Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place to safeguard the interests of vulnerable people receiving a service from Jobcentre Plus.

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.

Specific training and guidance is provided for all staff on working with different vulnerable groups. This includes developing the skills they need to support and communicate with a diverse range of customers, and specific training is provided for working with different vulnerable groups.

We provide a tailored service that recognises those with complex needs at any point throughout their journey. Work Coaches will tailor conditionality, setting requirements based on what is reasonable for the individual’s circumstances. A claimant’s work search and availability requirements can be switched off for an agreed period of time, and other work-related requirements may be lifted too, where appropriate. This includes where the claimant has suffered domestic violence and abuse, or periods where a child in their care is suffering distress due to experiencing or witnessing violence or abuse.

To assist identification and claimant support, each Jobcentre Plus site has a complex needs toolkit in place. These are maintained and reviewed locally and contain a named single point of contact for areas such as Homelessness, Care leavers and Prison leavers.

Jobcentre staff also have access to information on services and support available in their local area for vulnerable claimants and will signpost claimants to national and local organisations who provide specialist support.