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, how many benefit claims were subject to sanctions by constituency in the last three months for which data is available; and how much was the (a) total and (b) average sum of benefit income lost by claimants due to sanctions by constituency in that period.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The latest monthly statistics, taken from Stat-Xplore, on the number of Universal Credit full service claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction, by Westminster parliamentary constituency, for September to November 2022, are provided in the attached spreadsheet.
The additional information requested for (a) and (b) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Sanctions are only ever applied when a claimant fails to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without good reason.
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, how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (a) total and (b) average sum of deductions in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with a payment due in November 2022 by Parliamentary Constituency in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet.
Data for November 2022 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics.
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 steps they have taken in their Department to operate the Disability Confident employer scheme for those seeking a lateral transfer; and how many and what proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under that scheme where (a) interviewed and (b) laterally transferred in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is a Disability Confident Leader and all our campaigns advertised on Civil Service Jobs, externally or across the Civil Service, carry the Disability Confident Logo. We are committed to offering an interview to any disabled candidate, internal or external, who applies for these campaigns under the Disability Confident Scheme and meets the minimum criteria for the role.
To respond to changing resourcing requirements, and enable career development moves, DWP does provide opportunities for its employees to move internally on a lateral basis across the department where appropriate before advertising vacancies on CS Jobs. Advertising internal opportunities to move laterally is not mandatory but where these opportunities are advertised, we operate the Disability Confident Scheme which enables eligible candidates that apply under the scheme to progress to the interview stage if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. As most internal opportunities are advertised locally, using manual processes rather than CS Jobs, we are only able to provide limited numerical data.
The table below shows the number of DWP candidates applying for internal or Cross Government roles advertised on CS Jobs who have declared themselves as having a disability, or who applied under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. We cannot identify who is applying on a level move, just those who have replied ‘no’ to the question 'are you applying on promotion'. This may include a very small number of people who have applied for a role at a lower grade, though this is extremely rare.
Internal Recruitment Campaigns Only * | 2021 | 2022 |
Applications received from DWP candidates who declared themselves as having a disability, or who applied under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. | 95 | 256 |
Number of the above candidates who were successful at sift stage and invited to interview. | 19 (20.0%) | 71 (27.7%) |
Number of the above candidates who were successful at interview stage and made an offer. | 12 (12.6%) | Redacted ** |
.* Applications made by internal DWP candidates for internally advertised DWP / Cross Government vacancies advertised on CS Jobs. Please note we cannot identify who is applying on a lateral move, just those who have replied ‘no’ to the question 'are you applying on promotion'. This may include a very small number of people who have applied for a role at a lower grade, though this is extremely rare. ** Numbers are low and have been redacted to prevent the risk of individuals being identified.
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 steps they have taken to operate a disability confident scheme for those seeking promotion in their Department; and how many and what proportion of those candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under the scheme were (a) interviewed and (b) promoted in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In line with the commitment made in the Civil Service Workforce Plan all DWP recruitment has been ‘External by Default’ since August 2020. It is therefore departmental policy that all permanent vacancies, including those that would result in promotion for an existing employee, are advertised externally unless there is clear rationale for not doing so.
To comply with CS Commission Recruitment Principles, our external recruitment is Fair, Open and Merit based and as a Disability Confident Leader all our advertised campaigns, internal or external, carries the Disability Confident Logo to make this clear to applicants. We are committed to offering an interview to any disabled candidate, internal or external, who applies under the Disability Confident Scheme and meets the minimum criteria for the role.
It is only within internal recruitment exercises, where candidates are asked if they are applying on promotion, as such, we only hold data on promotion figures for internally advertised campaigns.
The figures in the table show the number of DWP candidates who declared themselves as having a disability, or who applied for internal vacancies under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme, and their progression through the recruitment process.
Internal Recruitment Campaigns Only (applying on promotion) ** | 2021 | 2022 |
Applications received from DWP candidates who declared themselves as having a disability, or who applied under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. | 152 | 244 |
Number of the above candidates who were successful at sift stage and invited to interview. | 28 (18.4%) | 37 (15.2%) |
Number of the above candidates who were successful at interview stage and made an offer. | 9 (5.9%) | 6 (2.5%) |
.** Applications made by internal DWP candidates for internally advertised DWP / Cross Government vacancies, on promotion.
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, if they will take steps to (a) publish an equality impact assessment and (b) consult with trade unions when proposing new HR policies for their Department; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to meeting its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 with regard to producing Equality Analyses when considering changes which may have an impact on colleagues with protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010. The Department consults on new HR policies in line with its Employee Relations Framework.
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, whether his Department has notified staff to (a) tell or (b) remind them that they can sell annual leave in the last four months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has an existing facility for colleagues to exchange untaken contractual leave for payment in the last month of their annual leave year. There is no consistent annual leave year for colleagues across DWP.
From 4 January to 31 January 2023, DWP is running a specific exercise where colleagues can voluntarily request a payment for a maximum of five days of untaken contractual annual leave that they do not want to take, regardless of when their annual leave year ends. Colleagues cannot request to be paid for statutory leave.
Taking part in the exercise is completely voluntary, employees physical and mental wellbeing remains a key priority for the department, and everyone is encouraged to use their annual leave to relax and recuperate wherever possible.
Colleagues were informed of this opportunity 4 January 2023, and reminders were issued 13, 25 and 27 January 2023.
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, which body is the legal employer of staff at the Health and Safety Executive.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Crown is the legal employer of employees at the Health and Safety Executive.
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 steps their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is a range of HR information which is publicly available on GOV.UK.
In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meets regularly with recognised Trade Unions to present and share information and data where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements. This helps inform decision making through formal negotiation and meaningful consultation and engagement.
DWP is therefore complying with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and we always seek to work constructively with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements.
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 steps he is taking to ensure his Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP takes its responsibility to comply with Equality Act 2010, Public Sector Equality Duty and Civil Service Management Code seriously. We have adopted an Equality Analysis approach to embed inclusive decision making and equalities considerations and monitoring within all of our policies and practices.
In DWP Equality Analysis is undertaken at policy/project level, and to ensure compliance we have embedded equalities thinking and monitoring within our change processes and have developed comprehensive guidance to support Senior Responsible Officer’s to effectively discharge their responsibilities. In addition, we have dedicated resource in place to provide bespoke support on all aspects of Equality Analysis, including monitoring and evaluation to policy/project leads as requested.
Policy/Projects with an employee impact are actively encouraged to implement Trade Union engagement and the sharing of their Equality Analysis as part of their Stakeholder Management Plans.
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, how many and what proportion of employees in their Department are paid at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. Departments must ensure that they apply the legislative increase to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage.
The National Living Wage (NLW) is the statutory minimum wage for workers aged 23 and over. Different minimum wage rates apply to 21-22 year olds, 18-20 year olds, 16-17 year olds and apprentices aged under 19 or in the first year of an apprenticeship.
In April 2022, the Government increased the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour. This will rise to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%. By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.
As of 24 January 2023, the total number of civil servants in DWP paid at the National Minimum Wage rate per hour was 0 (0% of all staff) and the National Living Wage rate per hour was 65. Everyone in DWP is paid at least the national living wage, with the vast majority above it.