Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Youth Hub work coaches are employed by his Department as of 19 June 2023; and how many were employed on the same date in (a) 2022 and (b) 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Youth Hubs are part of the wider DWP Youth Offer which also includes the Youth Employment Programme and Youth Employability Coaches. Youth Hubs across Great Britain bring together employment support from a Jobcentre Plus Work Coach and place-based support from local partnerships to help young people into work. The support offered in a Youth Hub is dependent on local needs and includes skills, training, employment provision and dedicated support services.
Due to changes in claimant needs new Youth Hubs may open, and existing Youth Hubs may close. The number of open Youth Hubs and their required Youth Hub Work Coach resource may therefore fluctuate, as claimants access wider Youth Offer support.
The figures included offer a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of Youth Hub Work Coaches. As some Youth Hub Work Coaches may work part-time in a Youth Hub, or across multiple Youth Hubs, we do not expect this number to be equivalent to the number of Youth Hub sites.
Role |
| ABM FTE |
|
| May-23 | May-22 | May-21 |
Youth Hub Work Coach | 100 | 140 | 140 |
Source: DWP’s internal Activity Based Model (ABM)
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Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 support people aged over 50 into work.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to delivering a comprehensive package of support to help over 50s to remain and return to work.
Eligible older jobseekers on Universal Credit will receive more intensive, tailored support during the first nine months of their claim. This will give work coaches more time to spend with older job seekers who have recently become unemployed and give extra support to help tackle barriers or difficulties in finding work.
37 new full-time 50PLUS Champion are now in every Jobcentre Plus district across GB, to support and upskill Work Coaches to deliver success for older claimants, including by raising awareness of the importance of supporting older job seekers.
The Mid-life MOT is being offered to workers in their 40s and 50s to review and take stock of their finances, skills and health. This enables them to better prepare for their retirement and build financial resilience. They will be delivered to people in work in the private sector in three pilot areas, to eligible customers in the Jobcentres claiming Universal Credit and digitally. As part of the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced even more 50+ customers on Universal Credit will be able to take part in the Mid-life MOT sessions in the Jobcentre. The digital Mid-life MOT will also be expanded and improved.
Alongside this enhanced offer, for those who became unemployed, Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches have the flexibility to offer all claimants, a comprehensive menu of help, such as through Restart, Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), the Flexible Support Fund, Mentoring circles, and 50+ job fairs, whilst also being supported by the 50 PLUS Champions.
We will introduce Returnerships, a new offer promoting existing skills interventions to the over-50s, focussing on flexibility and previous experience to reduce training length.
DWP also engages with employers to encourage positive attitudes towards older workers and the benefits of a multi-generational work force, and the adoption of suitable work practices to increase the retention, retraining and recruitment of older workers. DWP and The Business Champion for Older Workers, Andy Briggs, engage with employers to promote the benefits of older workers to business.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what programmes they have in place to support the retraining of workers to enable them to access work in new sectors.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over this Parliament. The department’s skills reforms provide a ladder of opportunity that enables young people and adults to attain good jobs, retrain, and progress in their careers or different careers.
In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a new initiative called Returnerships. This programme is designed to raise awareness of three different skills pathways, apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, and sector-based work academies programmes. This will provide a clear route back into work and encourage employers to hire older workers.
Apprenticeships are available for everyone over the age of 16, from those starting their career, to experienced workers looking to upskill or retrain in a new profession. There are high-quality apprenticeship routes into more than 660 occupations, from entry to expert roles.
As part of our investment in re-skilling and up-skilling opportunities to ensure adults, at any age, can upskill to reach their potential, transforming lives, Skills Bootcamps were introduced at the end of 2020. They deliver short, free, flexible training courses, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview with an employer on completion.
Skills Bootcamps are still a relatively new training offer, but they are already delivering positive outcomes for adult learners and employers, and are available right across the country. Following the recent Budget announcement, the department will target making 64,000 training places a year available by the 2024/25 financial year to ensure that learners across all areas of the country can access Skills Bootcamps.
We have also introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme, which gives eligible adults in England without an existing full level 3 qualification or who are unemployed or meet the low wage criteria, the chance to access over 400 Level 3 qualifications for free.
The offer has seen over 35,000 enrolments reported between April 2021 and October 2022. This means that enrolments are 82% higher for adults without a full level 3 compared uptake of the same qualifications in 2018/19.
