Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of job opportunities for people with disabilities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to reducing the disability employment gap, which currently stands at 28 percentage points, as part of a clear ambition to raise the overall employment rate to 80%.
We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1.9billion of new funding by the end of the decade.
We also recognise that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability which is why the Government has asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related economic inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to support disabled people to find work.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Good work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.
We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and people with health conditions in at least a generation. We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work. This is backed up by £2.2bn over four years, including £200m in 2026/27 when our benefit changes begin to take effect and as announced in the statement on Welfare Reform (30 June) by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, an additional £300m over the next three years. This brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament.
Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024, will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In recognition of the key role employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review, considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie will deliver his final report in the autumn. Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to support businesses to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. All employers have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in the workplace where a disabled person would otherwise be put at a substantial disadvantage compared with their colleagues. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act and providing guidance on reasonable adjustments.
The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. The scheme covers all disabilities, including hidden disabilities.
In addition, DWP has a digital information service for employers, (www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk), which provides tailored guidance to businesses to support employees to remain in work. This includes guidance on health disclosures and having conversations about health, plus guidance on legal obligations, including statutory sick pay and making reasonable adjustments.
In October 2024 we launched our WorkWell service, which is piloting locally designed and delivered work and health support to meet the needs of local populations in 15 areas in England. Local partnerships of Integrated Care Boards, local authorities / Mayoral Combined Authorities and Jobcentre Plus will support disabled people and people with health conditions who are in or out of work to help them access the range of support they need to be able to work. WorkWell pilots will provide up to 56,000 people with the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team combining health and work professions to build a personalised action plan addressing a person’s health related barriers to work.
Throughout 2025 our new, locally-led, voluntary Supported Employment programme Connect to Work is opening across England and Wales. It will provide specialist employment support to over 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment over the five-year duration of the programme.
In recognition of the key role employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review, considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie will deliver his final report in the autumn.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times their Department has accepted in full the position of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s (a) findings and (b) recommendations on (i) issuing an apology and (ii) other forms of redress in the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
| 2014 /15 | 2015 /16 | 2016 /17 | 2017 /18 | 2018 /19 | 2019 /20 | 2020 /21 | 2021 /22 | 2022 /23 | 2023 /24 |
Number of PHSO upheld or partially upheld complaints DWP have accepted in full | 45 | 77 | 38 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 15 |
DWP has accepted in full the position of PHSO’s finding and recommendations on 223 cases in the last 10 years. These cases included the department issuing an apology and/or another form of redress to meet the PHSO recommendation.
Data is derived from the DWP Annual Report and Accounts combining partially and fully upheld complaints investigated by the PHSO. The 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts is not yet published.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the (a) potential implications for her policies of trends in and (b) adequacy of her Department's policies for tackling regional differences in worklessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Get Britain Working White Paper set out the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation to support our ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate and reduce regional disparities. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will shift from being a department for employment support and welfare to being a department for work. This means introducing reforms to achieve a new, locally led system of work and health support being available for those who are unemployed and economically inactive, no matter where they live.
To support this, we have asked every area in England to develop a local Get Britain Working plan. These plans will help to join up new support and enable local areas to develop a system wide approach to tackling their needs in partnership with key local stakeholders including Integrated Care Boards and Jobcentre Plus.
At a national level our policies will be assessed against our Get Britain Working outcomes which includes local variation in employment rates. DWP will provide an annual update outlining recent trends in these metrics, with the first update coming later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, Employment boost for thousands of parents on Universal Credit, published on 25 October 2023, if he will consider the potential merits of applying similar conditionality requirements for family and friend carers as foster carers.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Friends and family carers, also known as kinship carers, provide incredible care to children who cannot remain with their parents. The government recognises the difficult circumstances in which many kinship carers find themselves when they first take a child into their care. As such, for the first year they are only required to attend jobcentre appointments and are not required to search or prepare for work. This allows time for adjustments to the family’s life and for the children to settle in.
The policy for foster carers reflects their particular circumstances. Universal Credit does not provide claimants with financial support for any foster children in their care and only requires foster carers to attend regular appointments rather than look for work.
We have recently made changes to lead carer (including kinship carer) conditionality – an increased frequency of jobcentre appointments for lead carers of 1 and 2 year olds, and an increase to the maximum hours of work-related activity for lead carers of 3-12s. Alongside this, we have increased support with childcare. These changes in conditionality and childcare availability are designed to provide support to lead carers of children, including kinship carers, to help them move into work or grow their earnings and provide the children in their care with the best possible start in life. We believe that this strikes the right balance.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, Employment boost for thousands of parents on Universal Credit, published on 25 October 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of new Universal Credit work conditionality requirements on family and friend carers.
Answered by Jo Churchill
On 25 October 2023, we increased the maximum hours of work-related activity that lead carers of children aged 3-12 on Universal Credit can commit to with their job centre work coach to 30 hours per week. This change applies to lead carers including family and friend carers, also known as kinship carers, although it is important to note that kinship carers who are within 12 months of having a child coming to live with them are not required to search for or be available for work. This is to allow a period of settling in to a new family arrangement.
Kinship carers play a critical role in the lives of children, often in very difficult circumstances. The increase to 30 hours of work-related activity for lead carers is a maximum and we expect hours to continue to be set at a level that is achievable for the individual claimant according to their circumstances, and in discussion with their work coach.
These changes are designed to support parents and carers to help them move into work or grow their earnings and provide the children in their care with the best possible start in life.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that the same Universal Credit work conditionality requirements apply to family and friend carers as to foster carers.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Friends and family carers, also known as kinship carers, provide incredible care to children who cannot remain with their parents. The government recognises the difficult circumstances in which many kinship carers find themselves when they first take a child into their care. As such, for the first year they are only required to attend jobcentre appointments and are not required to search or prepare for work. This allows time for adjustments to the family’s life and for the children to settle in.
The policy for foster carers reflects their particular circumstances. Universal Credit does not provide claimants with financial support for any foster children in their care and only requires foster carers to attend regular appointments rather than look for work.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of long-term sickness on economic productivity in each of the last five years.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The specific information requested on economic productivity is not held by the Department.
According to the latest figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS, INAC01 SA), the number of working age (16-64) people who state their main reason for being economically inactive as long-term sickness is 2.5 million, or 28% of the total inactive population.
Long-term sickness is now the most common main reason for being economically inactive and accounts for 65% of the increase in economic inactivity since the start of the pandemic.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to encourage employers to undertake covid-19 health and safety risk assessments for severely immunocompromised employees.
Answered by Chloe Smith
COVID-19 remains a public health issue. There is no longer a requirement for every business to consider COVID-19 in their risk assessment or have COVID-19 control measures in place. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency has published guidance on reducing the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, in the workplace.
For people in England who are immunosuppressed (including employees), the Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance entitled: ‘COVID-19: guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk’.