Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in seeking views from local authorities on the forthcoming Reducing Interparental Conflict programme and the range of interventions to be made available through it, whether local authorities were made aware that reducing couple conflict, rather than improving parenting, would be the primary goal of that programme.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have been working closely with a wide range of local authorities to implement our Reducing Parental Conflict programme. The local authorities who will lead the areas where face-to-face interventions will be delivered have been drawn from participants in our Local Family Offer trial. So these areas have a good understanding of the need to address parental conflict, and have been working for some years to embed support for parental conflict into their services for families.
When compiling the list of interventions we plan to test as part of the Reducing Parental Conflict programme, we carefully considered the evidence of their impact on parental conflict. We recognise that variants of some programmes designed to improve parenting have content which is focused on the quality of the parental relationship. If these are delivered with fidelity they can reduce conflict between parents. We have been clear with local authorities that it is these versions that we plan to offer as part of our Reducing Parental Conflict Programme.
The organisations commissioned to deliver support in local areas under these contracts will be under contract to DWP and performance managed by this department. The local authorities hosting the contracts are fully committed to reducing parental conflict by supporting the delivery of the ten chosen interventions. We will be supporting other local areas to recognise the importance of this and embed interventions to reduce parental conflict into their services too.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the proposed reducing interparental conflict programme, how local authorities will be encouraged to ensure that children in low-income and workless families benefit from any support provided by that programme.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Local authorities, and the partners they work with, are best placed to understand what support the families in their area need. DWP will be working with 30 local authorities to help build our understanding of how to do this well, through providing face-to-face support for disadvantaged (including low income and workless) families experiencing conflict. Local authorities will be responsible for identifying families experiencing damaging parental conflict and referring them to appropriate interventions, making sure that the parents who need help are offered support.
To help local areas do this, we will make training and guidance for frontline practitioners and relationship support professionals available in all local areas in England. We will support managers and commissioners to understand why and how to address parental conflict; support frontline staff to recognise parental conflict; and offer appropriate advice to make sure that they are able to refer parents to appropriate services.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2017 to Question 118243, on Travellers: children, what formal process his Department has in place for local authorities to make requests for the sharing of personal data where the welfare or safeguarding of (a) children and (b) other vulnerable people is concerned.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DWP staff are empowered by DWP policy and relevant legislation to take any reasonable steps necessary to address risk to a child or vulnerable adult. Such risks include (but the list is not exhaustive) injury, ill treatment, neglect, physical or sexual abuse and exploitation.
DWP offices have reciprocal points of contact with local authorities in their area. Where an issue arises that gives cause for concern about a child or a vulnerable adult, a proactive disclosure or response to a request will be made by an appropriate officer, subject to departmental guidance. Information provided will be factual and directly relevant to the issue of concern.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons his Department will not share the contact details of Traveller families with local education authority welfare officers to increase school attendance and ensure proper safeguarding of Traveller children.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Department for Work and Pensions officials are instructed to share personal data with local authorities where the welfare or safeguarding of vulnerable people including children is concerned, in accordance with the law. Officials will carefully consider departmental guidance and their duty of confidentiality to customers when responding to any request.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department operates a ban the box employment policy in respect of ex-offender job applicants with unspent convictions; and how many employees of his Department have unspent convictions.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Ban the box encourages employers to remove the tick box asking about criminal convictions on application forms. The application form template used by Civil Service Resourcing for DWP recruitment does not ask about criminal convictions.
As part of the external recruitment process, successful candidates for DWP vacancies are required to undertake a pre-employment check which includes a Basic Criminal record check via Disclosure Scotland.
The check only highlights convictions which are classed as unspent.
If the check highlights an unspent conviction, a decision is made by the business in consultation with their HR Business Partner (HRBP) on whether to offer the candidate a post. If a post is offered, the pre-employment checks will simply be recorded as having been passed, or if a decision is made not to offer a post, the pre-employment checks will be recorded as being failed. It should be noted that the pre-employment checks can also be failed for a number of other reasons. The reason for the pre-employment check fail is not recorded.
As a result DWP, is unable to provide figures for the number of former prisoners that are currently employed within the department.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants there were in South West Bedfordshire constituency (a) on the latest date for which figures are available and (b) in each year since 2010.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The information available for the number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants, by Parliamentary Constituency, is published and can be found at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users is available at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on increasing the employment rate of ex-offenders.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This Government and my Department recognise that supporting ex-offenders into work is a crucial part of effective rehabilitation. I am in regular contact with the Minister for Prisons, and we will be meeting on this issue next week.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure that benefits paid to benefit appointees are used in the best interests of the benefit recipient.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State confirms that a claimant requires an appointee if we receive unequivocal medical evidence as to the claimant’s capacity to manage their benefit claim or if, as in the vast majority of cases, the visiting officer, through a series of questions relating to the comprehension of claiming and managing a benefit award, will reach a conclusion as to their capacity to act for themselves. This is specifically a benefit-related capacity assessment and not a mental capacity assessment.
Once someone has been appointed, they will remain in that role until (a) they wish to relinquish it (b) they themselves lose capacity (c) the claimant regains capacity or (d) they abuse their position by not acting in the best interests of the claimant and the appointment is revoked. This latter requirement is stressed to the prospective appointee when the appointment is being considered and they are required to sign form BF56 to confirm that they understand their responsibilities. The Department also has a review system in place.
The vast majority of revocations of an appointeeship occur because of information received from a third party alleging financial abuse which is subsequently confirmed on investigation.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department makes of whether an adult should continue to have a benefit appointee.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State confirms that a claimant requires an appointee if we receive unequivocal medical evidence as to the claimant’s capacity to manage their benefit claim or if, as in the vast majority of cases, the visiting officer, through a series of questions relating to the comprehension of claiming and managing a benefit award, will reach a conclusion as to their capacity to act for themselves. This is specifically a benefit-related capacity assessment and not a mental capacity assessment.
Once someone has been appointed, they will remain in that role until (a) they wish to relinquish it (b) they themselves lose capacity (c) the claimant regains capacity or (d) they abuse their position by not acting in the best interests of the claimant and the appointment is revoked. This latter requirement is stressed to the prospective appointee when the appointment is being considered and they are required to sign form BF56 to confirm that they understand their responsibilities. The Department also has a review system in place.
The vast majority of revocations of an appointeeship occur because of information received from a third party alleging financial abuse which is subsequently confirmed on investigation.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department assesses whether benefit appointees should be appointed; what factors are taken into account in such cases by the assessor; and what the requirements relating to the mental capacity of adult benefit recipients are in such cases.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State confirms that a claimant requires an appointee if we receive unequivocal medical evidence as to the claimant’s capacity to manage their benefit claim or if, as in the vast majority of cases, the visiting officer, through a series of questions relating to the comprehension of claiming and managing a benefit award, will reach a conclusion as to their capacity to act for themselves. This is specifically a benefit-related capacity assessment and not a mental capacity assessment.
Once someone has been appointed, they will remain in that role until (a) they wish to relinquish it (b) they themselves lose capacity (c) the claimant regains capacity or (d) they abuse their position by not acting in the best interests of the claimant and the appointment is revoked. This latter requirement is stressed to the prospective appointee when the appointment is being considered and they are required to sign form BF56 to confirm that they understand their responsibilities. The Department also has a review system in place.
The vast majority of revocations of an appointeeship occur because of information received from a third party alleging financial abuse which is subsequently confirmed on investigation.