Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department plans to spend on the Restart Scheme in the next three financial years; and if he will make an estimate of the number of people who will be supported through that scheme in the same period.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Referrals to the current Restart Scheme will be made up to June 2024, offering participants up to a year of support. As of the end of February 2024, around 150,000 people were receiving support and the majority will continue participating into 2024/25; in addition, around a further 50,000 are expected to start before June 2024. Spend over the next three financial years relating to supporting these people is expected to be around £400m, with the scheme operating on Payment by Result contracts.
In the Autumn Statement 2023, funding was approved to extend the Restart Scheme, taking referrals between July 2024 and June 2026. It is estimated that the extension will support around a further 500,000 people from two years of referrals. Funding of around £1bn has been agreed for the extension, with some of this expenditure expected to fall beyond the 2026/27 financial year due to the fact the scheme operates Payment by Results.
Please note
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of WorkWell in each of the next five years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
WorkWell will fund 15 pilot areas to join up the work and health landscape at the local level under one coherent place-based strategy. It will enable pilot areas to design and deliver a new early-intervention assessment and support service and a single, joined-up view and gateway into the services that are available locally to manage their specific needs. Funding includes a National Support Offer to enable the Vanguards to meet their delivery plans and a full evaluation of this pilot programme.
We expect these 15 areas to provide services to approximately 59,000 participants over the course of the two-year delivery period. This is in addition to the wider benefits for local communities across England of improved work and health integration.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of Universal Support in each of the next five years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The total budget for Universal Support is £1.4 billion which will provide up to 400,000 places during the lifetime of the programme. Once fully rolled out it aims to provide 100,000 places a year. Detailed planning and preparation is underway to determine how places will build to that maximum annual volume.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of the Flexible Support Fund in each of the next five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not hold any official estimate for the expenditure.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme in each of the next five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) programme is due to end on 21 September 2025. The forecasted spending for the 2024/2025 tax year and the beginning of the 2025/2026 tax year until the programme ends is shown in the table below.
FORECAST 2024/2025 | FORECAST 2025/2026 (up to 21 Sept 2025) |
£4.0m | £0.5m |
We do not produce a formal forecast of the number of participants for the IPES programme per year. The last intake of participants to the programme was December 2023. As of 29 February 2024, the total number of participants was 3,820. This number will decline as participants complete the programme, until September 2025 when the programme is due to end.
Please Note
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
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 (a) fiscal and (b) economic impact of the reduction in the permitted period during which (i) Universal Credit and (ii) Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants can limit their work search to their preferred sector or pay level.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
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 (a) fiscal cost to the public purse and (c) savings associated with the rollout of Additional Jobcentre Support.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A 12-month extension was announced in Spring Budget 2024, which will enable us to better understand the impact of Additional Jobcentre Support.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the total number of work coaches required to implement the roll-out of Additional Jobcentre Support.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A 12-month extension was announced in Spring Budget 2024, which will enable us to better understand the impact of Additional Jobcentre Support.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many of his Department's staff are involved in sanctions (a) referral, (b) decision making, (c) administration and (d) appeals.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the non-claim rate for people migrating from legacy benefits to Universal Credit; and what the non-claim rate was estimated to be.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following discovery, we are now able to use evidence to make a specific assumption of 26% for Tax Credit (TC) only claims and 4% for all other legacy benefit combinations.
No previous estimate of tax credits only claims was made therefore it is wrong to compare the current TC claim rate to a 2010 assumption.