Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that mental health is included in the decision-making processes on provision of social security.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The impact of a claimant's mental health is taken fully into consideration when deciding on their entitlement to health and disability benefits. Decision makers receive mental health awareness training, have access to guidance and to the support of healthcare professionals when considering entitlement to benefit. The Green Paper on health and disability benefits, which was published on 20 July, explores how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people, including those with mental health conditions, now and in the future, to build a system that enables people not only to receive the benefits to which they are entitled but to live independently, and move into work where possible.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of young people resident in the Wolverhampton South West constituency who are informal carers; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that those young people receive adequate welfare support.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers, including younger carers, who provide invaluable support for relatives, partners, friends and neighbours who are ill, frail or disabled.
Carers aged 16 and over can apply for Carer’s Allowance if they meet the qualifying conditions, such as providing 35 hours of care or more a week, and not being in full-time education. As of November 2020, there were 75 carers aged 16 to 25 in the Wolverhampton South West constituency that were receiving Carer’s Allowance. There will undoubtedly be other young carers in the constituency who are not receiving benefits, but the department does not hold any information on them.
As well as Carer’s Allowance, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits according to their circumstances.
The Government is also committed to making sure young carers are not left behind and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing. Under the Children’s and Families Act 2014, young carers are entitled to a young carers assessment. And, the Government’s focus on supporting carers during the pandemic has included: providing over £11 million to the “See, Hear, Respond” programme to support young carers; guidance tailored to carers; actions to help carers self-identify; and ongoing to work to help carers access the support they need.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many youth employability coaches will be based in the City of Wolverhampton.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We do not publish YEC numbers by area, but I can confirm that Wolverhampton does have Youth Employability Coach representation within its Jobcentres.
Youth Employability Coaches are providing flexible support to young people with significant complex needs and barriers to help them move into employment and offering six weeks of in-work support when they start work. This support is one element of the DWP Youth Offer, alongside the Youth Employment Programme and Youth Hubs designed to support young people enter the labour market.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides people who have become carers during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has provided significant additional support for carers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The role that unpaid carers play has perhaps been more important than ever over the last year or so. That is why we have focussed on ensuring carers do not inadvertently stop receiving Carer’s Allowance because of changes to patterns of care. This includes allowing emotional support to count towards the 35 hours of care being provided by the carer as well as relaxing the rules around breaks in care. These changes aim to support carers whose role, in many cases, became harder due to the need to self-isolate or shield the person they care for. These provisions will be in place until the end of August 2021 providing unpaid carers receiving Carer’s Allowance with some extra flexibility in the way they provide care.
As well as Carer’s Allowance, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits. For example, carers on Universal Credit can receive around an additional £1,950 a year through the Carer Element. And due to the temporary Covid-19 uplift, around 300,000 carer households receiving Universal Credit benefitted from an additional £1,040 during the 20/21 financial year. So this Government has chosen to focus extra support on those carers who need it most.
And very importantly the Department worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to help identify unpaid carers who were eligible for a Covid vaccine as part of Priority Group 6. As a result, more than half a million carers receiving benefit received a letter inviting them to book an appointment for a vaccine.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ensure that there are sufficient local employment and training opportunities for people with severe learning disabilities once they have completed further education.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The increased number of work coaches recruited under our Plan for Jobs will enable us to continue supporting those with complex needs, and to work with partners to ensure they get the help they need. People in particular disadvantaged groups will continue to benefit from support via the increased Flexible Support Fund.
The Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme (IPES) started on 2 December 2019. It provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is in place to ensure that older workers have access to the skills and training required to participate effectively in the future workforce.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department is committed to supporting over 50s jobseekers, and a range of special support is available for this group. As part of the 50 PLUS: Choices agenda we have created a network of 50 PLUS Champions (formerly Older Claimants Champions) throughout all of the 37 Jobcentre Plus districts, who work collaboratively with Work Coaches to raise the profile of over 50s claimants, highlighting the benefits of employing them and sharing best practice.
