Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason carers allowance for unpaid carers is treated as an income for benefits purposes.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society, including pensioners and those with disabilities.
The principle that available income normally reduces entitlement to means-tested benefits is long established under successive Governments. Means-tested benefits essentially “top-up” other income. Means-tested benefits contain additional amounts for unpaid carers, worth around £2,000 a year, which recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring and mean that those with caring responsibilities on low incomes can receive more than other claimants.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 support businesses which have not received the Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs for employers from the gateway.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Gateway organisations have a responsibility to carry out their obligations in accordance with all applicable law. If a concern is raised, DWP will investigate any organisation where there is evidence of a failure to meet obligations, which may result in rescinding grant agreements where appropriate.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2022 to Question 28473 on Universal Credit: Veterans, when he plans to (a) develop and (b) publish statistics on armed forces personnel on Universal Credit, including breakdowns by claim characteristics.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The information requested is not currently readily available.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2022 to Question 11814, on Universal Credit: Veterans, if she will publish the data the Government is collecting on how many veterans are in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are currently looking at options to develop and publish statistics on armed forces personnel on UC, including breakdowns by claim characteristics.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2022 to Question 11814, on Universal Credit: Veterans, if she will publish data on veterans in receipt of Universal Credit broken down into categories, including age and gender.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are currently looking at options to develop and publish statistics on armed forces personnel on UC, including breakdowns by claim characteristics.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 effectiveness of data collection by Job Centres on veterans.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The department began collecting the armed forces status on new Universal Credit (UC) claims from April 2021 and UC claimants declaring their work and earnings from June 2021. From July 2021, Jobcentre work coaches could add information if the claimant were known to be serving or a veteran and had not already provided their status.
The Department continues 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’s network of 50 Armed Forces Champions (AFCs) and 11 Group Leads provide vital support to veterans and other members of the armed forces community. The AFCs have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces community and their role involves front line responsibilities including building staff capability within their districts, personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary.
Every Work Coach can also support members of the Armed Forces community and their families, working in partnership with their Armed Forces Champions. In those areas where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example garrison towns, this will form a significant part of the work done in individual Jobcentres.
Data is currently only available for the latest month and at a national level. For assessment periods ending in April 2022, we held a response for approximately 45% of the UC caseload. From this data we have identified 33,800 UC claimants who have previously served in the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans were in receipt of Universal Credit in Wales on average during 2021-22.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The department began collecting the armed forces status on new Universal Credit (UC) claims from April 2021 and UC claimants declaring their work and earnings from June 2021. From July 2021, Jobcentre work coaches could add information if the claimant were known to be serving or a veteran and had not already provided their status.
The Department continues 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’s network of 50 Armed Forces Champions (AFCs) and 11 Group Leads provide vital support to veterans and other members of the armed forces community. The AFCs have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces community and their role involves front line responsibilities including building staff capability within their districts, personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary.
Every Work Coach can also support members of the Armed Forces community and their families, working in partnership with their Armed Forces Champions. In those areas where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example garrison towns, this will form a significant part of the work done in individual Jobcentres.
Data is currently only available for the latest month and at a national level. For assessment periods ending in April 2022, we held a response for approximately 45% of the UC caseload. From this data we have identified 33,800 UC claimants who have previously served in the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans were in receipt of Personal Independence Payment in Wales on average during 2021-22.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans were in receipt of Employment Support Allowance in Wales on average during 2021-22.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken with the Secretary of State for Defence to enhance the job opportunities for armed forces service leavers.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP regularly meets with departments responsible for key sectors to identify and promote opportunities. We offer significant support across Great Britain to access employment opportunities through our network of Jobcentres. Our Work Coaches provide veterans and others with the help and support they need, and our National Employer and Partnership team encourage our national employers to sign the Armed Forces Covenant, pledging to recruit veterans.
Through our Plan for Jobs, the Department is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support and Restart scheme.
DWP’s network of 50 Armed Forces Champions and 11 Group Leads provide vital support to veterans and other members of the armed forces community, including providing additional help to get veterans in to work. 83% of veterans are employed within 6 months of discharge, which compares very favourably with the wider population where 75% are in employment.
The Armed Force Champions network receive Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) opportunities direct, supporting this cross government accredited scheme to provide veterans and veterans’ partners (and others) with work placements and fixed-term opportunities across Civil Service departments, which could in turn lead to permanent employment.