Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2024 to Question 11564 on Universal Credit: Veterans, for what reason the Department did not seek to capture data on the number of veterans that claimed Universal Credit prior to April 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Once it became clear that an “identifier” on the Universal Credit system would be the best way to help ensure that veterans and other members of the armed forces community received appropriate help and support, we introduced it as soon as operationally feasible, taking account of other high priority changes required for the Universal Credit systems.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to encourage more veterans to establish businesses in the defence, aerospace and cybersecurity sectors.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 20 February 2024 to PQ13224.
The same applies to those looking to start up a business.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans to take steps to encourage more veterans to work in the defence and aerospace industries.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Veterans who need support from the department in finding employment are able to get support from their Work Coach. For those who might need extra specialist support, we have a network of Armed Forces Champions spread throughout the Jobcentre Plus network.
The Armed Forces Champions have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces community, including building staff capability within their districts, personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary. Every Work Coach is trained on how to provide tailored and personalised support to members of the Armed Forces community and their families, working in partnership with their Armed Forces Champions.
Veterans have early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme. Other employment support may be available to veterans depending on their circumstances, including specialist local support provided by the third sector which the department may be able to refer them to. Veterans generally enjoy successful employment outcomes when they leave the services, and the Career Transition Partnership has published annual statistics on those they have supported.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of how many veterans claim Universal Credit.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
Therefore, data on Armed Forces status has only been recorded for a proportion of the UC claimants.
In addition, it should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the (a) quantity and (b) quality of data on veterans in the labour market.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Official data on the labour market is the responsibility of the independent Office for National Statistics, who regularly publish this data here.
The ONS are currently undertaking a project to transform the Labour Force Survey – the primary source of labour market information in the UK, further details are published here.
As part of the LFS transformation the ONS have been reviewing the questions they ask households; as well as taking a new approach to surveying the public that gives them greater flexibility too more quickly change the questions they ask households, to reflect the key needs of the day.
Data on veterans is currently being collected by the ONS on an experimental basis as part of the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS). The TLFS data is under review, and it is expected that the TLFS will become available for wider analysis in the third quarter of 2024.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s work with third sector organisations to deliver employment support to veterans.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP supports people across the country to move into and progress in work through a range of support including face-to-face time with Work Coaches, job-search advice and more intensive employment programmes.
Specifically on veterans, DWP takes its responsibilities under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously. Veterans who need support from the department in finding employment are able to get support from their Work Coach. For those who might need extra specialist support, we have a network of Armed Forces Champions spread throughout the Jobcentre Plus network.
Veterans have early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme. Other employment support may be available to veterans depending on their circumstances, including specialist local support provided by the third sector which the department may be able to refer them to. Veterans generally enjoy successful employment outcomes when they leave the services, and the Career Transition Partnership has published annual statistics on those they have supported.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentre clients have been assisted by an Armed Forces Champion in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since July 2023, 47 members of the local Armed Forces community have been supported in the Selly Oak constituency.
The Armed Forces Champions have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces community, including building staff capability within their districts, personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary.
Every Work Coach is trained on how to provide tailored and personalised support to members of the Armed Forces community and their families, working in partnership with their Armed Forces Champions. In those areas where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example garrison towns, this will form a significant part of the work done in individual Jobcentres.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pension, how many veterans have been identified as Universal Credit claimants since the introduction of the new DWP marker.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.
Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who have served in the Armed Forces in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.
By 12th December 2023, approximately 92,000 UC claimants had been identified as having “served in the past”. This figure includes current UC claimants and people who have claimed in the past.
Notes:
1. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland. The figures provided only relate to Great Britain.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Figures may be subject to retrospective changes as more up-to-date data becomes available or if methodological improvements are made.
4. The figure provided only includes claimants who have been associated with a UC contract for which a statement was generated. It is not consistent with the Official Statistics UC caseload definition.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Veterans' Strategy Action Plan 2022 to 2024, if he will list the 50 Jobcentre Plus offices where Armed Forces Champions have been appointed.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Champions are allocated to Jobcentre Plus Districts, rather than individual Jobcentres.
Our model for Armed Forces Champions comprises 50 Armed Forces Champions working alongside 11 Group Leads at managerial level in 37 Districts. This ensures that there is at least one Armed Forces Champion role allocated to each Jobcentre Plus District supported by a Group network, with resources in the network targeted where there is geographically particularly high levels of demand.
In addition to the Armed Forces Champions roles, all Work Coaches are trained to provide veterans and others with the help and support they need to access both benefits and employment support.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if it is his Department's policy for Job Centre Work Coaches to not supply personal references for their customers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department does not have any policy that would prevent a Work Coach providing a personal reference for a customer.