Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of claimants for universal credit who have been affected by digital exclusion including the closure of libraries, day centres and other public sources of digital support during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Universal Credit is designed to be a ‘digital-first’ service, ensuring we make best use of technology to deliver a modern and effective working-age welfare system, allowing our staff to concentrate on those people who require additional support.
Although the Department offers comprehensive support for claimants to use our digital service, there will be occasions when people are unable to make their claim online, so telephone applications can be accepted. In these instances, information normally available through a claimant’s online account will be communicated in an alternative format, which is best suited to an individual’s circumstances. Throughout the pandemic, Jobcentre Plus offices have remained open to support the most vulnerable claimants.
Help to Claim, delivered through Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, was already a multi-channel offer prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, capable of supporting people through the entire Universal Credit claim process by telephone and web chat, up to receiving their first full correct payment on time.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support she is providing to unemployed people without access to a computer or the internet to help them find work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic, jobcentres have remained open for anyone who needs face-to-face support and cannot be helped in any other way. To help keep customers and staff as safe as possible in the latest phase of the pandemic, jobcentre opening hours have changed to 10am to 2pm. This temporary change means we can continue providing safe, essential services for those who need to come into the Jobcentre and who are unable to interact with us on the phone or digitally. The opening hours of our phone lines remain as they were.
While face-to-face appointments and all face-to-face activity outside the Jobcentre have been suspended temporarily, Work Coaches continue to provide support and help to find work by phone, as well as through digital channels where available. All Jobcentre Plus offices across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to people aged over 50 to help them get back into work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is supporting people of all ages back in to work. The Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged over 50, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895m to double the number of Work Coaches in Jobcentre Plus by March 2021; a £150m increase in the Flexible Support Fund which will also boost the capacity of the Rapid Response Service to help those facing redundancy move into other jobs; and £10m for a new online support service that will provide tailored one-to-one job finding support to the recently unemployed.
The Government also aims to triple the number of sector-based work academy programme placements, supporting unemployed claimants of all ages through training and work experience to find a job. We are also investing £238m into Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) to offer new support to those who have been made unemployed for three months.
To support the long term unemployed, in the Spending Review 2020, Government has also announced the Restart programme that will provide intensive and tailored support to over one million people and help them find work.
The Department also has a network of Older Claimant Champions throughout all of the 34 Jobcentre Plus districts. These Jobcentre Plus staff work collaboratively with Work Coaches to raise the profile of over 50s claimants, highlighting the benefits of employing them and sharing best practice.
Further, Government recognises the importance of planning effectively for the future and in encouraging productive workplace conversations. We therefore launched a webpage in 2019 to promote the mid-life MOT, which offers support from the National Careers Service, Public Health England and Money and Pensions Service to those considering a change in career by encouraging them to take stock across the key areas of skills, health and financial planning.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide up to date training for Job Centre staff on the skills that employers are currently seeking.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The department is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants.
Our Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality service. Learning provision supports jobcentre staff in coaching claimants to develop their abilities, knowledge and confidence, to promote themselves when applying for vacancies.
Learning provided enables Jobcentre staff to demonstrate the key role of social media and digital vacancy filling. They learn about the latest digital job search methods which employers use to advertise vacancies, for example; Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. This enables work coaches to confidently demonstrate all use of social media to claimants and promote internet job search sites. Jobcentre staff are provided with the skills to coach on creating Curriculum Vitae, uploading and sharing these to increase claimants’ on-line presence.
Learning provides Jobcentre staff with the knowledge to explore their districts’ labour Market, providing claimants and employers with more choice and expertise when filling vacancies.
Jobcentre staff are taught how to use the District Provision Tool, as the main vehicle to source provision and support claimants, enabling them to obtain and retain a job and progress within their employment.
The District Provision Tool is a directory of the provision and support delivered by Jobcentre Plus, Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Skills Development Scotland, Careers Wales other providers, local authorities, independent, volunteer and charity organisations.
It hosts all the available provision and support in a district and nationally. The tool aids customer facing staff to explore the full flexible menu of support and maximise provision in developing claimant’s skills to enable them to obtain and retain a job and progress within their employment.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by the Food Foundation, published on 12 October, which found that 900,000 more children have been registered for free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The provision of free school meals, to children from out-of-work families or those on low incomes, is of the utmost importance to this government. The overall number and proportion of students who qualify for free school meals is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication and its underlying data files. The most recent publication shows that there are around 1.4 million children eligible for and claiming a free nutritious school meal, saving families more than £400 per year. The 2020 publication is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2020.
