Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full time equivalent work coaches were working in JobCentres in each month since July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the monthly number of full-time equivalent Work Coaches working in Jobcentres since July 2024:
Month | Work Coach |
Jul-24 | 16,780 |
Aug-24 | 16,850 |
Sep-24 | 17,020 |
Oct-24 | 17,240 |
Nov-24 | 17,210 |
Dec-24 | 17,190 |
Jan-25 | 17,240 |
Feb-25 | 17,280 |
Mar-25 | 17,160 |
Apr-25 | 17,110 |
Notes:
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is a route for career progression for work coaches.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The work coach role sits within the Government Operational Delivery profession and is graded at Executive Officer level. Work coaches have the opportunity to progress their careers both within the Operational Delivery (Op Del) profession and within the civil service more generally.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many minutes the average length of appointment is for a work coach.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what metrics are used to measure work coach performance in JobCentres.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not measure performance at individual work coach level; performance is measured at jobcentre level. Regular performance discussions are held to review and manage jobcentre performance. DWP currently manages jobcentre performance through a comprehensive framework that includes key performance indicators, performance discussions, and various support mechanisms. Each jobcentre, district, group and area will have it's own performance discussions, supported by performance leaders who provide analytical support and insight relevant to their area.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long work coaches stay in role after training on average.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Coaches undergo an intensive training period, peer support and a robust quality assurance process conducted by Line Managers throughout their onward delivery.
Whilst we hold data on Work Coach leavers per month, we do not hold data on the length of time in role. Therefore, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, if she will (a) publish the amounts certified under subsection 2(6) of the National Institutions Measure 1998 for each year since that provision came into force and (b) place copies of the annual statutory certificates issued to the Church Commissioners under subsection 2(6) in the House of Commons Library.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
The Church Commissioners will be able to publish the 2024 certificate after the annual general meeting on the 19th June, when the Church Commissioners' annual report will be published and laid in the House of Commons Library. The Commissioners have committed to publishing certificates from 2024 onwards on the Church of England website, but are unable to publish the retrospective information requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Recent copies of the Church Commissioners' annual report state which grants have been made to the Archbishops’ Council. In the 2023 annual report, this information can be found on page 101 (the-church-commissioners-for-england-annual-report-2023_1.pdf).
Many of the older reports are available online at: Publications | The Church of England.
The complete collection of annual reports is available from the House of Commons Library.
Further details can also be found in recent Archbishops’ Council annual reports, at: Archbishops’ Council | The Church of England (scroll down). In the most recent 2023 annual report, the additional information is located on pages 68-75, where the Church Commissioners' funding provided the majority of the Archbishops’ Council's charitable expenditure.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full time equivalent work coaches were working in JobCentres in each month since July 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the monthly number of full time equivalent work coaches working in Jobcentres since July 2024:
Month | Jul-24 | Aug-24 | Sep-24 | Oct-24 | Nov-24 | Dec-24 | Jan-25 | Feb-25 | Mar-25 |
FTE | 16,780 | 16,850 | 17,020 | 17,240 | 17,210 | 17,190 | 17,240 | 17,280 | 17,160 |
Notes:
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of people assigned to each work coach is.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In March 2025 there were 1,662,380 Universal Credit (UC) customers in the Searching for Work conditionality regime, and at the end of March 25 the number of full time equivalent (FTE) Work Coaches was 17,160.
Not all UC claimants have a Work Coach. We have provided the number of customers in the Searching for Work conditionality regime as most of this group do.
The average number of people assigned to each Work Coach is not a metric used by the Department and the Department has complex models to estimate the resource required in Jobcentres at a national level. These models cover activities across all DWP customer groups and job roles.
The Department continually impacts and assesses the service being offered to customers. Staff numbers, including the number of Work Coaches, and demand for Jobcentre services are reviewed on an ongoing basis, in line with the latest economic and benefit forecasts.
Notes on the figures:
Work coach FTE figures are management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and are not quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They are not routinely published, but as the Department holds the information, we have released it in this PQ to answer the question asked.
Work Coach figures include both Universal Credit Work Coaches and Existing Benefit Work Coaches. They do not include Work Coach Team Leaders and Disability Employment Advisers.
The number of Universal Credit claimants includes those who have started Universal Credit (completed the Universal Credit claim process and accepted their Claimant Commitment) and have not had a closure of their claim recorded for this spell, up to the 'count date', and is correct as of the second Thursday in March 2025. This figure is provisional and may be subject to revision in future releases of the data.
Inclusion in a specific Labour market regime is based on an individual's circumstances on the count date.
FTE data is correct as at the end of March 25. These figures were derived from the Department’s Activity Based Model (ABM), which provides Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figures based on point in time estimate by Line Managers. They cover only FTE of staff with paid employment.
All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 and cover Great Britain.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the Personal Independence Payment on social care costs for local authorities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work Green Paper announced our plans to bring forward reforms to the Personal Independent Payment (PIP) eligibility criteria. We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the eligibility changes and we will work closely with DHSC and others to consider how people’s health and eligible care needs could be met outside the benefits system. As we develop our detailed proposals for change, we will work with local partners to consider their important role and how the reforms could affect them.
We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead. We will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of adult social care to local authorities for people in receipt of (a) Personal Independence Payment and (b) other working age benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has been made.