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, how many work coaches were employed in Jobcentres as of 1 June (a) 2023, (b) 2022, (c) 2021, (d) 2020, (e) 2019 and (f) 2018.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Role | Full Time Equivalent of staff | |||||
| June-23 | June-22 | June-21 | June-20 | June-19 | June-18 |
Work Coaches | 14,150 | 17,280 | 23,040 | 11,030 | 12,280 | 13,690 |
Source: DWP’s internal Activity Based Model (ABM)
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Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what qualifications are required for the role of work coach within job centres.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Work Coaches are not required to hold any specific qualifications to undertake their role. They undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality, efficient service to all claimants. Work Coaches receive on-going learning in their roles and access to guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches there are in Job Centres in the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of 1st April 2023 there are:
12,171 – Universal Credit Work Coaches
1,868 – Legacy Benefit Work Coaches
805 – Disability Employment Advisor (DEA)
Total Work Coach, including DEA, is 14,844
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches in job centres have specialist disability training.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All new DWP Work Coaches undergo comprehensive learning to support customers with additional or complex needs, particularly disabilities and they continue to build on this in the workplace through accessing point of need learning products.
The learning provides the work coach with an understanding of assisted digital, and how they can effectively coach claimants who find using digital services a challenge.
Work coaches are also signposted to tools, guidance support and websites to effectively use resources from both internal and external sites. This ensures that they access the most up to date advice and expertise on a particular health condition.
In addition, within DWP, there are staff who undertake the Disability Employment Advisor (DEA) role. Staff who undertake this role are expected to have completed the Work Coach Learning Journey prior to commencing specific learning for the DEA role.
DEAs support Work Coaches by providing expert knowledge on how to support disabled customers, building the skills and capability of Work Coaches, and influencing employer engagement in local communities. DEA’s can also directly support customers with a health condition or disability where additional support can benefit the customer.
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, what steps his Department has taken to increase take-up of broadband social tariffs among recipients of income-related benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has ensured all operational staff in Jobcentres, Universal Credit service centres, Pension Centres, and partnership managers who engage with claimants and stakeholders are able to signpost to the Ofcom webpage which promotes broadband social tariffs.
DWP have updated guidance, delivered teach-in’s to Work Coaches and published internal communications highlighting the importance of identifying claimants who are digitally excluded and signposting to the support available, including broadband social tariffs.
We have also developed an Application Programme Interface (API) which allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to verify for free, with the customers’ permission, if they are in receipt of an eligible benefit for the broadband social tariff.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, when his Department plans to appoint the network of progression champions for the in-work progression offer; and how those people will be selected.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The White Paper referred to a network of staff who are now known as District Progression Leads. All 37 District Progression Leads have been appointed and are already working with partners to identify opportunities and overcome barriers to in work progression.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, whether his Department is taking steps to consult with disabled people on the development of the jobcentre design guide.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department is committed to improving access and inclusion for colleagues and members of the public through the on-going development of its Jobcentre design guides. The design guides provide the standards for future properties and major refurbishments of existing sites. In 2021/22, the department commissioned the Civil Service Policy Lab to explore best practice in Jobcentre design for disabled people and those with health conditions.
Policy Lab were set up in 2014 to support the Civil Service with specialist expertise to help understand the present, imagine the future, and design ways to achieve the intended policy impact.
The aim of the project was to work with experts, staff, and disabled people, to develop recommendations for inclusive design to inform future guidance for Jobcentres.
Research included working closely with participants, to better understand their personal ‘lived experiences’. This included in-depth interviews to understand their individual health condition and relationship with the local Jobcentre. The research included an immersive, sensory mapping approach, where the researchers’ joined participants on their journeys to the Jobcentre and around the buildings.
Supporting this work, the department also commission a specialist access and inclusion consultant, with property expertise, to oversee changes to guidance. The scope includes improving environments for more people by considering the latest guidance on neurodiversity.
Findings and insights from the research are informing the department’s new design guide for Jobcentres. This guidance is currently under development with the in-house design team. Trials will follow on several sites, which will include detailed customer evaluation of all the agreed deliverables. Stakeholder groups will also be involved in finalising this inclusive design guidance.
This work forms part of a wider programme of work the department is undertaking to look at, and continue to improve, employment support for disabled people.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential for Work Coaches or other Jobcentre Plus staff to support employers to job carve, to create roles suitable for single parents seeking to balance work with parenting responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is for employers to consider the specifics of job design. This government however recognises the importance of flexible work for parents and is supporting the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill throughout its journey in Parliament.
Childcare is also important for working parents. We have just announced a generous new offer for parents needing childcare to work, to be rolled out starting this year. We are increasing the Universal Credit childcare cap to £951 for one child (up from £646) and £1,630 for two children (up from £1,108). We will also be paying parents on Universal Credit childcare support up-front when they are moving into work or increasing their hours, rather than in arrears, removing a key barrier for low-income families.
In addition, from April 2024 we will be increasing the free childcare available to working parents in England in a staged rollout, so that by September 2025 all working parents of children aged 9 months up to 3 years old will be able to access 30 hours free childcare per week.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to introduce specialist Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches with expertise on supporting single parents.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Our Jobcentre teams are committed to delivering a quality service to ensure all claimants, including single parents, receive the best possible support that takes account of their individual circumstances. There are no current plans to introduce specialist Work Coaches for single parents.
Work Coaches undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality, efficient service to all claimants. They receive on-going learning in their roles and have access to guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals. We are however continuously reviewing the service claimants receive to ensure that it is responsive to their needs. In relation to a core need of parents seeking to work or work more, we have established networks of childcare champions and childcare subject matter experts who are upskilling our teams to be able to promote the Universal Credit childcare offer and explain how it fits with other relevant help with childcare.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how job centre work coaches are trained to understand the circumstances of working parents and disabled people when setting in-work progression requirements; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All new entrant work coaches undergo a work coach learning journey which includes learning products on health and supporting claimants with disabilities which equips work coaches with tools, knowledge, skills, and behaviours to enable them to support individuals moving closer to the working environment. This includes childcare modules to support working lone parents.
From October 2022 in work progression (IWP) work coaches have received tailored learning to support people with individual circumstances, including lone parents in-work and disabled people.