Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to older jobseekers in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England who are looking to (i) reskill or (ii) change careers.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department is delivering a comprehensive package of support to help older jobseekers return to work. In addition to the help in place for all Universal Credit claimants, eligible older jobseekers can access additional intensive, tailored support in the first nine months of their Universal Credit claim.
A network of dedicated 50PLUS Champions are in place in Jobcentre Plus districts across Great Britain, upskilling Work Coaches in supporting over 50s to return to work and engaging with employers to maximise opportunities for recruitment.
The Midlife MOT is delivered in West Midlands Jobcentres and across Great Britain, helping older workers to take stock of their finances, skills and health and an enhanced digital Midlife MOT provides access to financial, health and career guidance.
In Coventry North and across Coventry and the West Midlands our Jobcentre teams are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies and delivering a range of support including Sector Work Based Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days and job fairs.
The West Midlands team continue to work with local employers to deliver SWAPs in various sectors including security, education, warehousing, hospitality, construction and care. SWAP’s deliver short vocational training linked directly to vacancies with a particular employer or in a specific sector, helping customers to learn the skills and behaviours that employers in particular industries look for.
In Coventry, Jobcentre teams, along with National Careers Service and Coventry City Council hold monthly sessions through the Coventry Job Shop, offering information and application support for job vacancies, and SWAPs, and a recent job fair on 13 September saw over twenty local and national employers in attendance.
The team also work in partnership with local providers to deliver specific events for customers aged 50 and over, such as events targeted at the hospitality and education sectors and courses to improve digital skills.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 average waiting time for mandatory reconsideration of benefit decisions in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that mandatory reconsiderations are conducted (i) quickly and (ii) effectively.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The median mandatory reconsideration (MR) clearance times have been provided for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit decisions. To provide information across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.
Median clearance times have been provided as the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases.
Personal Independence Payment
The median clearance times for PIP Mandatory Reconsiderations, normal rules between August 2022 and July 2023, were:
a) 28 calendar days for Coventry
b) 28 calendar days for West Midlands
c) 28 calendar days for England
Notes:
Universal Credit
The median clearance times for UC Mandatory Reconsiderations between August 2022 and July 2023 were:
a) 37 calendar days for Coventry
b) 35 calendar days for West Midlands
c) 36 calendar days for England
Notes:
Employment and Support Allowance
ESA Work Capability Assessment MR clearance times are available on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. It can be found by going through “ESA Work Capability Assessments”, “Mandatory Reconsideration – Clearances” “Table 4 – Median Clearance Times by Date of Decision”. It is then possible to restrict to Coventry, West Midlands and England.
In law there is no time limit within which a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) decision must be made. This reflects the overarching policy that the focus should be on making the right decision and not the speed of clearance. Of course, decisions will be made without delay but if the decision maker considers that more time is needed to gather or consider evidence, then they will give themselves that time to ensure they are confident that the decision ultimately made is correct.
We constantly review our processes to ensure we are providing the best possible customer service to customers requesting a mandatory reconsideration, both in terms of speed of dealing with the request and quality of decision making. For example, we have improved the system functionality in UC to allow some customers to directly upload evidence to inform a decision to improve the customer experience. We have also recruited circa 400 additional colleagues into the Dispute Resolution Service over the summer to increase capacity and reduce waiting times.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the numbers of people living in food poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; what recent assessment he has made of the impact of increases in the cost of living on levels of food poverty in those areas; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce food poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
This government takes the issue of food security very seriously and is committed to understanding and addressing food poverty. This is why we added food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 2019/20, and also why we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time in March 2023.
National statistics on food security and food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024.
These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security and foodbank use over time. Alongside the broad suite of poverty data, these will help the Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and help shape future policy considerations.
Statistics are not available at the constituency level.
This Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing support totalling over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living. Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits will receive additional Cost of Living Payments, totalling up to £900 in the 2023-24 financial year.
Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England this financial year bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. In the instance of Coventry City Council £6,448,445 has been allocated for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and £3,224,222.30 was allocated for the period 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of inflation on pensioners in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Households Below Average Income sample size is too small to provide robust estimates of the rates of pensioner poverty in the areas identified. National and regional statistics on the number and percentage of pensioners in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found here:
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with their rising bills.
From April 2023, benefits and the State Pension, including the Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee, were increased by 10.1%, in line with prices in the year to September 2022.
Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits, including the 1.4 million pensioners currently in receipt of Pension Credit, will receive additional Cost of Living Payments totalling up to £900 in the 2023/24 financial year.
In addition, over 8 million pensioner households will receive a £300 pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top up to their winter fuel payment increasing payments to £500 for those aged 66-79 and £600 for those aged 80 and over.