DWP is also piloting 50+ mentoring circles in England to address any confidence barriers experienced by over 50s claimants and to support them in moving into new jobs, particularly where their sectors have been adversely affected by COVID-19.
More broadly, the department is supporting people of all ages back in to work through the Plan for Jobs. This provides new funding to ensure more people of all age groups get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to find work, including through building new skills. This includes £895m for 13,500 additional Work Coaches; a £150m increase in the Flexible Support Fund to help those facing redundancy; and £10m for the Job Finding Support Service which will provide tailored one-to-one job finding support online to the recently unemployed.
The Government also aims to increase Sector-based Work Academy programme placements, which provide unemployed participants of all ages with training, work experience and a guaranteed interview for a real job. We are also investing £238m into Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) to offer enhanced support to those who have been made unemployed for three months.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the uptake of carer's allowance.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
1 million carers were entitled to Carer’s Allowance in 2010/11. By 2025/26 we forecast that this will have increased to just over 1.5 million.
Information on Carer’s Allowance is widely available, including online through Gov.uk. Organisations supporting carers, and other stakeholders and partners, also make information available on carers benefits, including Carer’s Allowance.
Carer’s Allowance can be applied for online and since this option was made available in October 2013 over 1.5 million people have applied that way. Since April 2020, over 90% of Carer’s Allowance applications have been made online and over 90% of those customers have said they are happy with the online service.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the access of carers to employment opportunities; what potential barriers to working have been identified; and what steps she plans to take to tackle those barriers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Many carers experience considerable challenges balancing work with caring responsibilities. This can have a big impact on their careers and limit their participation in the workplace. The impact falls disproportionately on women, who make up 60 per cent of carers.
Regulations for flexible working arrangements may be particularly beneficial for carers, the Government has made a clear commitment to encourage flexible working, and will be consulting on making it the default position. The Government has also consulted on proposals to introduce a new employment right to one week’s additional leave for unpaid carers, to support those with caring responsibilities balance employment. The consultation received a significant number of replies, and the Government will issue its response in due course on the way forward.
Carers are being particularly impacted by COVID-19 and the government is committed to promoting the benefits of retaining them in the workforce, for both carer and employer. To support carers to remain in work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department have been working with employer organisations to encourage employers, including small and medium sized enterprises, to retain employees who are carers, hosting a series of webinars delivered by the Business Champion for Older Workers and Employers for Carers. Carers can also access other resources, for example the Business in the Community (BITC) Supporting Carers toolkit, or COVID 19: Supporting Carers in the work place, published in March 2020.
For those who become unemployed, The Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged over 50, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. As part of the Jobcentre Plus offer for over 50s, we are also providing dedicated support through 50 PLUS Champions, and mentoring circles to ensure they fully benefit from the Plan for Jobs package and existing Jobcentre Plus support.
Jobcentre Plus is geared-up to offer advice to those claiming welfare benefits. They also offer on a voluntary basis, to all carers working less than 16 hours per week and irrespective of benefit status (subject to any existing conditionality): adviser support; access to the Flexible Support Fund; and payment for replacement care, childcare, travel and course costs to allow the carer to undertake approved activity or interviews with Jobcentre Plus, providers or employers.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to support bereaved partners who were not married or in a civil partnership.
Answered by Guy Opperman
We intend to take forward a Remedial Order to remove the incompatibilities from the legislation governing Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Support Payment by extending these benefits to cohabitees with children. The Order will be laid before the House in due course.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on delivering the Kickstart scheme for young people in the Wolverhampton South West constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As of 19/01/2021 over 100,000 jobs have been approved for the Kickstart Scheme. We are not yet able to break starts data down to constituency level.
Our local Job Centre networks are working with employers and Gateways in all areas, including Wolverhampton South West, to encourage more Kickstart jobs to be created and offering support to help them do so.