Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of additional full-time equivalent (i) staff and (ii) work coaches her Department would require to re-introduce the conditionality regime for universal credit on 1 July 20230 and(b) the average claimant caseload her Department allocates to each full time work coach.

The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of Covid-19 on the labour market and our support for jobseekers during this difficult time.

We don’t currently have figures on average customer caseload for Work Coaches as the COVID-19 pandemic meant many of DWP staff were redeployed to ensure customers receive their payments on time and in full.

We have already committed to increasing the number of Work Coaches and Case Managers, and recruitment is already underway.