Mentions:
1: Baroness Sherlock (Lab - Life peer) We would also reform jobcentres, with a new focus on tackling the barriers to good employment, devolving - Speech Link
2: Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con - Excepted Hereditary) help to claim” service delivered independently by Citizens Advice and face-to-face support in local jobcentres - Speech Link
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to expand support available through Jobcentres in Southport constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting job fairs, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), and hosting employer Group Information Sessions, Southport Jobcentre is working with Sefton Council, local colleges, care & childcare providers, manufacturing, retail, education, agriculture, and hospitality companies, to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.
Southport Jobcentre has been working closely with employers such as Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s to hosts SWAP’s for Southport residents to have direct access to live vacancies. The Jobcentre has also collaborated with Southport College to hosts job fairs to bring together national and local employers for job opportunities as well as providers to support customers with breaking down barriers to work. Additionally, the Jobcentre looks forward to supporting Southport’s future regeneration and exciting projects which includes the Southport Enterprise Arcade, the Garrick Theatre development and the Marine Lake Events Centre.
Disability Employment Advisers (DEA’s) offer advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work, alongside close working with Merseycare, The Peer Mentoring Service, Life Rooms, and Sefton Council. Southport Jobcentre colleagues also attend local events to highlight the support available, including Access to Work, Disability Confident and the Working Health Pioneer programme.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support job creation schemes in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry and (c) the West Midlands.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP supports people across the country to move into and progress in work and is committed to reducing economic inactivity. We want everyone who can work to be able to find a job, progress, and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live. The Department delivers comprehensive employment support including through face-to-face time with work coaches in our Jobcentres and via more intensive contracted employment programmes.
Our Employment Advisor team are working with employers to generate employment opportunities for all residents across Coventry. By working with local stakeholders such as Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Coventry City Council and WMCA, we are encouraging employers to think more widely in their workforce planning activity through devolution projects such as the Job Rotation Pilot and other local initiatives to help employers grow their businesses whilst recruiting through a more inclusive approach for example through Disability Confident.
Recent recruitment campaigns across the retail sector include B&M and Iceland. Particular focus is ongoing with the logistics sector including Halfords, Menzies, Co-op and Tesco.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support (a) young disabled Londoners and (b) young black Londoners into employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.
The Government therefore has an ambitious programme of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health to start, stay and succeed in work. These include: Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies; the Work and Health Programme; Access to Work grants; Disability Confident; a digital information service for employers; Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres; increasing Work Coach support in Jobcentres; increasing access to Occupational Health; and expanding the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme.
Building on this, we announced significant additional investment during the 2023 fiscal events. Alongside the delivery of our existing initiatives, we are now focused on delivering this package which includes: introducing Employment Advisors into MSK services; a new voluntary employment programme called Universal Support (US) which will provide wraparound support to 100,000 people a year once fully rolled out; WorkWell in approximately 15 pilot areas to provide light touch work and health support; exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to support through our call for evidence launched on 19 April 2024; and establishing an expert group to advise on a voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.
The Department for Work and Pensions Jobcentre youth offer provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including young Black Londoners. Additionally, we are taking targeted action where there is a high ethnic minority employment gap. The DWP Youth Offer provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group. This includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.
Oral Evidence May. 14 2024
Committee: Secondary Legislation Scrutiny CommitteeFound: I noticed that the SSAC questioned whether the jobcentres would have the capacity to cope with the
May. 14 2024
Source Page: Letter dated 09/05/2024 from Viscount Younger of Leckie to Lord Bishop of Lincoln regarding the debate on child poverty: welfare and employment support delivered through the Jobcentre Plus network, employer and partnership teams, Supporting Families Programme, poor transport links, and local bus services. 3p.Found: Local jobcentres have the flexibility to work alongside national or local organisations to help meet
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Jobcentres will be offering face-to-face support for legacy benefit claimants required to transfer to Universal Credit under the Move to Universal Credit programme in (a) Merseyside and (b) Wirral; and which ones will be offering that support.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We currently provide assistance and support through a variety of channels, including face to face in all of our jobcentres across the United Kingdom.
We have a dedicated team in place to support customers in receipt of a Migration Notice to transition to Universal Credit including a dedicated telephone line for queries.
We continue to learn what we need to put in place for customers receiving a Migration Notice to support their transition to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Jobcentres will be offering face-to-face support for legacy benefit claimants required to transfer to Universal Credit; and which ones will be offering that support.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We currently provide assistance and support through a variety of channels, including face to face in all of our jobcentres across the United Kingdom.
We have a dedicated team in place to support customers in receipt of a Migration Notice to transition to Universal Credit including a dedicated telephone line for queries.
We continue to learn what we need to put in place for customers receiving a Migration Notice to support their transition to Universal Credit.
Mentions:
1: Jo Churchill (Con - Bury St Edmunds) Friend knows what a fantastic job his jobcentres do. - Speech Link
2: Sheryll Murray (Con - South East Cornwall) What steps his Department is taking to increase the support available in jobcentres in South East Cornwall - Speech Link
3: Jo Churchill (Con - Bury St Edmunds) Friend will know that her local jobcentres are doing a good job of helping people find and progress in - Speech Link
4: Ronnie Cowan (SNP - Inverclyde) On specific days, jobcentres have been closed due to ongoing industrial action. - Speech Link
5: Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) We do a huge amount with employers both at national level and at local jobcentres. If my hon. - Speech Link
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to close the disability employment gap.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is generally good for health. This is why in the Health and Disability White Paper the Government reaffirmed its commitment to close the disability employment gap and stated its intention to set a new disability employment ambition.
The latest figures, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for October to December 2023, showed that he disability employment gap was 27.9 percentage points. This was a decrease of 1.9 percentage points on the year. However, the ONS have advised caution when interpreting short-term changes due to the recent volatility in the data.
Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government therefore has an ambitious programme of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:
o Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions; and
o The Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health disabilities to support them to access paid jobs in the open labour market;
Building on this, we announced significant additional investment during the 2023 fiscal events. Alongside the delivery of our existing initiatives, we are now focused on delivering this package which includes:
From 2025, we are reforming the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Alongside these changes, a new Chance to Work Guarantee will effectively remove the WCA for most existing claimants who have already been assessed without work-related requirements removing the fear of reassessment and giving this group the confidence to try work.