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1220870

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the average (a) phone and (b) broadband costs incurred by universal credit claimants fulfilling their responsibility to spend 35 hours per week seeking employment.
tabling member constituency	Jarrow
tabling member printed	Kate Osborne
uin	69720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>The Department has no plans to estimate the average phone or broadband costs incurred by claimants fulfilling their responsibilities under the Universal Credit regime.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to supporting the individual needs of claimants, including agreeing realistic and structured steps to encourage them into or towards the labour market taking into the account their personal circumstances and resources.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 15:15:26 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4783 label Biography information for Kate Osborne

1220936

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were claiming (a) job seeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance and (c) income support at the time at which the £20 uplift was made to universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Edmonton
tabling member printed	Kate Osamor
uin	69632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2020 answer text <p>National Statistics for claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support is published quarterly and the latest available information up to November 2019 can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>The statistics for the number of people claiming these benefits to February 2020 and to May 2020 will be published in August and November 2020 respectively.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics for claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance is published monthly by the Office for National Statistics on the NOMIS website, and the latest data to May 2020 can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/" target="_blank">https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp" target="_blank">https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp</a></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 13/07/2020 14:32:05 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4515 label Biography information for Kate Osamor

1221001

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department’s policy is on length of time to be allocated to benefit claimants for (a) first claimant commitment interviews, (b) work search reviews and (c) work-focused interviews; and whether those time allocations have changed from 1 July 2020.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	69561
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2020 answer text <p>As we re-introduce claimant commitments we are initially conducting these interviews by phone and testing a 30-minute commitment appointment. We will evaluate this testing and as with all policies we will keep this continually under review. Jobcentre Plus offices continue to remain open to help vulnerable claimants who may not be able to access support through the phone or their journal.</p><p> </p><p>The work search reviews will continue with the timings of the existing intervention regime where work coaches have the option to pick from a range of appointment lengths.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. We are rapidly making provisions to return to face-to-face appointments with work coaches to support jobseekers as part of our reopening on jobcentre’s in line with public health guidance across the country.</p><p>We have already committed to increasing the number of Work Coaches and Case Managers and recruitment is already underway.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 13/07/2020 16:55:46 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies previous answer version 36148 answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1221002

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department’s policy is from 1 July 2020 on applying benefit sanctions for claimants who have been assessed as failing to comply with their claimant commitment.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	69562
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>From the 1<sup>st</sup> of July, we will be contacting claimants to introduce a personalised claimant commitment.</p><p>Claimant commitments must be reasonable for this unprecedented time, reflecting the reality of a person’s local jobs market and personal circumstances to help prepare them for getting back into work. The claimant commitment will take into account local and national public health guidelines.</p><p>Sanctions are only used when people fail to meet their agreed commitments without good reason – and UC sanction rates have fallen to the lowest rate on record.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 16:47:24 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1221003

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Unemployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her latest estimate is of the (a) job vacancy rate and (b) unemployment rate in each region and nation of the UK.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	69563
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>The latest official statistics on vacancies, from the Office for National Statistics, cover the period Mar-May 2020. These statistics estimate the number of UK vacancies at 476,000, or 1.6 vacancies per 100 employee jobs. These statistics can be found <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/datasets/vacanciesbyindustryvacs02" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Estimates of vacancies are not available for each region and nation of the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The latest official employment statistics, from the Office for National Statistics, cover the period Feb-Apr 2020. These statistics can be found <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/june2020" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 14:07:46 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1221004

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Department for Work and Pensions: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's planned expenditure on staff costs for 2020-21 as listed on page 170 of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20, HC 401, published on 30 June 2020, how many (a) full-time equivalent work coaches and (b) other staff her Department plans to employ for the year 2020-21 at (i) August and (ii) December 2020.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	69564
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>At the time of publication of the Department’s 2019-20 Annual Report and Accounts, projected spending on staff costs (as per the core tables on page 170) was around £3 billion for 2020-21; as per Spending Round 2019. This equates to approximately 68,900 FTE of which around 13,500 are work coaches (as of May 2020). These numbers would have remained relatively static over the year.</p><p> </p><p>Since publication of the Annual report and Accounts the Government set out in its Summer Economic Statement, on 8 July, a labour market package that included significant investment to enhance work search support in response to the current pandemic by doubling the number of work coaches before the end of 2020/21 - this equates to an additional 13,500 work coaches to be recruited over the remainder of this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>We know that the short term unemployed are more likely to be able to move into work either on their own or with just Jobcentre core support. Given the economic situation, we plan, for a period, to bolster the support provided through Jobcentres by using contracted providers to offer additional help. We will expand the Work and Health Programme and provide a bespoke offer to the more recently unemployed, activating their jobsearch and engagement with the labour market.</p><p> </p><p>For other staffing the Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers. In addition, as part of our monitoring of the impact of Covid-19 on the labour market we will continue to actively keep staff numbers and broader provision under review in order to ensure that we can provide the most effective support to those who have lost work.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 16:24:04 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1221006

