-face, over the phone and online. As we double the number of Work Coaches, we will continue to expand our multi-channel engagement with claimants, including booking appointments across our network to support people face-to-face where they need it.

I am pleased to confirm that my department is now processing many applications from across the UK, this is currently a clerical process, so reliable management information is not yet available.

The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all Universal Credit claimants to meet their individual circumstances. Jobcentre and Service Centre staff undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service to all claimants, including those with Asperger’s syndrome and autism. They receive on-going learning in their roles and have access to guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals.

Part of our training programme advises Universal Credit Work Coaches to consult with their Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) if the claimant has complex personal circumstances which need to be better understood, including Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) which is complemented with a specific online training product. This has been designed so Universal Credit Work Coaches can refer to it whenever they need to.

Additionally, Universal Credit Work Coaches are equipped with guidance to enable them to provide a high quality service to all claimants including those in need of specific support. Universal Credit guidance includes examples of life events, personal circumstances, health issues and disabilities which could affect the claimant's ability to access and use Universal Credit services.

Currently, new Work Coaches undertake a training programme which in total is 52 working days. This currently consists of 32 days facilitated learning with 20 days’ consolidation interspersed throughout, enabling them to become an effective Work Coach with both the knowledge and skills to support claimants. As will all DWP employees, even after an initial learning intervention line managers and employees continue to discuss and agree ongoing skills development

To strengthen the ongoing development of colleagues we are also currently testing a transformed approach based on research from public and private sector. This will contain 20 days facilitated learning plus 5 days structured, practical consolidation. This is followed up with a suite of products enabling colleagues to learn in a flexible, digital way, better supporting the continuously learning culture.

We are evaluating the impact of this approach and will refine and iterate as we go. Testing will continue over the next 6 weeks, refining where needed, until we are confident we can move to this model for all new Work Coaches.

Tests of the use of video for appointments with Universal Credit Work Coaches started in July and are currently being tested with claimants and Work Coaches in five job centres across the UK. Tests continue to inform understanding of the benefits to claimants and Work Coaches, to identify where barriers may exist for some claimants and to identify any limitations that may need to be overcome. The tests will inform any future evaluation of the use of video as part of the Department’s operating model.

In line with Public Health guidance and with safety measures in place across the Jobcentre network, face-to-face appointments can be booked with claimants who will benefit from this support.

Updated guidance has been issued to Jobcentres and is reviewed regularly.

As we double the number of Work Coaches, we will continue to expand multi-channel engagement with claimants, including booking appointments across our network to support people face-to-face where they need it.

The table shows by month the number of recruitment campaigns launched in that month and the number of hires. The hires link to recruitment campaigns launched in earlier months. In the 12 months from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020 the Department has run 30 work coach recruitment campaigns, these are a mixture of large scale campaigns across regions and much smaller targeted campaigns in specific locations. The number of hires to date from these campaigns is shown by month in the table below.

In line with standard departmental practice in statistics, we do not publish details of numbers less than 5, or where individuals might otherwise be identified in the data, as this would breach our data protection obligations.

All departmental recruitment activity (apart from that to bring in new administrative officers) was suspended as part of our immediate COVID response from March through to June to ensure maximum supply to process benefit claims.