Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Metcalfe Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

I wish the hon. Gentleman a swift recovery from the trip or fall that caused his injury.

It is definitely the case that pensioner poverty is declining. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman’s statistic is manifestly wrong on that: pensioner poverty is down in relation to 2009-10. Of course, there are conversations with the Chancellor, but it is absolutely the case that state pension has increased year on year on year, and we have never paid a higher state pension than we presently do.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support people to upskill and change career paths.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)]

We have introduced Department for Work and Pensions Train and Progress to address our claimants’ skills needs. Working across Government, we have been able to extend the length of time during which universal credit claimants can undertake full-time training, including skills boot camps in England, to up to 16 weeks. I am also pleased about the role that kickstart has played in helping more than 152,000 young people to gain vital new skills and work experience to help them in their future careers.

[Stephen Metcalfe]

Ensuring that people have relevant skills is essential to helping them stay in work throughout their working lives. What opportunities are available to my constituents through jobcentres to access training to ensure they can apply for a wider range of opportunities in south Essex?

[Mims Davies]

I thank my hon. Friend for the chance to highlight our jobcentre teams in Basildon and east Thurrock, who are working closely with partners to provide a wide range of support for local jobseekers, including with South Essex College, which has delivered a sector-based work academy programme—SWAP—for candidates to help them prepare to go into new roles in healthcare, logistics and administrative jobs with Essex Police.