Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has (a) spent on and (b) reduced its expenditure due to the expansion of targeted case reviews.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Targeted Case Review (TCR) is currently scaling at pace to strengthen the department’s response to fraud and error within Universal Credit.
We are investing £443 million to save £6.6 billion by March 2028.
Investment in TCR for 2022-23 was £19.6 million. As set out in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) 2022-23, TCR delivered DWP £39 million of savings, of which £14 million related to 2022-23 expenditure.
We expect the majority of savings to occur in the final years of the project when Targeted Case Review is fully operational.
The Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 23/24 is expected to be published Summer 2024. This will include Targeted Case Review spend and expenditure. The Fraud and Error National Statistics will be published on 16 May 2024.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 33 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts, what proportion of Jobcentres provide access to the Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme as of 23 April 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As well as providing employment support, Jobcentre Work Coaches can signpost to NHS Talking Therapies, which can be accessed via self-referral.
Jobcentres do not provide direct access to Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies.
Employment Advisers and Work Coaches often work together to support NHS Talking Therapies clients - who are in contact with JCP - to find work, return to work from sick leave and remain in work.
The Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme is currently being rolled out across England. All NHS Talking Therapies providers in England are on track to have Employment Advisers in post during 2024/25.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adjusting the minimum income floor for Universal Credit for (a) farmers and (b) other people whose income and expenditure varies during the year.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not intend to assess the potential merits of adjusting the Minimum Income Floor (MIF). Relaxing or removing the MIF risks trapping customers indefinitely in very low-earning self-employment and dependency on the welfare system - a situation that is unfair to the taxpayer, and unhelpful for customers and their families.
We are working with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to ensure a smooth transition from the old legacy benefits to Universal Credit, as well as providing transitional protection when applicable.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the two-child limit in Universal Credit applies to households caring for an additional child under a special guardianship order.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since 6 April 2017, families can claim support for up to two children, and there may be further entitlement for other children if they were born before April 2017 or if an exception applies. One of these exceptions is any child in a household who is living long-term with friends or family who would otherwise be at risk of entering the care system, which includes a child being cared for under a Special Guardianship Order.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department were working on programmes supporting disabled people into work as of 23 April (a) 2010 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Improving the lives of disabled people is a priority for this Government. This includes supporting more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. In recognition of this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate was set up in 2015 in recognition of the significant link between work and health and to reflect the shared agenda of boosting employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions. This not only benefits people’s health and wealth, but also the UK economy through increased productivity and reduced economic inactivity.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the average distance benefit recipients need to travel to their assigned Jobcentre; and what the greatest distance for a recipient was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the benefits cap for families with children living in poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10.
Where possible, it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. Children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
To ensure the most vulnerable are supported, exemptions also apply to households who are entitled to disability benefits and/or carer benefits.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to support unemployed people in Birmingham with (a) skills training and (b) financial management.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Birmingham, our local Jobcentre Plus partnership teams are working directly with colleges and training providers to ensure claimants have access to the right skills support. Our successful Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) have seen almost three hundred customers in Sparkhill take up this support in the last year. This provision includes pre-employment training, work experience and a guaranteed job interview across a variety of sectors, with further SWAPs available with employers such as HS2, Compass Group, Air Scaffolding, Weatherspoon’s, and Jet 2.
In the Hall Green constituency, we have recently supported customers into jobs in the hospitality sector through English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision based at Sparkhill Jobcentre. Customers have also taken up non-teaching roles within local schools through the skills training we have set up with Pineapple Recruitment, and Sparkhill Jobcentre staff work closely with Joseph Chamberlain College to support claimants move into self-employment.
We are committed to ensuring that all staff can identify and signpost customers to the financial support they require. Across all our Jobcentres in Birmingham, Work Coaches have regular conversations with customers about the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) and how this can help to remove barriers to work, such as support with childcare costs.
The ‘Move In Move On’ programme helps customers in supported accommodation to move into work via a partnership with the Salvation Army. This programme offers financial education, tenancy skills and employability. We also work with The Money House which offers a financial education course to support 16–25-year-olds with banking, budgeting, and spending habits to support in reducing youth homelessness.
To help facilitate signposting discussions with customers, staff have access to a database of national and local support information, the District Provision Tool, which ensures that customers can access tailored support where required.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average value was of a benefits underpayment in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP does not produce an estimate for the average value of a benefit underpayment.
We estimate that the total rate of benefit expenditure underpaid in 2022-2023 was £3.3bn: Fraudand error in the benefit system Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of classifying covid-19 as an occupational disease for healthcare workers; and whether his Department has had discussions with relevant professional bodies on that matter.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) can be paid.
The Council considered the available scientific and epidemiological evidence around COVID-19 infection and published a Command Paper entitled, ‘COVID-19 and occupational impacts’ in November 2022 found here.
The Command Paper recommends that the list of prescribed occupational diseases for which IIDB can be paid should be expanded to include health and social care workers with five serious pathological complications following COVID-19 infection.
The Department is currently carrying out a detailed assessment of the report’s recommendations and will respond in due course.