Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of changes in the rate of disability employment in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Estimates of the UK disability employment rate can be found on the Office for National Statistics website at the following link:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2015/table-a08.xls
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Fuller Working Lives: a framework for action, published in June 2014, what steps his Department has taken to implement the commitments contained in that framework in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Steve Webb
Since June 2014 this Government has implemented a number of initiatives to support older workers in Hertfordshire.
All Jobcentre Work Coaches are trained to support all customers including those aged over 50 and are aware of the help available within their area. Indeed, customers over the age of 50 have been recognised in the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Strategy as a group in need of specialist support.
On the 18 June 2014 an ‘Experience Counts’ Jobs fair for older workers was delivered in partnership with Oaklands College. A variety of employers and providers from different sectors and over 200 older workers attended the event.
Other local partnership initiatives include
- Working with Harlow College who deliver a course for customers aged 50 and over (Optimum) that focuses on employability, IT and transferable skills for this age group;
- sector based work academies are available to all candidates including 50+;
- work experience for 50+ candidates;
- Customers aged over 50 can access all courses delivered at West Herts College;
- Working in partnership with North Herts College who deliver ‘Get that Job’: a four day course for 50+ customers in Stevenage and Letchworth;
- Specific Group information sessions, tailored for those aged over 50;
- Customers aged over 50 can access all courses delivered at West Herts College;
- “Anything is Possible” is a 3 day course followed by 3 months of employment support exclusively for 50 plus. Its aim is to build a positive attitude and confidence;
- Working in partnership with EUREKA, Oaklands College and Progression 2, a 5 week course has been developed and delivered to long term unemployed who are mainly in the 50+ group;
- Working in partnership with Community Action Dacorum, which provides customers over 50 with a digital and social media skill set and profile.
As regards wider achievement since the publication of Fuller Working Lives – A Framework for Action, I refer my hon.Member to the answer I gave on 27 February 2015 to Question UIN 225231.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department is providing to people in Hertfordshire with mental health problems to return to work.
Answered by Lord Harper
At Jobcentre level, all our Work Coaches are trained to support customers with mental health conditions and are aware of the specialist help available within their area. They also support those individuals with complex needs to overcome any barriers which may be preventing them from returning to the workplace.
Jobcentre Plus offers a range of support to people with mental health conditions including: Mental Health and Wellbeing Partnership Managers; Disability Employment Advisers; and Work Psychologists. In January 2014, we launched an enhanced product in Jobcentres, the toolkit Employment and Wellbeing, which offers practical support to work coaches to help them advise claimants affected by mental health problems.
In Hertfordshire we are working with a number of stakeholders that provide services to people with Mental Health conditions. This work has included: securing funding at two of our Jobcentres for Herts Mind Network to support customers with mental health conditions; and Watford and West Herts College designing a course called ‘Moving Forward’ to support Employment and Support Allowance claimants with mental health conditions.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the progress and effectiveness of the Disability Confident campaign in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Lord Harper
Employers and wider society both benefit from recruiting more disabled people. Disability Confident is a campaign to help employers discover for themselves the talents and value that disabled people bring to business.
Launched in July 2013 by the Prime Minister, supported by business leaders and disability employment organisations, Disability Confident sets out the business case for those employers unsure about the benefits of employing disabled people. It overcomes the fear factor for those employers worried about the logistics or afraid of saying the wrong thing, and emphasises the support available for employers. It highlights the great work that employers are already doing and encourages others to join in.
Disability Confident is a partnership approach – a business-to-business dialogue. Partners learn from each other about how to become disability confident, with support from Government and disability organisations.
In the first year of the Disability Confident campaign we held seven regional events across the UK, reaching more than 1,100 employers. In July 2014 we launched a toolkit for MPs – so they can bring together employers and disabled people in their own constituencies.
On 27 February a very successful Disability Confident event, coupled with a Jobs Fair, was held in St Albans. Opened by Cllr Geoff Harrison (the Mayor of St Albans), and Anne Main MP, the event provided an opportunity for around 120 jobseekers to make contact with local employers. There is scope for other Hertfordshire MPs to host further Disability Confident events in coming months.