Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 24 June 2015 (HL542), when the guidance referred to in that Answer was published and what steps have been taken to ensure all members of Jobcentre Plus staff are aware of it.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is to develop its staff in the skills and knowledge required to support a range of claimants sensitively and to respect their individual needs.
The Department for Work and Pensions published the Human Trafficking guidance on 15th January 2016. The latest amendment to the guidance was made on 8th November 2016. The instructions were published on the Customer Service A-Z homepage and communicated as part of monthly intranet updates. These instructions are available to any member of staff who is told, or suspects, that the customer they are dealing with is a victim of human trafficking.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 24 June 2015 (HL542), how many individual members of Jobcentre Plus staff have undergone training on human trafficking.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is to develop its staff in the skills and knowledge required to support a range of claimants sensitively and to respect their individual needs. The DWP aim is to identify and direct victims of human trafficking at the earliest opportunity to agencies able to support them.
The training for DWP staff is contained within an overarching “Vulnerability” session. The number of Jobcentre Plus staff who have undergone the training since publication in January 2016 is 10,156.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of people being killed by buildings collapsing as a result of subterranean excavations carried out in order to increase accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Altmann
In the last 10 years, no people have been killed by buildings collapsing during subterranean excavation work to increase accommodation. Subterranean excavation to increase accommodation involves significant health and safety risks, including the potential for the collapse of both excavated ground and buildings. There have been two deaths caused by collapsing excavated ground during construction of subterranean accommodation. The Health and Safety Executive’s construction programme has initiatives aimed at improving standards in this type of construction work, including targeted inspection and enforcement campaigns.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what training on human trafficking has been provided to Jobcentre Plus staff.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is to develop its staff in the skills and knowledge required to support a range of claimants sensitively and to respect their individual needs.
The department is currently developing guidance and training for DWP staff around human trafficking. This will be available for any member of staff who is told or suspects that the customer they are dealing with is a victim of human trafficking.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many victims of trafficking with positive conclusive grounds decisions under the National Referral Mechanism have had applications for (1) Jobseeker's Allowance, and (2) Housing Benefit, refused since 1 January 2014.
Answered by Lord Freud
This information is not collected by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).