Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received about instances of people being sent from Jobcentre Plus to apply to the local welfare scheme instead of being offered a short-term advance of benefits; and if he will make a statement.

We spoke at length to a number of local authorities last autumn when conducting a review of local welfare schemes.

The findings were published, including examples of best practice, on 5^th November 2014. A copy of the report was sent to all the local authorities that received funding and a copy placed in the House library. It can also be found on the Gov.uk website here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/370775/2-local-welfare-provision-review-nov-2014.pdf

None of those local authorities we spoke to raised concerns about people being incorrectly referred to local welfare provision support rather than being considered for a Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA). There were some suggestions that this may have happened on occasion when STBAs were first introduced in April 2013, so the department issued revised guidance and instructions to staff at the time. The relevant DWP guidance was also shared with local authorities.