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 operating with a full complement of staff 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.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to review the suspension of the requirement to attend Jobcentre appointments during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We made the decision to temporarily suspend the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments for all claimants in Universal Credit, New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), old-style JSA and ESA, and Income Support.
Arrangements after the 30th June will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to provide additional (a) financial and (b) other support for people on legacy benefits during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have introduced a balanced package of support for people who are affected by the effects of Covid 19. This includes over £6.5 billion of extra support through the welfare system as part of the unprecedented series of measures, announced by the Chancellor, to support businesses and their employees to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
For Jobseeker’s Allowance we have ensured that any periods of sickness experienced by a person who, is infected or contaminated with coronavirus, in self-isolation or caring for a child or qualifying young person in their household who is infected, will not count towards the maximum permitted number of sickness periods applicable to a claimant, whilst in receipt of that benefit. This means entitlement can continue if this causes them to exceed the maximum of 13 weeks in a 12-month period.
We have also introduced a range of additional measures to support legacy claimants deal with the impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic. We made the decision to temporarily suspend the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments from 19 March for all claimants on Universal Credit, new styles Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance, and legacy benefits. Claimants will continue to receive benefits as normal and they will not be sanctioned for not taking part in appointments with Jobcentres.
We also removed waiting days for ESA for claimants affected by Covid-19, so it will be payable from day one of the claim, subject to the claimant satisfying the normal conditions of entitlement.
We have increased the Local Housing Allowance rates for private renters claiming Housing Benefit to the 30th percentile of local rents. As a result, Housing Benefit claimants will gain on average an additional £600 this year in increased housing support. In addition, we have increased the additional earnings disregard in Housing Benefit from £17.10 to £37.10 per week to ensure that the increase of approximately £20 a week we have introduced to the basic element of Working Tax Credit is not clawed back.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
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 implement social distancing in Jobcentre Plus branches.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is committed to paying people benefits and supporting our citizens at this time.
All face to face appointments have been suspended so that jobcentres are closed to the public except for in exceptional circumstances to minimise risk to the public and staff.
Where colleagues can effectively contribute to the department’s response working from home then they are doing so. Not all colleagues can work from home because they need to access equipment, programmes and support to enable them to do their telephony and processing work.
Measures are in place to ensure compliance with social distancing, including extensive communications, both through posters displayed in the office and on the department’s Intranet advising colleagues about how to work differently to ensure social distancing can be achieved.
We have also put in place a route for staff to escalate concerns to our regional Health & Safety teams. Cleaning regimes have been enhanced to include additional targeted touchpoint cleaning.
We will continue to follow Government guidance on social distancing and reflect best practice as the current situation evolves
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, what additional resources she plans to allocate to job centres to ensure that those centres can support people affected by covid-19.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our priority as a Department is ensuring people get their benefit payments and that we can continue to support those who need us the most. We have mobilised our robust business continuity plans to ensure we can do just that. We are already redeploying 10,000 staff from other parts of DWP and are also recruiting additional staff to assist with the processing of claims, including support from other government departments and the private sector.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what alternative arrangements will be made available for benefit claimants who are unable to attend face to face meetings.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are doing all we can to keep our Jobcentres and service centres operational, but as of 24th March, Jobcentres are only offering face-to-face appointments – conducted in accordance with PHE guidelines on social distancing - for the small number of claimants who would otherwise not be able to receive support. This helps us to continue to deliver our critical services whilst keeping our customers and staff safe.
From 17th March, we suspended all face-to-face assessments for health and disability benefits. For existing claimants, we have automatically extended awards and suspended any new review or reassessment activity, except where claimants notify us of changes to their needs that may result in an increase to their award. This temporary measure is being taken to ensure the Department’s resources are focused on providing access to financial support for new claimants, and it will also reassure claimants about continuity of their benefit during the coronavirus outbreak.
We have also taken the decision to temporarily suspend the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments for all claimants in Universal Credit, Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support. This means that claimants are not expected to contact their Jobcentre Plus while this temporary suspension is in place. They will continue to receive benefits as normal and they will not be sanctioned for not taking part in interviews with Jobcentres.
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, what contingency plans her Department has made in the event of a covid-19 outbreak in job centres; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has contingency plans in place that prioritise activities to protect payments to claimants and access to new claims when capacity is compromised.