Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on reviewing her Department's condition that a claimant will normally be willing to travel 90 minutes each way to work, to help ensure that it meets the aim in the foreword of the Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, that people deserve to live in a country where life is not a postcode lottery, where by staying local you can go far.

The Government is helping individuals across the nation to take full advantage of job opportunities within their local areas and the Department for Work and Pension is well placed to support the Levelling Up agenda.

Typically, a claimant who is expected to be available and looking for work will be required to look for work that is within daily travelling time of their home. There is a maximum limit set at 90 minutes travel time for this. Work coaches have the flexibility to tailor this taking into consideration a claimant’s circumstances, for example, location of childcare, schools, available work and public transport links.

The Flexible Support Fund is available to help with the cost of attending interviews and can support travel costs for up to three months of the claimant starting work.