Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to fund more than 100 Armed Forces Champions posts in job centres to support former service personnel to find work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is determined to provide veterans and other members of the armed forces community with the help and support they need and deserve. Our support to help veterans into jobs is unwavering with 84% gaining employment within 6 months of discharge – higher than the employment rate of the wider population.
To help deliver a better service, and to respond to feedback we had had from armed forces charities and other organisations, we introduced a new Armed Forces Champions model in April 2021. It provides for 50 Armed Forces Champions alongside 11 Group Leads at managerial level.
At least one Armed Forces Champion will be allocated to each Jobcentre Plus District. Their appointments mean for the first time jobcentres are providing help directly to veterans and others where additional support to access and progress in work is needed. Resources in the new network are targeted where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example in garrison towns, and where work linked to the armed forces will form a significant part of that done in individual jobcentres.
Officials in the Department have discussed the new model with a number of armed forces stakeholders and overall feedback has been positive. We continue to monitor and evaluate our new approach but have no plans to increase the number of champions.
In addition to the Armed Forces Champions roles, all DWP Work Coaches are trained to provide veterans and others with the help and support they need.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the oral contribution by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 15 June 2021, House of Lords, Official Report, column 1765, if she will provide the (a) locations and (b) DWP districts of the job centres that have an Armed Forces Champion supporting veterans seeking employment.
Answered by Will Quince
For the first time there will be a dedicated armed forces role at middle management level in each of the 11 Jobcentre Plus Groups. The 11 group leads are forming a virtual network and will be responsible for building capability and sharing best practice across the network. They will also be pro-active in liaising with the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force on both recruitment and resettlement.
These Armed Forces Champions Leads will oversee 50 Armed Forces Champions across the Jobcentre Plus network (including at least one in each of the 37 Jobcentre Plus Districts), who will have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces Community as part of their job. Again, for the first time, this involves a front line role personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary. Their specific jobcentre location is not a factor in their ability to deliver this service as their responsibilities are district wide.
Recruitment to these roles is largely complete and the Department expects all of the roles to be filled by the end of July. All of the 11 Leads are in post and all Armed Forces Champions will be in each district by the end of July. Currently 48 have been appointed across 35 Districts, with the final two to be in post by the end of the month.
There are also many staff across the DWP network based in individual Jobcentre offices who will be the local ‘expert’ on Armed Forces issues, and the Department is continually working to build capability across the Jobcentre Plus network.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of veterans claiming universal credit in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Will Quince
Currently we do not record as part of our official statistic the number of Universal Credit claimants who are veterans. With Universal Credit, claimants will have an initial interview with their Work Coach as part of the application process. This discussion will cover their career history and skills and qualifications etc, which identifies those claimants who are veterans and ensures appropriate support is offered.
The Department is also continuing to look at what other opportunities might be available to better identify and record data on veterans on the Universal Credit system and has regular conversations with the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This is part of a much wider piece of work involving a number of Departments, including the MOD and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, to improve the collection and use of data relating to veterans.
DWP is proud to provide vital and significant support to veterans which recognises their particular needs and circumstances, including through Armed Forces Champions in each Jobcentre Plus District. For example, early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme, and using Service Medical Board evidence where we can so a severely disabled person does not have to undergo additional examinations for Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit purposes. We are also able to signpost veterans to other organisations for further support where appropriate.
The department is a supporter of the Armed Forces Covenant which helps ensure members of the armed forces community have access to government support in a number of areas, including:
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many on-site inspections of businesses have been carried out by the Health and Safety Executive relating to covid-19 since 1 January 2020 to date, by (a) week and (b) local authority area.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of proactive site inspections that have been carried out which have addressed Covid-19 issues is not readily identifiable.
The majority of Covid-19 related site inspections have arisen from the investigation of a concern raised by workers or a member of the public. In April 2020, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) introduced a change to its recording system to identify visits that addressed a concern relating to Covid-19. Hence, it is not possible to identify site visits made before then. In addition to the numbers below, where a concern is not specifically related to Covid-19 but such issues are identified, then action will be taken to address them.
HSE does not record the date of an investigation visit in an easily retrievable format. The table below identifies the numbers of visits based upon the month in which the visit report was created on their operational database.
