Asked by: Allan Dorans (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria were used to determine where Temporary Job Centres were commissioned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department anticipated, and then saw, an increase in demand for its services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It responded by rapidly expanding the space available, on a temporary basis, predominantly in major conurbations. The focus was on areas with good transport links and in buildings that were accessible for both colleagues and customers.
This enabled the Department to provide a workplace that was safe for claimants and colleagues and ensured we could adhere to the Government guidance in place at the time. To ensure flexibility, premises were acquired on short-term, flexible lease arrangements to ensure we could reduce the size of the estate at the appropriate time.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 132435 on Jobcentres: Closures, whether any Jobcentre staff have been advised of the closure of the temporary centre at which they are employed.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Further to question 132435 answered in the House of Commons on 30 January 2023 and question 127881 answered in the House of Commons on 24 January 2023, the Department has not made any formal announcements to staff regarding decommissioning temporary Jobcentres as part of its ongoing review of the Jobcentre estate.
The review is in progress and the Department will communicate outcomes with Jobcentre staff when a decision has been made on any sites that may impact them. MPs will be contacted should a decision regarding a Jobcentre estate be made that could affect their constituents.
A full list of the temporary Jobcentre sites can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 127881 on Jobcentres: Closures, if he will list the locations and proposed closure dates of the temporary Jobcentres that his Department has already made a decision to close.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Further to question 127881 answered in the House of Commons on 24 January 2023, the Department can confirm that it continues to review its Jobcentre estate with a view to start returning to its pre-pandemic size.
Once the Department is ready to provide more information on proposed closure locations, and dates, it will share the news with staff first and I can assure the House that all MPs will be contacted when a decision has been made on any sites that may impact on their constituents.
A full list of the temporary sites can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish (a) a list of all (i) permanent and (ii) temporary jobcentres and (b) details of when all existing temporary job centres will be closed.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Lists of both established and temporary Jobcentres are published on gov.uk – established Jobcentres, temporary Jobcentres.
At this stage we are we are not able to provide details of when each of the temporary Jobcentres will close.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to protect and increase employment levels in (a) Greater London and (b) the London Borough of Bexley.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to supporting everyone who has been affected by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the labour market. Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £370 billion. This includes key DWP programmes as part of the Plan for Jobs, such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills, and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. We have also launched Way to Work - a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022.
DWP offers significant support to unemployed people across London to access employment opportunities through our network of jobcentres. Our Work Coaches provide support on finding a job, help with retraining or skills advice, CV, job applications and access to the new vacancies, as well as signposting to our Jobhelp website.
We are working closely with GLA and London Councils on their No Wrong Door and Good Work for Londoners ambitions – to provide a joined-up approach to work and skills including Skills Bootcamps and Youth Hubs to connect with young people within the community.
The jobcentre team within the Bexley constituency are responding to the needs of the local labour market and work with employers such as Premier Inn, Morrisons, Tesco, Wetherspoons and many more to help them fulfil their recruitment needs. Local employers are attending jobcentres on a regular basis to conduct recruitment activities and interviews.
Sector based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) enable the team to support local employers and provide jobseekers with the skills and experience needed to get a start in a particular employment sector. Recent examples of SWAPs delivered in the area include, ‘Preparing to Work in the Food Industry’ in collaboration with London South East Colleges and Ferndale Foods, and the ‘Preparing to Work in Construction’ SWAP with O'Halloran and O'Brien Ltd.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the latest reported vacancy figures are for Eastbourne constituency; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
ONS does not produce statistics on vacancies below the national level. However, estimates of ‘online job adverts’ are available at a regional level. These statistics show online job vacancies for South East England are up 24% since the start of the pandemic (February 2020).
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
We have launched 'Way to Work’, a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs in the next five months. We will be bringing employers into jobcentres and matching them up with claimants. This is good news for employers who need to fill vacancies and for our claimants.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Plan For Jobs in supporting people into work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP Plan for Jobs programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. In addition, the Government supported people to remain in work through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Plan for Jobs has:
DWP is monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout and after its implementation and will continue to evaluate the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. Our Kickstart evaluation includes large scale surveys to capture the views and experiences of Kickstart participants and of employers and gateway organisations. The evaluation is considering how experiences and outcomes from the scheme vary and examine how participants’ and employers’ characteristics, local context and local approaches to delivery affect experiences. Qualitative case-studies will provide a detailed understanding of how different aspects of the scheme interact and we will draw on available data and insights. We will publish the findings of the evaluation once complete.
A comprehensive, multi-strand evaluation will be undertaken to provide a robust and timely analysis of Restart delivery and impact. It will be split into four strands: targeted qualitative research during the implementation phase; a longitudinal cohort survey and qualitative research; provider research, including locally-focused case studies and finally an impact assessment including cost-benefit analysis the evaluation will assess overall programme impact and participant outcomes, as well as providing evidence on wider participant experience.
An evaluation of how DWP’s plan for jobs policies worked together is being undertaken. This will include case studies of different areas and their delivery of plan for jobs policies, and a tracking survey of a sample of plan for jobs participants and non-participants. This research will run through 2022 into 2023.
DWP have also recently launched 'Way to Work’, a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs in the next five months. We will be bringing employers into jobcentres and matching them up with claimants. This is good news for employers who need to fill vacancies and for our claimants.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued to Jobcentre staff on the celebration of religious festivals, birthdays, retirements and other occasions during periods of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In respect of the workplace, we ask staff at all times and in all circumstances to comply with covid safety measures in place.
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 recent estimate she has made of the number of people classed as long term unemployed; and how that figure compares to the number before the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Those who are classified as long term unemployed have been out of work and are available for and searching for employment for 12 months or more. The latest data available, from the independent Office for National Statistics, covering Sep-Nov ’21, is summarised in the table below.
| Total (aged 16+) | Rate (aged 16+) |
Latest (Sep-Nov ’21) | 428,000 | 30.9 % |
Change since Covid-19 (Dec-Feb ’20) | +121,000 | +8.4 %pts |
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
We have launched 'Way to Work’, a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs in the next five months. We will be bringing employers into jobcentres and matching them up with claimants. This is good news for employers who need to fill vacancies and for our claimants.
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 estimate he has made of the total number of people currently in paid work, including the self-employed, compared to before the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are different measures of people in work. The official measure, based on the Labour Force Survey, provides the broadest coverage of the self-employed. The latest available data, covering Sep-Nov ’21, is summarised in the table below.
| Total (aged 16+) | Employees | Self-employed | Other * |
Latest (Sep-Nov ’21) | 32.475 million | 28.128 million | 4.213 million | 135,000 |
Change since Covid-19 (Dec-Feb ’20) | -598,000 | +272,000 | -815,000 | -54,000 |
* ‘Other’ includes the categories of ‘unpaid family workers’ and those stating they are employed through ‘Government supported training & employment programmes’.
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
We have launched 'Way to Work’, a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs in the next five months. We will be bringing employers into jobcentres and matching them up with claimants. This is good news for employers who need to fill vacancies and for our claimants.