Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which job centres have closed since 2010.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
In March 2018, the 20-year contract covering the majority of DWP’s current estate of over 900 sites came to an end. This presented a significant opportunity to re-evaluate what we needed from our estate, taking into account the impact of Universal Credit, the increased use of online services and the improving employment rates.
Given this, it is right that we reconfigure our Jobcentre estate and make the jobcentres fit for the 21st century. This is not about reducing services, but about taking the opportunity to stop spending money on empty space so we can spend more on supporting those in need.
Since 1 February 2010 through to 31 March 2018, 211 buildings through which Jobcentre Plus services were delivered have been closed. However, staff and service delivery have been relocated to alternative DWP or partner organisation buildings in order to maintain delivery of services to customers.
A full list of the buildings that have been closed is included in the attached pdf.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff appointed after 24 June 2016 in his Department hold a post that includes work on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department’s EU exit work is being centrally co-ordinated but the breadth of issues to be considered, and the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, mean that it is not possible to provide an estimate of how many staff have an element of their work in this area.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to amend the Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Service etc) Regulations 2012 to enable data-sharing on employment and training between his Department and the Welsh Government.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
I can confirm that the amendments have been made to the aforementioned Regulations and were laid before Parliament on 23 October.
They are due to come into force on the 15th November 2017 and will be known as “The Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2017”.
These amendments will allow the Department for Work and Pensions to provide information on people aged between 18 and 25 who are in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit to Careers Wales (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Welsh Government) and to allow Careers Wales to hold such information to allow them to provide advice, assistance and support to such persons.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former recipients of financial support from the Independent Living Fund in England received (a) improved or equal financial support or (b) reduced such package from local authorities administering the successor scheme.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
This information is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2017 to Question 108912, on Department for Work and Pensions: telephone services, where the income from telephone services referred to in that Answer is applied.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As mentioned in my previous answer to 108912, DWP does not receive any income from any of its telephone lines including 0345.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list examples of co-operation between his Department and charitable or private sector providers on personal independence payments or employment and support allowance by parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Department works with many charitable and private sector providers.
Examples within each parliamentary constituency could only be provided at disproportionate costs
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what income his Department derived from telephone helplines for benefits in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not receive any income from any of its Telephone lines including 0345.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list the numbers and subjects covered by telephone helplines for benefits provided by his Department.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The current Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) position is that all calls should be free to our 0800 numbers to apply for benefit, including the following:
0800 731 7898 State Pension,
0800 991 234 Pension Credit,
0800 055 6688 Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA), Income Support (IS), & Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
0800 917 2222 Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
The Department uses 0345 telephone numbers where its customers call for other reasons, as these are calls that typically take less time to resolve. If a customer raises concerns over the cost of a call, we will offer to call them back.
The majority of the calls received by the Department are managed through the 0345 numbers available below in order of most frequently used lines.
0345 608 8545 | Legacy Benefit Enquiry Line (ESA, JSA, & IS) |
0345 600 0723 | Universal Credit Helpline |
0345 850 3322 | Personal Independence Payment Enquiry Line |
0345 603 6967 | Social Fund Enquiry Line |
0345 266 8792 | Child Maintenance 2012 Enquiry Line |
0345 606 0265 | State Pension & Pension Credit Enquiry Line |
0345 604 3719 | Jobcentre Enquiry Line |
0345 600 4272 | Universal Credit Digital Service Centre |
0345 712 3456 | Disability Living Allowance Enquiry Line |
0345 600 0643 | National Insurance Number Appointments |
0345 608 4321 | Carer's Allowance |
0345 850 0293 | Debt Management Enquiries |
0345 605 6055 | Attendance Allowance |
0345 300 0168 | Future Pensions Enquiry Line |
0345 601 0008 | International Pensions Enquiry Line |
0345 600 1011 | The Pensions Regulator Enquiry Line |
0345 608 8610 | Maternity Allowance Enquiry Line |
0345 609 0082 | Child Support Helpline - North West |
0345 609 0062 | Child Support Helpline - Midlands |
0345 609 0042 | Child Support Helpline - Northern |
0345 600 0685 | Debt Management Employer Helpline |
0345 604 4015 | Provider Direct Enquiry Line |
0345 609 0052 | Child Support Helpline - South East |
0345 609 0072 | Child Support Helpline - South West |
0345 915 1515 | Winter Fuel for non-benefit customers |
0345 609 0092 | Child Support Helpline - East England |
0345 604 3349 | DWP Online Helpdesk (Technical helpdesk) |
0345 268 8489 | Access to Work Enquiry Line |
0345 601 2001 | Employer Direct / Universal Jobmatch Enquiry Line |
0345 713 3133 | Child Support General Enquiry Line |
0345 608 8601 | Bereavement Support Payment / Bereavement Benefit Enquiry Line |
0345 850 0051 | Debt Management Enquiries |
0345 641 5008 | National Insurance Number Enquiry Line 1 |
0345 266 8978 | Child Maintenance 2012 - Northern Ireland Enquiry Line |
0345 600 2475 | The Pensions Regulator Enquiry Line |
0345 758 5433 | Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Enquiry Line |
0345 603 9439 | Warm Home Discount Scheme Enquiry Line |
0345 266 0041 | Universal Credit Housing Escalation Enquiry Line |
0345 266 9658 | Child Maintenance 2012 - Employer Enquiry Line |
0345 600 0707 | The Pensions Regulator Enquiry Line |
0345 600 2537 | Pension Tracing Service |
0345 605 7064 | Benefit Cap Enquiry Line |
0345 608 0022 | Child Support Helpline - Northern Ireland |
0345 301 3011 | State Pension Enquiry Line |
0345 713 6010 | Child Support - Employer Enquiry Line |
0345 600 5666 | The Pensions Regulator Enquiry Line |
0345 606 9970 | Universal Credit Live Digital Enquiry Line |
0345 600 1063 | Child Maintenance 2012 - Belfast |
0345 602 7301 | Department for Communities - Northern Ireland - ESA Enquiry Line |
0345 603 0526 | National Insurance Number Enquiry Line 2 |
0345 600 2859 | Payment Resolution Service - Third Party Payments |
Following a recent announcement all 0345 DWP telephone numbers will move to 0800 Freephone numbers by the end of the calendar year starting with Universal Credit in November 17.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to revise the criteria for determining applications for personal independence payments and employment and support allowance for people with Crohn's disease.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The assessment criteria for Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment are intended to treat all health conditions and disabilities fairly and measure the functional impact of a person’s health condition or impairment on their ability to work or manage daily living and mobility activities rather than focusing on the health condition or disability itself.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to his Department's helplines have been made in Wrexham constituency in each month in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold this data.