Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consultation her Department is undertaking with (a) unions, (b) job centres and (c) staff on re-introducing the universal credit conditionality regime on 1 July 2020.

The department has widely discussed the reintroduction of conditionality requirements with trade unions, and Jobcentre staff, including Work Coaches.

We are managing this in a phased approach to ensure we have the capacity to deliver an effective service for our customers. During the pandemic we have remained open for our most vulnerable customers, and from 1st July, our Jobcentres are further opening up, with appropriate safety measures in place for covid-19, to enable them to safely see more and more claimants. Work Coaches will be working with claimants to start to help them in their work search and creating and agreeing their Claimant Commitment.

Claimant Commitments must be reasonable for the ‘new normal’, acknowledging the reality of a person’s local jobs market and personal circumstances to prepare them for getting back into work.