We are continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), with an investment of £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 academic year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship, or further learning.
The National Careers Service provides free, up-to-date, impartial information, advice and guidance on careers, skills, and the labour market in England. It offers intensive support for low skilled adults without a qualification at level 3, as one of six priority groups for the Service. Professionally qualified careers advisers can support customers to explore the range of learning routes to determine the best route for them and to develop a careers action plan.
Community-based National Careers Service contractors are co-located in most Jobcentre Plus offices, as well as a range of other community settings. They work closely with work coaches at a local level, encouraging work coaches to refer customers in need of careers advice and guidance to the Service.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper published on 15 March 2023, when the pilots designed to test the effectiveness of the Adjustment Passport with (a) disabled people leaving educational training and vocational programmes, (b) armed forced service leavers moving into civilian employment and (c) contractors and freelancers are due to begin; what the duration of those pilots will be; and how many people will be included in the pilots.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Adjustments Passport was developed with stakeholders to support transitions into employment. Several pilots are being delivered to test the effectiveness of the passport, including students leaving university and jobseekers moving into work. The use of the Adjustments Passport is voluntary and, therefore, no minimum numbers have been set for the pilots. All the pilots build on the successful delivery of the Health Adjustment Passport pilot delivered in Jobcentre Plus in 2021, which has been rolled out across Jobcentres and is available online at gov.uk. (Health Adjustment Passport - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
To test the transition from education into employment, a pilot was delivered in universities for a period of 12 months from November 2021 with around 250 disabled students in total, and a further pilot to support disabled people leaving educational training and vocational programmes commenced in February 2023 and is expected to last for a period of 12 months.
To support the contractors and freelancers receiving Access to Work, a flexible application was launched in May 2021 alongside a 12-month Adjustments Passport pilot for contractors and freelancers; around 10 people took part in the pilot. The information from this pilot is being reviewed to inform future testing for contractors and freelancers. And to support service leavers with the transition from the armed forces into civilian employment, the Service Leavers Adjustment Passport is being developed with more information expected early in Summer 2023.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps with his Cabinet colleagues to provide free courses to workers over 50 who feel they would benefit from training to (a) build their confidence and (b) ensure their skills are suited to the modern workplace.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Government already offer a wide range of skills focused programmes such as Sector-based Work Academies, Skills Bootcamps and Apprenticeships. As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, Free Courses for Jobs supports people of all ages find work or a new career.
At budget, the Chancellor announced returnerships, which is a new offer targeted at the over 50s, which will bring together the government’s existing skills programmes, focusing on flexibility and previous experience to reduce training length.
Work Coaches and other Jobcentre Plus staff are equipped with knowledge about local labour markets and training opportunities, to support older people looking to move back into employment, and support such as Midlife MoT’s and mentoring circles aim to build older customers confidence in their skills and ability to seek work.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to (a) introduce retraining programmes and (b) take further steps to help support unemployed people over the age of 50 move back into the workforce.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government offers a wide range of training programmes such as Sector-based Work Academies, Skills Bootcamps and Apprenticeships aimed at helping people of all ages find work or a new career. Unemployed benefit claimants are supported by Work Coaches and other Jobcentre Plus staff, who are equipped with knowledge about local labour markets and training opportunities, including what may be available for older people looking to move back into employment.
The Government is also providing over £20 million over the Spending Review Period for an enhanced offer for people aged 50+ to remain in and return to work.
Mid-life MOTs will be delivered to people in work in the private sector; to eligible customers in the Jobcentres; and the digital Mid-life MOT will also be expanded and improved. Sessions in the Jobcentres have already started to be delivered.
This funding will also ensure that older jobseekers on Universal Credit receive more intensive, tailored support during the first nine months of their claim. This will give work coaches more time to spend with older job seekers who have recently become unemployed, and who the work coach feels need extra support to tackle barriers or difficulties in finding work.
There are also multiple over 50 jobs fairs, Mid-life MOT fairs and 50 plus events in individual regions and JCPs to facilitate this.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that training programmes offered by his Department to people seeking work reflect the skills required by local economies.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Jobcentre Plus employer partnership leads work closely with local employers to understand labour market need and with local training providers to ensure provision is available to address skills gaps. This approach is exemplified in our successful Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs) which combines work experience, job specific training and a guaranteed interview to support claimants into local vacancies. The benefit of this integrated approach is clear, having achieved over 88,000 SWAPs starts this financial year.
Jobcentre Plus leads also engage with national employers to identify regional employment opportunities and will play a key role in the development and implementation of employer representative body led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs). LSIPs will set out local priorities needed to ensure training is more responsive and aligned with the employer view of the skills most needed to support local economic growth and boost productivity and improve employability and progression for learners. LSIP guidance is available online
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what qualifications are required to be appointed a 50 Plus Champion at a Jobcentre.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The 50 Plus champions were internally recruited using the expression of interest process based on DWP’s success profiles which assess behaviours & strengths appropriate for the role.
There is 1.5 days initial training, with an ongoing training package.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 ensure that a) work coaches and b) disability employment advisors understand the barriers to employment faced by disabled people.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
DWP Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEA) undergo comprehensive learning to support customers with additional or complex needs, particularly disabilities, and they continue to build on this in the workplace through accessing point of need learning products.
The learning provides Work Coaches with the knowledge and skills to enable them to:
Learning includes the DWP Fundamental Learning Journey which contains a number of training courses that cover disability awareness:
Work Coaches are also signposted to tools, guidance support and websites to effectively use resources from both internal and external sites. This ensures that they access the most up to date advice and expertise on a particular health condition.
Similarly to the Work Coach, DEAs also undergo a complete learning journey, sharing the same objectives to support them when working with claimants who have disabilities or health conditions. The learning includes facilitated workshops, self-paced open learning, and e-learning. Our DEAs support Work Coaches with expert knowledge on how to support disabled customers, building the skills and capability of Work Coaches, and influencing employer engagement in local communities. They can also provide direct support to customers with a health condition or disability where additional support can benefit the customer.
In 2022, we introduced the Health Adjustments Passport (HAP) across the Jobcentre Plus network, following a period of testing in our Health Model Offices. The Passport is a tool used to capture potential workplace adjustments or in-work support needs of customers, and to identify those potential barriers to employment before the claimant is job-ready. Work Coaches have been trained by DEAs to support customers with health conditions or disabilities to complete the HAP. The Passport aims to enable effective conversations about workplace adjustments at an early stage in the customer's journey into work.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Youth Hubs have a staff member trained in the use of British Sign Language.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available. Youth Employability Coaches and DWP staff based at Youth Hubs do not receive additional training in the use of British Sign Language (BSL). There may be some staff in these roles who are BSL proficient, but this information is not collated centrally by the department.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to making its services accessible for all its customers and our Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches are trained to consider a person’s circumstances and to tailor support to their individual needs. Customers who are deaf or hard of hearing and attending a prearranged appointment with DWP, either at a Jobcentre or a Youth Hub, are able to access different support based on how hearing loss affects their communication needs. We provide mainly portable, but also some fixed hearing loops across the network and staff have access to a language services contract to pre-book an interpreter to support face to face contact. The interpreter will be skilled in providing non-spoken language support including BSL.
Furthermore, a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) is assigned to each Jobcentre site. Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) work alongside Jobcentre Work Coaches and Youth Employability Coaches to support claimants, including those with hearing loss. They provide expert knowledge on how to support disabled customers and building the skills and capability of Work Coaches. DEAs can also directly support customers with health conditions and disabilities where this can benefit the customer. Every Work Coach in every Jobcentre has access to a DEA.
Following the expansion of Video Relay Service last year, whereby deaf customers are now able to make an inbound telephone call to DWP via a British Sign Language interpreter using a video connection, DWP is currently exploring how this technology can be adapted to support video remote interpreting which will enable outbound contact. This will increase the flexibility for DWP to conduct face to face and telephony based contact with deaf and hard of hearing customers.
The Employer and Partnerships role within DWP forms effective networks with a variety of local stakeholders, including organisations and charities that support customers with hearing loss. These relationships are vital to ensure that DWP is able to provide consistent and effective support to its customers.
On a national level, DWP has established a range of networks with its stakeholders to provide a voice for the customer. Stakeholder groups such as the Reasonable Adjustments Forum and the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum regularly meet with a cross section of organisations representing disabilities including those with hearing loss. The purpose of these forums is to ensure that DWP elicits feedback and insight into how its services are being used by those with additional communication needs and to seek continuous improvement.