Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will commission research on (a) productivity, (b) sickness rates and (c) absenteeism in the (i) public and (ii) private sectors where employers offer mental health support (A) by phone, (B) online and (C) in-person through an employee assistance programme.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In January 2025, the department launched “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces. The review is being led by the former Chair of John Lewis, Sir Charlie Mayfield. The recently published discovery report sets out that interventions such as employee assistance programmes are an area of focus for the review over the next few months. The discovery report calls for organisations providing employee assistance programmes to get in touch to share information and evidence about these programmes during the review’s engagement phase, which is ongoing until the end of May. The discovery report can be accessed here: Keep Britain Working Review: Discovery - GOV.UK
The department has previously conducted research on self-reported employee sickness absence rates in 2021. The research can be accessed on gov.uk using the following link: Employee research Phase 1 and 2 - GOV.UK. The research did not explore whether respondents had access to mental health support through an employee assistance programme, or mode of access to this.
The department has also previously published results from a survey which explored how employers manage mental health conditions within their organisation, although it did not collect data on productivity, sickness rates or absenteeism: Department for Work and Pensions Employer Survey 2022: research report - GOV.UK. The department has since commissioned further surveys of employers and employees about their experiences of managing health and wellbeing in the workplace, and the findings will be published later this year.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Defence to encourage young people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance to seek employment in the armed forces.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to working closely alongside the Ministry of Defence to identify and support anyone in receipt of benefits with transferable skills to move into careers within the Armed Forces, with a particular focus on younger customers.
We are also committed to promoting and advertising career opportunities across the Armed Forces at our regular recruitment events, dedicated armed forces recruitment days and through our offer of account managing vacancies.
This allows us to ensure we are signposting customers to the available opportunities within the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will end the treatment of military compensation as income for the purpose of welfare benefit means tests.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer to question UIN 500, given on the 25 July 2024.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the potential effect of the gambling review on the employment of women in retail betting shops.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Secretary of State regularly meets with Cabinet colleagues to discuss a range of policy issues and topics.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support homeless people who require a fixed address to access public services.
Answered by Will Quince
If a Universal Credit claimant doesn't have a permanent address, there are a number of options available to them. They can use a 'care of' address, like the address of a family member or trusted friend. There is also the option of using a hostel address if the claimant is staying there, or in exceptional circumstances, the claimant can use their local jobcentre address.
There are varied and complex reasons behind a person’s homelessness and that is why it is DWP’s priority to ensure homeless people get the appropriate support they need to move into work so they can succeed and move on with their lives. This support includes help for people to make a Universal Credit claim and to access the Jobcentre Plus employment offer, with priority access to the Work and Health Programme. Jobcentres in England are required to offer a voluntary referral to claimants who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a local housing authority of the claimant’s choice.
The Department is committed to tackling homelessness and is supporting the manifesto commitment to end the blight of rough sleeping by the end of the next Parliament. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has worked closely with local authorities and the sector to offer vulnerable people safe accommodation and support. The ‘Protect Programme’, provides targeted support to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from Covid-19, and builds on the success of the still ongoing ‘Everyone In’ campaign - by September it had supported over 29,000 vulnerable people; with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 moved on into settled accommodation.
The Next Steps Accommodation Programme makes available the financial resources needed to support local authorities and their partners to prevent people from returning to the streets.
Alongside this funding, the Government is also making available the expertise from MHCLG’s Rough Sleeping Initiative and Homelessness Advice and Support Adviser Teams to help coproduce accommodation provision and related support services.
For the most up to date information relating to the Government’s response to homelessness and rough sleeping please refer to the following link
https://www.gov.uk/housing-local-and-community/homelessness-rough-sleeping