Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 July 2020 to Question 74610, what progress her Department has made on evaluating the estates capacity needed to respond to the economic consequences of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department continues to review both the new and ongoing demand for its services, alongside the requirements for additional office space, to ensure it can cater for the current increase in demand and accommodate new Work Coaches in line with Covid-19 social distancing measures. Parliament will be updated once firm decisions are made on any new premises.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of safety screens installed at jobcentres; and whether her Department has received any reports of such screens being unfit for purpose.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In order to provide additional protection to both colleagues and the public against droplets potentially containing coronavirus, following BEIS guidance and the completion of risk assessments a mitigation of a physical barrier is required during extended face to face customer interactions. There have been no reports or incidents that would suggest the screen design is not fit for purpose.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with trade unions on the reopening of job centres in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentres have remained open to support our most vulnerable claimants throughout this pandemic, providing a service, in accordance with PHE and Devolved Government guidelines on social distancing, to vulnerable claimants unable to access our services through digital/telephony channels.
We are currently completing a programme of implementing safety measures, including provision of screens and signage, across our Jobcentres allowing us to extend our face to face service. We remain open for those who need us but will continue to minimise the requirement for customers to travel to our Jobcentres, conducting the majority of interactions digitally or by phone.
The department has widely discussed plans to extend our face to face service with Trade Union at National, Regional and local levels
We have been in regular dialogue with the unions on the reopening of Jobcentres nationally over the last few weeks. We held a meeting with DTUS on plans for Scotland on Monday 13th July. This was at short notice in response to TU concerns that this was being pursued without proper consultation.
We then wrote to DTUS on 15th July with further detail on planning for the roll-out in both Scotland and Wales. We continue to meet with DTUS twice weekly so there is a regular opportunity for further discussion where needed.
Please note that the DWP is only responsible for benefits in Great Britain. Social security benefits are a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. Questions about benefits in Northern Ireland should be directed to the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance on the support available under his economic recovery plan for (a) mothers, (b) lone parents, (c) survivors of domestic abuse and (d) refugees.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has listened to charities and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner about the pressures the sector faces and is providing extra funding for charities which support victims and their children. The Home Office launched an awareness campaign in April called #YouAreNotAlone, in order to raise the profile of domestic abuse victims during COVID-19 and signpost victims to the support services available.
£76 million of support announced in May is helping the most vulnerable in society, including domestic abuse victims, through:
The Government is allowing households where there is only one adult – including people who live alone or single parents with children under 18 – to form a “support bubble” with another household.
The Plan for Jobs package also provides support to those who have lost their jobs and DWP will ensure that support from Jobcentres and partners addresses the needs of those who are underrepresented in the labour market, such as BAME groups and lone parents.
Through the furlough scheme, the Government has supported those who have been unable to work for childcare reasons. The Government is continuing to fund free early years entitlements, and the minimum income for Tax-Free Childcare has also been temporarily suspended for those who would have met the requirement were it not for the pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Jobcentre Plus districts (1) have, and (2) do not have, an Armed Forces lead.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department for Work and Pensions secured funding of around £5 million in the Chancellor’s September 2019 Spending Round to bolster the role of its Armed Forces Champions. This additional funding means the Department will be able to fund dedicated, full time champion posts for this important work. It will also help to provide a consistent service supporting veterans, serving personnel and their families across the country. Deployment into these posts has been delayed due to the ongoing response to the Coronavirus pandemic; however, we remain committed to the posts.
We currently have part-time Armed Forces Champions in place in 36 of the 37 Jobcentre Plus Districts. One district is currently without a champion but recruitment is under way to fill that post.
All the Department’s work coaches provide tailored and personalised support to members of the Armed Forces Community, working in partnership with their district Armed Forces Champion where necessary. In those areas where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example, garrison towns, this will form a significant part of the work done in individual Jobcentres.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Armed Forces support posts there are in each Jobcentre Plus district.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department for Work and Pensions secured funding of around £5 million in the Chancellor’s September 2019 Spending Round to bolster the role of its Armed Forces Champions. This additional funding means the Department will be able to fund dedicated, full time champion posts for this important work. It will also help to provide a consistent service supporting veterans, serving personnel and their families across the country. Deployment into these posts has been delayed due to the ongoing response to the Coronavirus pandemic; however, we remain committed to the posts.