Specific statistics relating to the pensioner Cost of Living Payments are not available. However, the latest available winter fuel payment statistics (2021/22) show that 14,352 customers in Coventry North East and 46,614 customers in Coventry received a winter fuel payment. We expect a similar number of customers will receive the pensioner Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and the State Pension. The outcome of that review will be announced later this year following the publication of the relevant indices by the Office for National Statistics, and the new rates will enter into force from April 2024.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support pensioners with increases in the cost of living in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with their rising bills.
From April 2023, benefits and the State Pension, including the Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee, were increased by 10.1%, in line with prices in the year to September 2022.
Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits, including the 1.4 million pensioners currently in receipt of Pension Credit, will receive additional Cost of Living Payments totalling up to £900 in the 2023/24 financial year.
In addition, over 8 million pensioner households will receive a £300 pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top up to their winter fuel payment increasing payments to £500 for those aged 66-79 and £600 for those aged 80 and over.
Specific statistics relating to the pensioner Cost of Living Payments are not available. However, the latest available winter fuel payment statistics (2021/22) show that 14,352 customers in Coventry North East and 46,614 customers in Coventry received a winter fuel payment. We expect a similar number of customers will receive the pensioner Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The DWP continues to work with stakeholders and others to raise awareness of Pension Credit nationwide, with a recent push for pensioners to apply before 19 May 2023 to receive the first £301 Cost of Living payment resulting in a 171% spike in claims over the two-week period before the deadline – over 20,000 claims.
The latest campaign boost was this month’s Pension Credit ‘Week of Action’ 12-16 June. DWP joined forces with a whole range of partners to raise awareness and promote take-up of Pension Credit. As part of the Pension Credit ‘Week of Action’, I wrote to all MPs on 10 June encouraging them to hold their own community event.
On 12 June I announced a new innovative “Invitation to Claim” trial which will launch across 10 local authorities in Great Britain this Summer. This will involve DWP sending letters to approximately 2,600 pensioner households identified via Housing Benefit data as being most likely to be entitled to Pension Credit and encouraging them to contact DWP and make a claim.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
National and regional statistics on the number of pensioners in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found at: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 number of children living in poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Latest statistics for the levels of children who are in low income in the Coventry North East constituency and Coventry are published in “Children in Low Income Families”, and can be found here.
National and regional statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found here.
Due to methodological differences, the figures in these two publications are not comparable.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 reduce waiting times for Access to Work assessments.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and we have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications, where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter, and remain in, the labour market. We are also streamlining and transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent estimate of the (a) unemployment and (b) youth unemployment rates in Coventry North East constituency; if he will make an assessment of the factors that contribute to those rates being higher than the UK average; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce unemployment in Coventry North East constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Coventry and surrounding Jobcentres are playing an essential role in promoting an active labour market and finding jobs. Coventry Jobcentre is also hosting monthly larger jobs fairs with around 15-20 organisations in attendance. Employers have been sourced from a variety of sectors.
DWP colleagues work closely with West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to deliver a collaborative approach in the region.
Estimates of (a) unemployment and (b) youth unemployment in the year to September 2022 based on the Annual Population Survey are published and available here.
No specific assessment has been made of the factors underlying unemployment in Coventry North East.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of long-term youth unemployment in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry; and what (i) financial and (ii) other steps he is taking to tackle long-term youth unemployment in those areas.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The sample size of the Annual Population Survey is too small to provide robust estimates of the trends in long-term youth unemployed in the areas identified.
The Government is committed to delivering targeted support for all young people, no matter what their start in life or the challenges they face, to give them the best chance of getting into work.
The DWP Youth Offer provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group
As well as the DWP Youth Offer, this support offer includes skills training, work experience, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), mentoring circles and support funded through other organisations.
Skilled Jobcentre Youth Work Coaches are working harder than ever to help employers fill vacancies. It remains our top priority to match the right young jobseeker with the right job. Key to this is our three Coventry Jobcentres, one based at the Coventry Building Society (CBS) Arena, in North Coventry, continuing to host daily successful recruitment events for both local and national employers.
Sector-based Work Academy Programmes are also proving a vital tool in offering unemployed young people a route into employment. Through Pre-Employment Training, Work Experience and a Guaranteed Job Interview, these academies offer a successful and unique approach to recruitment. Employers currently working with us on this initiative are Coventry Rugby Club, Marriott Hotels, DHL, NHS, Premier Inn, Coop, Coventry City Council, Atalian Servest.
In Coventry Youth Hub, DWP are on site with local partner organisations to offer a range of services to young people in Coventry. We have two permanent Work Coaches co-located whose primary focus is to address barriers to work, motivate and move claimants closer to the labour market.
In the Progression to work program there is a Flexible Support Fund funded grant for St Giles to support 16 – 30 year olds who need support removing barriers to move them closer to work, to include NEETs (not in education employment or training), ex-offenders, those at risk of exploitation or gang violence.