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, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment are also in receipt of adult social care support.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not centrally record whether PIP claimants are in receipt of adult social care support.
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 work in jobcentres.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest figure for the number of Work Coaches expressed as Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) in the Department is 17,160 as at the end of March 2025.
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 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.
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, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, whether people with terminal illnesses will be affected by the new PIP eligibility threshold of four points in a single category.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who are nearing the end of their life will be unaffected by the reforms to the PIP assessment criteria. Claims made under the special rules for end of life are automatically awarded the enhanced rate of the daily living component without having to take part in an assessment and without having to meet the required period condition. The majority of claimants are also awarded the mobility component.
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, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, if she will make it her policy to publish an evaluation of the effectiveness of her proposed reforms once implemented in increasing long-term employment outcomes for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We anticipate that we will assess effectiveness of Pathways to Work measures in the usual way, including through evaluation of their implementation and the impacts that they have on employment, incomes, benefit receipt and other indicators. We will publish more information on our evaluation strategy in due course.
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, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed reforms on labour market participation by people with (a) disabilities and (b) long term health conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether people affected by changes to the Universal Credit health element will be able to appeal reassessments under the new system.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Decisions made by a decision maker on entitlement to benefit generally confer a right of appeal.
The outcome of any WCA will lead to a decision about the customer’s capability for work, which would have appeal rights. If the customer disagrees with that decision, they may request a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) and can lodge an appeal if they remain dissatisfied following the MR process.
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, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether her Department plans to provide additional training to assessors carrying out PIP assessments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All health professionals who carry out PIP assessments receive comprehensive training in disability analysis which includes evaluation as to how medical conditions affect claimants in their day-to-day activities, as well as awareness training in specific conditions. The department works extensively with assessment providers to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures to ensure a quality service. All core training and guidance material for health professionals undergoes both clinical and policy quality assurance.
On 18 March we announced our plans to introduce a new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) so that people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity in PIP to be eligible for the daily living component. All health professionals and DWP case managers will receive training and guidance on these changes to eligibility criteria before they are implemented.