Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to allocate additional work to the Sheffield service centre once it is no longer administering employment and support allowance and work and social funds.
Answered by Lord Sharma
An announcement was made to staff at Sheffield Service Centre on Thursday 24 January 2019 to explain the Service Centre will become an Employment and Support Allowance office for the foreseeable future.
With regard to the allocation of additional work to Sheffield Service Centre, there will be significant planning taking place over the next few years, including deciding where work and specialised functions will be delivered as legacy benefit work ends.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many mandatory (a) income support and (b) employment and support allowance interviews took place at the Cavendish Court Job Centre in Sheffield in the each of the last three months.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The number of mandatory Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance interviews at Cavendish Court Jobcentre in Sheffield in each of the last three months is shown below.
Interview Type | Month | Number of Interviews |
ESA Mandatory Interviews | Oct-2018 | 135 |
| Nov-2018 | 61 |
| Dec-2018 | 25 |
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Interview Type | Month | Number of Interviews |
IS Mandatory Interviews | Oct-2018 | 273 |
| Nov-2018 | 66 |
| Dec-2018 | 10 |
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional outreach work his Department is undertaking to help claimants as a result of the closure of Eastern Avenue Job Centre in Sheffield.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We will be reintroducing a Jobcentre outreach service at both Manor Library and Manor and Castle Development Trust in Sheffield. Work coaches will be based in Manor Library each Wednesday and Manor and Castle Development Trust each Tuesday. Staff from Cavendish Court Jobcentre have been identified for these roles and once each location has completed the necessary risk assessments we will agree a start date for the service. Customers will be notified of the services that will be available, which will include jobsfairs as well as benefits advice.
In addition, Sheffield City Council have agreed funding for a construction hub on the Manor to support regeneration. The Department is working with stakeholders to introduce a facility to train local people in construction with the first opportunity starting in February.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the commencement of universal credit in the Sheffield Woodhouse Jobcentre Plus area on 12 December 2018, if she will guarantee that new claims for that benefit will be paid before Christmas 2018.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department has extensive experience of paying claimants over holiday periods. We have also rolled out and paid Universal Credit to significant numbers of claimants over previous Christmas periods.
All new claimants to Universal Credit have always been able to apply for a Universal Credit Advance in their first month if they need some financial support until the first regular payment of Universal Credit is made. This is up to 100% of the indicative award available and can be repaid over 12 months.
We also provide an additional payment of 2 weeks of Housing Benefit to support claimants when they transition to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
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 total (a) cost of (i) redundancy payments, (ii) transfers for staff at the Eastern Avenue Jobcentre Plus site, (iii) travel for those staff and (iv) the alteration work required to the Cavendish Court site and (b) potential proceeds of the sale of the Eastern Avenue Jobcentre Plus site.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The business case for the merger of Eastern Avenue Jobcentre into Cavendish Court Jobcentre considered the estimated costs of redundancies, excess fares for staff and building work at Cavendish Court Jobcentre.
DWP did not own Eastern Avenue Jobcentre and its future is a matter for the landlord.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to create a universal credit service centre in Sheffield.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Every Universal Credit claimant in Sheffield has a dedicated case manager based in the Universal Credit Service Centre in Makerfield.
There are currently no plans to create a new Universal Credit Service Centre in Sheffield
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for an initial information-gathering interview at the Cavendish Court Job Centre Sheffield; and whether that waiting time has an effect on the time taken to pay universal credit.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Not all claimants will require any initial evidence interview at the start of their Universal Credit claim.
If an interview is required, claimants will receive notification to book an interview via their online Universal Credit account at the start of their claim and are encouraged to make contact at the earliest opportunity. In addition, a further prompt will be sent after 7 days if no interview has been booked.
Cavendish Court Jobcentre went live with Universal Credit full service on 7 November.
The average waiting period at Cavendish Court Jobcentre for initial interview (working days) was as follows:
W/E 16/11 – 3 days
W/E 23/11 – 5 days
W/E 30/11 – 2 days
For comparison, the average waiting period within the District of South Yorkshire for initial interview (working days) was as follows:
W/E 16/11 – 3 days
W/E 23/11 – 3 days
W/E 30/11 – 2 days
We strive to deliver a quick and effective service to all claimants. Claimants have 30 days in which to make contact to book an initial interview. The closer the date of the initial interview is to the end of the 30 day period could potentially impact on the date a first payment is made. In many cases where full payment is not made on time, it is due to unresolved issues such as claimants not accepting their Claimant Commitment or passing identity checks, satisfying the Habitual Residency Test, or having outstanding verification issues, such as housing costs and self-employed earnings.