Date | Number of site visits |
April | 15 |
May | 48 |
June | 1 |
Grand Total | 64 |
The following table provides site visits by Local Authority:
Site Local Authority | Site Visits |
|
|
Mid Devon | 5 |
Canterbury | 4 |
Glasgow UA | 3 |
Medway Towns UA | 3 |
Wellingborough | 2 |
Hull City UA | 2 |
Flintshire UA | 2 |
City of Westminster | 2 |
Brentwood | 2 |
Burnley | 2 |
Midlothian UA | 2 |
Thanet | 2 |
East Ayrshire UA | 2 |
Surrey Heath | 1 |
Brighton & Hove UA | 1 |
Torbay UA | 1 |
Plymouth UA | 1 |
Sevenoaks | 1 |
Manchester | 1 |
Kingston-upon-Thames | 1 |
Greenwich | 1 |
Corby | 1 |
Folkstone and Hythe | 1 |
Portsmouth UA | 1 |
Tower Hamlets | 1 |
Aberdeen City UA | 1 |
Reading | 1 |
Maidstone | 1 |
Not Applicable | 1 |
Bradford | 1 |
Bristol UA | 1 |
Tonbridge & Malling | 1 |
North Ayrshire UA | 1 |
North Lanarkshire UA | 1 |
Cardiff UA | 1 |
Guildford | 1 |
Waltham Forest | 1 |
Kensington & Chelsea | 1 |
South Lanarkshire UA | 1 |
Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 1 |
West Lothian UA | 1 |
Leicester UA | 1 |
York | 1 |
Northampton | 1 |
NB: the above data was extracted from an operational database on 4th June 2020 and is subject to change e.g. due to the delay between a site visit and recording the information into the database.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria are used by the Health and Safety Executive to trigger on-site inspections of businesses accused or suspected of breaking covid-19 workplace safety regulations.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Physical inspections of premises, whilst an important part of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) work, are one part of a much wider approach taken by HSE. Members of the public and employees can submit a concern to HSE in relation to unsatisfactory conditions or risk control measures in the workplace; concerns come into the organisation in a variety of ways, with most arriving either via telephone or the online form on HSE’s website.
Concerns received are triaged and classified either red, amber or green; those classified green are largely dealt with remotely by HSE’s Concerns and Advice Team, whilst amber and red concerns are passed to HSE’s field teams for further investigation
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Written Statement of 13 January 2020, Welfare Update, what estimate he has made of the proportion of properties in each broad rental market area that will be affordable to local housing allowance claimants from April 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
In response to COVID-19, this Department has increased Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants, giving additional financial support for private renters.
This means that 30% of properties in each broad rental market area (BRMA) in England, Scotland and Wales are within the LHA rate with the exception of 15 rates in central and inner London where the national maximum caps continue to apply. The national caps have also been increased and are now based on the Outer London LHA rate plus 20%.
The proportion of properties in central and inner London that are within the LHA rate are set out below:
BRMA |
| Room | 1 Bed | 2 Bed | 3 Bed | 4 Bed |
Central London | 30% | less than 5% | less than 5% | less than 5% | less than 5% | |
Inner East London | 30% | 15%-20% | 25%-30% | 15%-20% | 30% | |
Inner North London | 30% | 15%-20% | 20%-25% | 15%-20% | 20%-25% | |
Inner South East London | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | |
Inner South West London | 30% | 25%-30% | 30% | 25%-30% | 20%-25% | |
Inner West London | 30% | 30% | 30% | 25%-30% | 30% | |
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the caseload statistics for local housing allowance for each broad rental market area in each of the last three years.
Answered by Will Quince
We will place a copy of a document in the library which shows the caseload statistics of Local Housing Allowance claimants in Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for each broad rental market area in each of the last three years.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to (a) protect public-facing universal credit and jobcentre staff and (b) limit their social interaction since 16 March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has always followed Public Health England guidelines on social distancing. As of 24th March, Jobcentres are only offering face-to-face appointments – conducted in accordance with PHE guidelines on social distancing - for the small number of claimants who would otherwise not be able to receive support. This helps us to continue to deliver our critical services whilst keeping our customers and staff safe.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
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 provide (a) phone and (b) online appointments for new universal credit claimants.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have temporarily suspended the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments for all claimants in Universal Credit, Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support. Advances for all new UC claimants are now available online / via phone, with no requirement to attend a job centre.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether new universal credit claimants have been required to attend in-person appointments after a phone assessment since 16 March 2020.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have temporarily suspended the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments for all claimants in Universal Credit, Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support. Advances for all new UC claimants are now available online / via phone, with no requirement to attend a job centre.