Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 135449, how many work coaches were asked by his Department to provide feedback on their experience of working with claimants who have been moved into the Intensive Work Search labour market regime as a direct result of the provisions in the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 between 26 September 2022 and 29 January 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are constantly seeking feedback from Work Coaches across the business on any changes that might impact claimants.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 7 February 2023 to Questions 135446 and 135447 on Universal Credit, when data for the period stated will be available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is not possible to answer with precision at this stage. Data on the impact of the change in the AET change on claimant earnings will not be available for some time. This is due to the time it takes for the policy to have an effect on claimant earnings, and the time it will take to conduct a robust analysis of that data.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 February 2023 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Social Mobility, Youth & Progression on Decommissioning of Temporary Jobcentres, UIN HCWS549, (a) on what date the decision was made to decommission and (b) on what date Jobcentre staff were notified of the decommissioning of the temporary Jobcentres at (i) Aylesbury; (ii) Bath; (iii) Blyth; (iv) Burnley; (v) Dundee; (vi) Gateshead; (vii) Halifax; (viii) Inverness; (ix) Ipswich; (x) Kettering; (xi) Leeds; (xii) Lincoln; (xiii) London Hackney; (xiv) London Kentish Town; (xv) London Sutton Carew; (xvi) London Tooting; (xvii) Stevenage; (xviii) Sunderland; (xix) Swindon; and (xx) Wigan.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department have always made it clear these sites are temporary, linked to the Plan for Jobs, and the interventions needed due to impact of the pandemic, and that we would look to decommission them at the appropriate time and move back into business as usual – as set out in two updates to Parliament on 23 March 2021 and 20 July 2022.
To that end, the Department’s governance process, and decision to decommission the temporary Jobcentres listed in the Written Statement of 8 February 2023, was finalised on 10 January 2023.
The Department shared the decision to decommission the temporary Jobcentres with the relevant staff for the sites listed in that Written Statement as soon as it was ready to do so – this took place via co-ordinated announcements at 9am on 8 February 2023.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 135449 on Universal Credit, when he expects to be able to evaluate the impact of the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 on claimants.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are monitoring the implementation of the changes in the Administrative Earnings Threshold in order to gather insights into how to best support people in work to increase their earnings. The impact evaluation of the September AET rise will not take place for some time, as it will take a while for earnings increases to materialise given claimants need time to discuss their goals and situation with their Work Coach, consider their options with their employer and family, and take the necessary steps to grow their income.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2023 to Question 133686 on Universal Credit: Young People, how many single claimants on Universal Credit in payment and entitled to the housing element were aged (a) 25-29, (b) 30-34, (c) 35-39, (d) 40-44, (e) 45-49, (f) 50-54, (g) 55-59, (h) 60-65 and (i) over 65 in August 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Programme Business Case for the Workplace Transformation Programme, published in March 2022, included the cost of the temporary job centre estate when assessing the value for money of that programme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s Workplace Transformation programme business case published in March 2022, did not include the cost of the temporary Jobcentre estate. The costs associated with the temporary Jobcentre estate were considered under its own additional Face to Face Capacity Programme. The funding secured from HMT was time limited for the current Spending Review period only.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 131311 and the Answer of 3 February 2023 to Question 136734 on Department for Work and Pensions: Freedom of Information, if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of his Department's freedom of information process with (a) his Department's Publication Scheme and (b) the Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Code of Practice; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has an established programme of publication and publishes a large amount of data per year. The department currently releases around 40 Official and National statistics series each year, as well as collaborating to support a number of cross-government publications.
The Department complies with the overall intent of FOI Act and the Cabinet Office Code of Practice and keeps under consideration its approach to process and publication of information.
As mentioned in response to Question 131311, many Freedom of Information responses are automatically put in the public domain by the WhatDoTheyKnow website making them freely available to everyone.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and proportion of claimants who were placed in the Intensive Work Search group as a direct result of the changes made in the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 were then moved from this group because of an increase in earnings which took them over the Administrative Earnings Threshold between 26 September 2022 and 29 January 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Data for the period stated is not available.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants who were placed in the Intensive Work Search group between 26 September 2022 and 29 January 2023 as a direct result of the changes made in the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 experienced a reduction in average earnings.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Data for the period stated is not available.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what feedback his Department sought between 26 September 2022 and 29 January 2023 from Work Coaches on the practical impact of the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 on claimants.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is always working with Work Coaches and JCP local area managers on any change. It is too early for us to evaluate the impact on claimants at this stage.