Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mental health training is provided to work coaches supporting claimants of universal credit; and what assessment has been made of the adequacy of that training.

DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including the most vulnerable in society. We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs.

Work Coaches 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. Specific training and guidance is provided for working with different vulnerable groups and those with complex needs including claimants with mental health conditions.

We are providing all Work Coaches with an additional two day workshop, designed by experts in mental health and psychologists, and delivered where possible alongside external mental health partners. The training began in November 2017 and will be completed by end of March 2019. Next month we will start delivering this training to staff across the entire organisation who are employed in a claimant facing role, whether this is engaging with claimants by telephone, face to face or digitally.

In June and July 2018, activity was undertaken in a number of operational sites where the Mental Health training had been delivered in order to evaluate the learning provided to work coaches and ensure it was delivering the requisite skills and behaviours originally envisaged.

The outputs of that activity were used to refine the training products, where required, and supported decisions on the delivery approach for the training that will commence in April 2019.