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing for universal credit claimants to undertake courses to reskill.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	69565
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>Evidence suggests that the numbers of people requiring DWP support will increase further over the coming months, particularly as the CJRS winds down. Many of these people will effectively be ‘job ready’ and will not require extensive support from Government to return to work. Our ‘Good Place to Start’ campaign has already gone live, with digital advertising that signposts jobseekers to our job websites.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will now go further and <strong>will spend £895 million to double the number of work coaches</strong> in Jobcentre Plus before the end of the financial year across Great Britain. Work coaches are at the core of our employment offer and this increase will provide more people with the tailored support they need to move into work. We know some people might require additional support to get back into work, and DWP is launching a “Getting Britain Back into Work” package, which builds on and bolsters the existing support offered by our Jobcentre Plus network. The package includes:</p><p>- <strong>Kickstart Scheme</strong> <strong>–</strong> a £2b fund to create hundreds of thousands of high quality 6-month work placements aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and at risk of long term unemployment.</p><p>- <strong>Expanded Youth Offer </strong>– increasing the intensive support offered to those 18-24 in the Intensive Work Search group in Universal Credit. Further support will be available through Youth Hubs with specialist Youth Employment Coaches.</p><p>- <strong>Expansion of the Work and Health Programme </strong>– to introduce additional voluntary support for those on benefits in England and Wales that have been unemployed for more than 3 months.</p><p>- <strong>Flexible Support Fund (FSF) </strong>– increase the funding for the FSF by £150m to increase the capacity of the Rapid Response Service (RRS), supporting those facing redundancy.</p><p>- <strong>Expanding sector based work academies </strong>– increase participation in our sector-based work academy programmes, offering training, work experience and a guaranteed interview. We will establish bespoke opportunities, working with employers and training providers to support claimants to fill job vacancies and pivot into new careers, including in priority sectors such as construction and social care.</p><p>- <strong>Job finding support service </strong>– £40 million to fund additional capacity to introduce an online, one-to-one service to help those who have been recently unemployed.</p><p>Taken together, the package will ensure that we can get Britain back into work quickly.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 16:44:03 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1221058

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a minimum maintenance payment for parents with care under the Child Maintenance Service to guarantee a minimum maintenance income.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	69605
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>There is no plan for any such assessment. The purpose of the Child Maintenance Service is to facilitate the payment of child maintenance between separated parents.</p><p> </p><p>No one should use the pandemic as an excuse to avoid their child maintenance payments. Where paying parents experience a change in income, we can review their case and check if the amount paid should change. If it does not, they should continue to make payments.</p><p> </p><p>We know the majority of parents take their responsibilities extremely seriously and will do what is needed to ensure their children are supported.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 16:25:42 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1221061

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases child maintenance was not collectable as a result of a Child Maintenance Service administrative error when a deduction from earnings request was made to the armed forces in each quarter of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	69606
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service does not record this data as there is no facility on the Child Maintenance System to record instances when a Deduction from Earning Request has been rejected by MoD or where an administrative error occurred.</p><p> </p><p>As the information requested is not collated centrally it would require examination of individual cases and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 09/07/2020 16:29:59 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1221213

registered interest
date	06/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Child Maintenance Service
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Child Maintenance Service plans to restart action against people who are avoiding payments.
tabling member constituency	Warley
tabling member printed	John Spellar
uin	69429
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2020 answer text <p>Paying parents are still expected to pay child maintenance throughout the pandemic period. We know the vast majority of parents take their responsibilities extremely seriously and will do whatever is needed to ensure their children are supported.</p><p> </p><p>Where payments have been missed we have asked parents to report the changes via the self-service portal.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure that receiving parents do not lose out in the long run, we have started to update cases with notified changes. Where payments have been missed the Service is taking action to re-establish compliance and collect any unpaid amounts that may have accrued.</p><p> </p><p>No one will get away with giving false information. Those found to be abusing the system can be subjected to the full extent of our enforcement powers and the Child Maintenance Service will pursue these, where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 15/07/2020 12:57:46 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar