Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the role is of older people champions in job centres.

We have seven older claimant champions across the jobcentre network, one operating in each of the GB regions. These were introduced in April 2015 to increase awareness among Work Coaches of the barriers faced by older claimants. The Champions work collaboratively with 34 District Leads, along with other colleagues, to raise the profile of older claimants at an operational level, highlight the benefits of employing older people and provide advice and best practice to share nationally.