Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve the support available for jobseekers.

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for getting people into work and making work pay. We do this through our core Jobcentre offer which provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. We also have support programmes targeted towards specific cohorts, such as young people or people with disabilities.

In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer reaffirmed this government’s commitment to raising the Administrative Earnings Threshold from January 2023. This will bring more claimants into scope for intensive work coach support, helping those who are either not in work or are working but are in low pay.

The Restart scheme gives jobseekers intensive support to find work in their local area. First referrals were in July 2021, with an initial focus on those who had been on UC in the IWS regime for between 12 and 18 months. The scheme was expanded to UC claimants who have been unemployed for 9 months (January 2022) and to claimants who are in receipt of Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance for 9 months (April 2022). By April 2022, 226,785 claimants have started on the scheme.