Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mental health training has been put in place for work coaches in job centres.

There are three mental health training products available for Work Coaches in job centres.

Since August 2018 mental health training has been included in the fundamental learning journey which is available to all new staff or those new to the role. This product is designed to improve learners’ understanding of mental ill health and states where to find further information regarding mental health for themselves and the customer.

During their initial technical learning, Work Coaches complete training in two sessions as part of their complex needs learning. In the first session Work Coaches cover a range of complex needs and the routes to take to support customers and themselves. They discuss what signs may alert them to a customer struggling with their mental health and how they can support them. In the second session Work Coaches consolidate what they learned in the first session by considering an example, recapping on the support they would offer to customers who have mental health issues.

There is further mental health training that has been specifically designed for Work Coaches which ideally takes place at around week 26 of their learning journey. In this learning, the Work Coaches explore their impact on customers, the steps needed to build relationships and learn how to respond appropriately to unexpected customer behaviour. This learning includes the opportunity for the Work Coach to practice the skills they have learned during the training.

The rollout of this specific Work Coach mental health learning began in November 2017 and was completed for existing work coaches in March 2018. In 2020, DWP paused this specific mental health training to divert resources to learning related to covid-19 impacts. Our ambition is to re start this training in 2021/22.