We currently have part-time Armed Forces Champions in place in 36 of the 37 Jobcentre Plus Districts. One district is currently without a champion but recruitment is under way to fill that post.
All the Department’s work coaches provide tailored and personalised support to members of the Armed Forces Community, working in partnership with their district Armed Forces Champion where necessary. In those areas where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example, garrison towns, this will form a significant part of the work done in individual Jobcentres.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in the report entitled, The Full Monty Facing up to the challenge of the coronavirus labour market crisis, published by the Resolution Foundation in June 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As the Chancellor has said, protecting against significant job losses is the most urgent challenge the Government faces as it moves into phase two of the economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, the Chancellor announced the Plan for Jobs, a package worth up to £30 billion to support, protect and create jobs, with this focus on jobs being welcomed by the Resolution Foundation. This broad package includes measures such as the Kickstart Scheme to create hundreds of thousands of high quality six-month work placements aimed at young people at the highest risk of long-term unemployment, doubling the number of Work Coaches in Jobcentres, the Job Retention Bonus and the Green Homes Grant. The Government considers views from a wide range of organisations, including the Resolution Foundation, and takes account of these as it develops policy.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
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 promote the Access to Work scheme to clinically extremely vulnerable people who are shielding with (a) arthritis and (b) other conditions.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Disabled people in the clinically extremely vulnerable group who are currently in work can apply to Access to Work for support to overcome barriers they face in the workplace and while working from home, including those resulting from Covid-19.
As part of the Access to Work home working support offer, we have introduced various easements to further support those who are shielding and in the clinically extremely vulnerable group, allowing flexibilities while working from home. We are transporting assistive technology from the workplace to the home environment to support home working and, where this is not possible, Access to Work will work with the disabled person and their employer to consider new adjustments to support adaptations to standard equipment. We have also extended timeframes for receiving claims for payments, and started accepting email claim forms and employer/support signatures via email so customers can shield. Access to Work assessments are being carried out through virtual means to further protect customers.
To promote the scheme and support offered, we have updated GOV.UK to make clear the latest guidance on the Access to Work programme, including advising of the help available to people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This has been promoted through Touchbase, DWP’s stakeholder newsletter which goes to around 8000 stakeholders. The department has also produced several animated explainer videos and social media posts on Access to Work which have been posted across a range of social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.
We continue to promote the latest Access to Work guidance through communications to employers, with stakeholders, jobcentres and providers, as well as through content promoted via our existing benefits and labour market campaigns which make use of both paid and no-cost social media channels.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 capacity of Job Centre Plus to continue to provide services with (a) increased demand and (b) pressures on staff as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Between the 16th March and the end of April, we received over 1.8 million claims for Universal Credit. Overall, that is six times the volume that we would typically experience, and in one week we had a tenfold increase. DWP is standing up to this challenge and payment timeliness for Universal Credit remains high.
We have re-deployed around 10,000 staff to critical frontline services and made important changes to processes.
The Department is continually impacting and assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.
Throughout this period, we have collected insight from DWP colleagues on their experiences. We have also refreshed and developed a wide range of wellbeing resources to support our people and will continue to do so.
The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. We have already committed to increasing the number of Work Coaches and Case Managers and recruitment is already underway.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 open at their usual operating times from 6 July 2020 as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased..
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentres have remained open throughout, providing support to our most vulnerable customers. In line with the easing of restrictions in England, from 1st July, people will be able to make an appointment with their Work Coach if they can’t get the help they want online or over the phone. Work Coaches, as part of the individualised approach, will be calling all claimants to engage with them. We will continue to be align with current guidance from Scotland and Wales.
The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. We have already committed to increasing the number of Work Coaches and Case Managers and recruitment is already underway.