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 help people who wish to move from part-time to full-time employment.

The Department is continuing to modernise the way Jobcentre delivers its services and has given responsibility to Jobcentre Work Coaches - trusting them to assess the individual needs of people and offer the support they think is best. Jobcentre Work Coaches personalise the support they provide to claimants to help them find work and have the freedom and flexibility to support claimants based on their individual need. This includes helping claimants who wish to move from part-time to full-time employment.

UC gives us the opportunity, for the first time, to support people who are in work to progress, and we are building the evidence base about what works through a large scale In Work Progression Randomised Control Trial, in order to find the best way of helping claimants to increase their earnings and become financially independent. Evaluation of this trial will be published in 2018.’

Universal Credit contains structural incentives to encourage people work more and earn more. It is simple and, as people’s earnings increase, there are no cliff edges, their payments reduce at a steady rate, so it is clear that they will always be better off working and earning more.