Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Government has taken to publicise the Payment Exception Service to people who are eligible to use it.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Payment Exception Service is available in limited circumstances when customers are unable to provide us with bank account, building society, credit union, internet based or basic bank account details. Information about this service is publicised on https://www.gov.uk/payment-exception-service.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support the Government is providing to people aged over 55 who have lost their jobs as a result of the covid-19 pandemic to retrain and re-enter employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is supporting people of all ages back in to work. The Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged 50 and over, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895m to recruit an additional 13,500 Work Coaches which DWP is on track to achieve by Quarter 1 of 2021/22; a £150m increase in the Flexible Support Fund which will also boost the capacity of the Rapid Response Service to help those facing redundancy move into other jobs; and £10m for a new online support through the Job Finding Support Service which will provide tailored one-to-one job finding support to the recently unemployed.
The Government aims to increase the number of Sector based Work Academy programme placements, supporting unemployed claimants of all ages through training, work experience and a guaranteed interview for a real job. We are also investing £238m into Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) to offer new support to those who have been made unemployed for three months.
To support the long term unemployed, £2.9 billion is being invested in the Restart Programme, which is due to go live from summer 2021. The Restart Programme will support individuals who have been unemployed for 12 months plus and through regular, personalised support providers will work with participants to identify the best way to support them into sustained employment.
The Department also has a network of 50 PLUS Champions (formerly Older Claimants Champions) throughout all of the 34 Jobcentre Plus districts. These Jobcentre Plus staff work collaboratively with Work Coaches to raise the profile of over 50s claimants, highlighting the benefits of employing them and sharing best practice.
Further, Government recognises the importance of planning effectively for the future and in encouraging productive workplace conversations. We therefore launched a webpage in 2019 to promote the mid-life MOT, which offers support from the National Careers Service, Public Health England and Money and Pensions Service to those considering a change in career by encouraging them to take stock across the key areas of skills, health and financial planning.
The Department for Education continues to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) (£1.34bn in 2019/20 and 2020/21). The principal purpose of the AEB is to engage adults and provide the skills and learning they need to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. It enables more tailored programmes of learning to be made available, which do not need to include a qualification, to help those furthest from learning and in the workplace.
Government is providing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) for the National Skills Fund to help adults learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future, which will start in financial year 2021/22. The National Skills Fund will support adults to learn and reach their potential in the labour market. It will complement other provision available for adults, such as through the Adult Education Budget and other recent reforms to adult skills provision and funding.
The Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving adults aged 19 and over the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps have the potential to transform the skills landscape for adults and employers.
These were launched in West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and Liverpool City Region in September 2020, initially focusing on digital skills such as software development, digital marketing, and data analytics. Registrations opened in December 2020 for the Skills Bootcamps in the Leeds City Region, Heart of South West (Devon and Somerset) and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with delivery set to begin in early 2021.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the average time it will take for her Department to process a personal independence claim during the period of the new national lockdown that commenced in England in January 2021.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, we are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment in a timely manner. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.
We are currently operating within expected levels. Average clearance times from initial claim to a decision being made for new claims are currently 16 weeks (October 2020).
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2020 to Question 123540, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into potential maladministration in her Department's communication of changes to women’s state pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It would not be appropriate to comment on the possible implications of an ongoing Ombudsman’s investigation.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into potential maladministration in her Department's communication of changes to women’s State Pension age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No discussions have taken place.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of Government programmes on the employment prospects of the over-60s.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is supporting people of all ages back in to work. The Government’s recently announced Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including older workers, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895m to double the number of Work Coaches in Jobcentre Plus by March 2021; a £150m increase in the Flexible Support Fund which will also boost the capacity of the Rapid Response Service to help those facing redundancy move into other jobs; £40m for a new online support service will provide tailored one-to-one job finding support to the recently unemployed.
The Government also aims to triple the number of sector-based work academy programme placements, supporting unemployed claimants of all ages through training and work experience to find a job. A further £95m will expand the Work and Health programme to offer new support to those who have been made unemployed.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has published for employers to support employees suffering from the long-term effects of covid-19.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Research into the long-term health symptoms and impacts of COVID-19 is ongoing. However, it is clear that for some of those who have survived, the virus and the treatment they have received to combat it will have a lasting impact on their health.
Employers have particular responsibilities towards disabled workers including making reasonable adjustments to avoid disabled workers being put at a disadvantage. DWP’s new Employer Help site provides advice on employment of disabled people, explaining how Access to Work and Disability Confident can help businesses to ensure their practices are fair and inclusive.
The law is clear: to discriminate directly, or indirectly, against anyone because of a protected characteristic such as age, sex or disability, race or ethnicity is unlawful. All equality and discrimination laws and obligations continue to apply during the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that claimants suffering from long-term effects of covid-19 can access appropriate welfare support.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN:78723.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department’s review of how the welfare system works for people with a terminal illness includes issues relating to universal credit for terminally ill people.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In July 2019, the then DWP Secretary of State announced an in-depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life and those with the most severe conditions.
The evaluation included three strands of research:
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there has been a reduction in Special Rules for Terminal Illness claims for universal credit as a result of her Department's change to the online application question on terminal illness in May 2019; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Data exists in the system that would require matching across a number of data sets, which is a substantial piece of work. The required information is therefore not all readily available to analysts in a format that would enable them to undertake the analysis and quality assure the figures, to answer this PQ in the timescales.