Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent changes to Women’s State Pension Age on women in Newport West.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the average wait a woman in Newport West who turns 66 has had before receiving the first state pension payment in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not collated as part of normal business and is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the reasons for her Department's delay in issuing first payments of the state pension to eligible pensioners.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are aware that some State Pension customers have experienced delays in receiving their initial payments. This has been caused by a number of different factors, which individually would have been successfully managed by the organisation, but collectively, and with the added difficulties presented by the pandemic, created the delays that some customers have experienced. For example, we saw an unanticipated change in customer behaviour caused specifically by the economic conditions created by the pandemic.
Customers who were deferring their State Pension as they continued to work began to claim in greater numbers. This change in behaviour was one factor in a higher than expected number of State Pension claims being received. We also saw much greater than anticipated take-up of a new, simpler clerical claim form which was made available via Gov.uk from May 2020. We believe the surge in this channel was driven by the temporary reduction in our State Pension telephony service offering in response to the pressures of the pandemic. Again, this caused unexpected pressure on our clerical processing teams.
Following the equalisation of State Pension age, we have also seen a substantial increase in claim volumes throughout 2021.
Alongside changes in customer behaviour, we have also experienced high levels of attrition as colleagues secured progression in a number of other Government departments and on promotion within DWP. There has been a delay in recruiting sufficient new staff to return staffing to the required level. This has been our priority in the last quarter we have now recruited, trained and redeployed significant additional resources to support State Pension delivery. We were also impacted by the operational challenges and staff availability during the peak of the pandemic, in common with most other delivery organisations.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have experienced a delay in receiving their first state pension payment since July 2019.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not collated as part of normal business and is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how her Department marked Black History Month 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department recognises the importance of Black History Month in recognising the contributions that Black people have made to society, and the platform that this also provides in encouraging colleagues to share details of their personal lived experiences and Departmental Race priorities.
This year the Department has worked in collaboration with the DWP National Race Network to run in excess of 40 virtual staff events. These events have been open to everyone and have been supported by the Department’s Permanent Secretary and Executive Team who have each facilitated a discussion on what Black History Month means to them and the Race actions they are progressing. All of the events have been recorded to ensure staff who may not have been able to participate can listen to the replay at a time more convenient time.
In addition to the large number of national Network events that have been scheduled, many of our business areas have also run localised activity. Examples of activities include: personal story telling; sponsorship and mentoring promotion; and communications to celebrate and raise awareness of inspirational Black people.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to tackle labour market shortages in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live. Through our Plan for Jobs, the government announced over £33 billion in measures to create, support and protect jobs, which includes £2.9 billion funding for Restart and £3 billion investment in the Kickstart programme alongside other measures focussed on boosting work search, skills and apprenticeships.
Alongside measures in Plan for Jobs, DWP is leading cross-government collaboration to identify and remove barriers to working in sectors with immediate or growing demand for jobs. We continue to work closely with these departments and sector bodies to identify and address barriers facing DWP customers and to ensure the provision is available to support individuals to access opportunities in these sectors. We work closely with a range of departments to shape skills support to enable individuals to develop the skills needed in order to move to roles in different sectors.
In addition, the local Jobcentre team are currently supporting the recruitment of a significant number vacancies in the Newport area and continue to build on these opportunities with employers to support claimants in their movement to work. The Jobcentre team continually engages with local employers, supporting recruitment drives and promoting the use of the Jobcentre for recruitment events. Some of the larger employers they are currently supporting include; Tesco, RF Brooks, McDonald’s, Trinity FM, Celtic Manor and TK Maxx.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure equal employment opportunities for disabled people in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and delivering the most ambitious disability reform agenda in a generation. DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) delivers a range of national programmes, as well as initiatives in partnership with the health system, to support disabled people to stay in or move into work. These include the Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support. Within Jobcentre Plus and aided by Disability Employment Advisers, Work Coaches tailor support to each claimant’s individual needs, taking account of local provision, training, and employment opportunities.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last met Ministers in the Welsh Government.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There is a well-established working relationship between the Department for Work and Pensions and The Welsh Government, ensuring that we work together on devolved and reserved areas effectively. The Secretary of State met with the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales and the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture on December 10th 2020.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential effect of expanding eligibility for statutory sick pay on the people of Newport West constituency.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a minimum level of income for employees when they are sick or incapable of work. Employers are legally required to pay SSP to eligible employees who are off work sick or incapable of work, where employees meet the qualifying conditions. The same qualifying conditions apply to employees across all regions. Some employers may also decide to pay more, and for longer, through Occupational Sick Pay.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will reverse her plans to remove the £20 uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced with the success of the vaccine rollout. Now the economy is reopening and as we continue to progress with our recovery our focus is on helping people back into work.
Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for UC claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to UC claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.