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Written Question
Remote Working: Vacancies
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of the jobs advertised on his Department's Find a job website are listed as being fully remote as of 1 December 2023.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We do not hold data on the number of vacancies which offer home or hybrid working. We are exploring how to improve the service to help jobseekers identify vacancies by this criterion.

We are working to ensure that individuals have tailored personal support in order to make the most of their talents, for some this will mean remote working for some hybrid and for others face to face.


Written Question
Work Capability Assessment
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)

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 financial impact of proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment on disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The consultation closed on Monday 30 October. Over 1300 individuals and organisations submitted a response and 14 public consultation events were held, both face-to-face across Great Britain, and virtually.

The department has developed estimates of the number of claimants impacted across the range of options that were considered in the Work Capability Assessment consultation.

We will continue to refine these estimates as responses are considered following the end of the consultation period.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 25 Jan 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Stephen McPartland (Con - Stevenage) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 04 Feb 2020
Universal Credit: Delayed Roll-Out

Speech Link

View all Stephen McPartland (Con - Stevenage) contributions to the debate on: Universal Credit: Delayed Roll-Out

Written Question
Employment: Chronic Illnesses
Wednesday 3rd July 2019

Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people recently recovered from long-term illness find and return to work.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

DWP is committed to helping people with health conditions and disabilities including those recently recovered from long-term illness, move nearer to the labour market and, when ready, into work, by building more personalised tailored employment and health support. For example:

  • The Work and Health Programme, which rolled out between November 2017 and March 2018, will support around 275,000 people over five years - the majority whom (around 220,000) will be disabled people who can volunteer for the programme at any time.

  • The new Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, which is due to be rolled out across England and Wales at the end of 2019, will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for people with both disabilities and complex barriers to employment who are considered by DWP work coaches to be more than 12 months from the labour market without intensive support.

People who have recently recovered from long-term illness but whose health condition or disability affects the way they do their job can apply for in-work support from Access to Work scheme. Access to Work can also offer support for interviews and voluntary pre-employment opportunities, such as Work Experience and Work Trials, which may lead to paid employment.

In addition, DWP is engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme - supporting them to feel more confident about both employing disabled people, including autistic people, and supporting disabled employees to realise their potential. Nearly 12,000 employers have signed up to the scheme so far.

Looking forward, DWP is working in partnership with DHSC to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to stay and thrive in work. The proposals included in the consultation not only seek to benefit disabled people, but all employees who experience or are at risk of a long term sickness absence.


Written Question
Support for Mortgage Interest
Monday 17th June 2019

Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides for disabled individuals who need to move due to the changing nature of their disabilities but may be prevented from doing so due to the recovery of a Support for Mortgage loan.

Answered by Will Quince

Over time someone’s house is likely to increase in value, so it is reasonable to expect those who have received taxpayers’ help towards their mortgage to repay from the equity released when the property is sold. However, the repayment of the loan should not be a barrier to people improving their lives. We have considered this and I am pleased to announce that we will be introducing the option for home-owners to defer repayment of their SMI loan when moving to a new home. This means that claimants who need to move, for example, because of the changing nature of a disability or for better career opportunities, are not prevented from doing so. These new arrangements require changes to regulations which I will bring forward as soon as the Parliamentary timetable allows.


Written Question
Support for Mortgage Interest
Wednesday 5th June 2019

Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people with a support for mortgage interest loan (SMI) who need to move house but are unable to do so due to having an SMI loan secured on their property.

Answered by Will Quince

Owner-occupiers possess a valuable capital asset which may increase in value over time. It is reasonable to ask claimants who receive help towards the costs of this asset to repay that when they are able to. Most SMI claimants already have significant equity accrued upon take-up of an SMI loan and those with an SMI loan secured against their property are likely to continue accruing value beyond the repayment of an SMI loan, facilitating a move if necessary.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 13 May 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Stephen McPartland (Con - Stevenage) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 13 May 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Stephen McPartland (Con - Stevenage) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Written Question
Employment and Social Security Benefits: Learning Disability
Tuesday 7th May 2019

Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to support people with learning disabilities access (a) benefits and (b) employment opportunities.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support for all claimants. All claimants receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person. Our work coaches receive extensive training to ensure they can offer effective support to different claimant groups, including those with learning disabilities.

From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering the new Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit (UC) claim or moving from a legacy benefit to UC because of a change of circumstances. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a UC claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, through web-chat, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.

Telephony support is also available through the Universal Credit Freephone line for claimants who cannot make or maintain their claim online. Where a claimant is unable to manage their own affairs, an appointee can act on their behalf, taking responsibility for making and maintaining a claim.

Personal Independence Payment can be paid to disabled people irrespective of their employment status. Claimants with a severe mental health or behavioural condition, learning disability, developmental disorder or cognitive problems, who may have difficulty engaging with the claims process, and with no support network in place can be provided with additional support during the claims process if they need it. This support can include help filling in the form or the questionnaire and additional protections for failing to return the questionnaire or for failing to attend a face-to-face assessment.

We are supporting disabled people, including those with learning disabilities, to prepare for employment, enter and retain work through a range of initiatives, for example: Access to Work; the Local Supported Employment proof of concept; and the new Intensive Personalised Employment Support scheme, which is expected to be running by the end of 2019.