Take-up may currently be higher due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the economic circumstances. Additionally, we have provided a temporary extension to free school meal eligibility to include some children of groups who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Guidance on the NRPF extension is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.
We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this we provide an Eligibility Checking System, to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities, and we have developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals. We also provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.
We are grateful for the hard work that school staff undertake throughout the school year to deliver this provision locally for the families that are eligible for free school meals. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we are especially appreciative of the actions schools have taken to continue free school meal provision in challenging circumstances.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase uptake of free school meals.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The provision of free school meals, to children from out-of-work families or those on low incomes, is of the utmost importance to this government. There are currently 1.4 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free, nutritious school meal, saving families more than £400 per year.
We do not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a free school meal but do not make a claim. Our last estimate is that take-up is around 89% of those who are entitled. Take-up may currently be higher as during the COVID-19 outbreak we are temporarily extending free school meal eligibility to include some children of groups who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Guidance on the NRPF extension is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.
Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.
We are grateful for the hard work that school staff undertake throughout the school year to deliver this provision locally for the families that are eligible for free meals. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we are especially appreciative of the actions schools have taken to continue free school meal provision in challenging circumstances.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children eligible for free school meals are not registered for the scheme in the UK.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The provision of free school meals, to children from out-of-work families or those on low incomes, is of the utmost importance to this government. There are currently 1.4 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free, nutritious school meal, saving families more than £400 per year.
We do not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a free school meal but do not make a claim. Our last estimate is that take-up is around 89% of those who are entitled. Take-up may currently be higher as during the COVID-19 outbreak we are temporarily extending free school meal eligibility to include some children of groups who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Guidance on the NRPF extension is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.
Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.
We are grateful for the hard work that school staff undertake throughout the school year to deliver this provision locally for the families that are eligible for free meals. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we are especially appreciative of the actions schools have taken to continue free school meal provision in challenging circumstances.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children registered for free school meals did not take up their entitlement in 2019-20.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The provision of free school meals, to children from out-of-work families or those on low incomes, is of the utmost importance to this government. There are currently 1.4 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free, nutritious school meal, saving families more than £400 per year.
We do not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a free school meal but do not make a claim. Our last estimate is that take-up is around 89% of those who are entitled. Take-up may currently be higher as during the COVID-19 outbreak we are temporarily extending free school meal eligibility to include some children of groups who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Guidance on the NRPF extension is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.
Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.
We are grateful for the hard work that school staff undertake throughout the school year to deliver this provision locally for the families that are eligible for free meals. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we are especially appreciative of the actions schools have taken to continue free school meal provision in challenging circumstances.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on introducing automatic enrolment with an opt-out for pupils eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The provision of free school meals, to children from out-of-work families or those on low incomes, is of the utmost importance to this government. There are currently 1.4 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free, nutritious school meal, saving families more than £400 per year.
We do not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a free school meal but do not make a claim. Our last estimate is that take-up is around 89% of those who are entitled. Take-up may currently be higher as during the COVID-19 outbreak we are temporarily extending free school meal eligibility to include some children of groups who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Guidance on the NRPF extension is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.
Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.
We are grateful for the hard work that school staff undertake throughout the school year to deliver this provision locally for the families that are eligible for free meals. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we are especially appreciative of the actions schools have taken to continue free school meal provision in challenging circumstances.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish any Health and Safety Impact Assessments her Department used when taking the decision to ask staff to travel into Jobcentre Plus offices which are located in Welsh County Boroughs in local lockdown.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since the start of Covid-19 as key workers, DWP employees have played a crucial role in the national effort, in line with government guidelines.
In accordance with Government social distancing guidance we have provided digital kit to our staff to enable more flexible working – in particular working from home. This has enabled us to ensure that Jobcentres are Covid secure for those customers who are best supported face to face, whilst still providing services over the phone and online.
As we double the number of Work Coaches, we will continue to expand our multi-channel engagement with claimants, including booking appointments across our network to support people face-to-face where they need it.