DWP Employment Support

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 21 May 2021 Closed: 16 Nov 2021 Parliament page
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the labour market, and unemployment in the UK is expected to increase significantly. The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) provides a range of welfare benefits and support for unemployed people through Jobcentres and through more intensive programmes, such as the … Read more
11 Recommendations
11 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 5 events
8 Nov
2021
Report published
25 Oct
2021
Correspondence
8 Sep
2021
Report published
13 Jul
2021
Correspondence
17 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
17 Jun 2021
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DWP Employment Support
Jonathan Mills · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Margarita Morrison · Department for Work & Pensions Peter Schofield · Department for Work and Pensions
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment support HC 177 8 Sep 2021 22 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
22 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
Any second surge in new benefit claims and unemployment as the furlough scheme comes to...
Any second surge in new benefit claims and unemployment as the furlough scheme comes to an end could disrupt the Department’s ability to provide employment support. At the start of the pandemic, the Department moved around 10,000 extra staff into … Read more
Government Response
The government accepted the recommendation and stated it was implemented, having provided a letter to the committee on 29 September 2021. The response detailed its contingency plans, including increased staff, estate expansion, a resilient digital service, and flexible service delivery to ensure employment support continues during any future surges in claims.
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
We are concerned that the Department does not know why the unemployment impact of the...
We are concerned that the Department does not know why the unemployment impact of the pandemic has hit groups such as young people from minority ethnic backgrounds harder. In March 2021, the Office for National Statistics produced striking statistics showing … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, stating it has changed how diversity data is collected for Universal Credit, will ensure evaluations consider diversity characteristics, and is working with the ONS to monitor unemployment trends by ethnicity and age.
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4 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department’s focus on getting people into any form of employment risks neglecting its wider...
The Department’s focus on getting people into any form of employment risks neglecting its wider ambitions around supporting disabled people to work and supporting people on low pay to progress. The Department’s current focus is on minimising the impact of … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, stating the National Disability Strategy was published in July 2021. It is carefully considering the In-Work Progression Commission's recommendations and will respond shortly, while also bolstering work coach support for low-paid Universal Credit claimants from April 2022.
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5 Recommendation Not Addressed
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department is not sufficiently transparent about the impact and take-up of its schemes at...
The Department is not sufficiently transparent about the impact and take-up of its schemes at a local level. We recognise that good-quality evaluations can be challenging to deliver, and that measuring the impact of a programme can take years. We … Read more
Government Response
The government's response is completely unrelated to the recommendation, discussing BBC audience figures and online services instead of DWP statistical publications.
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department does not make the most of local authorities’ and employers’ in depth knowledge...
The Department does not make the most of local authorities’ and employers’ in depth knowledge of local needs and priorities. Experts such as local authorities and employers have in-depth knowledge of local needs and priorities that can make employment support … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation, highlighting its existing regular engagement with local authorities and employers in designing and implementing schemes. It also commits to regularly publishing a list of locally available provision, including information from the District Provision Tool, by December 2022.
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7 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The quality of claimants’ experience with the Department and whether they receive the right support...
The quality of claimants’ experience with the Department and whether they receive the right support will depend on the Department’s ability to integrate the additional 13,500 new work coaches into its organisation and manage their performance effectively. The Department’s employment … Read more
Government Response
The government states it systematically gathers feedback on claimant satisfaction through annual surveys. It also agrees with the recommendation to evaluate work coach effectiveness, noting work is underway with findings expected to start becoming available throughout 2022.
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1 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Work and Pensions (the Department) about the employment support it provides to people who need help.1
Government Response
The government acknowledges the introductory paragraph of the committee's report, confirming the basis and timing of evidence gathering and report publication.
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8 Conclusion Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
In the event of a further surge of claimants when the furlough scheme ends, the...
In the event of a further surge of claimants when the furlough scheme ends, the Department would need to continue to process new claims for benefits, as well as providing the employment support schemes it is now delivering.18 During the … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation is implemented, detailing how it successfully managed the initial claims surge and has built flexibility through recruitment, digital services, and expanded estate to ensure preparedness for any future increase in claimants.
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department also effectively switched off many of the usual conditions attached to people’s benefit...
The Department also effectively switched off many of the usual conditions attached to people’s benefit entitlements early in the pandemic, meaning claimants did not have to demonstrate that they were searching for work to be eligible to receive benefits.21 Claimants … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the underlying concern and stated the recommendation (from a similar context) was implemented, detailing how it managed past claim surges through easements, recruitment, and estate expansion. It highlighted its resilient digital service and increased flexibility to ensure continued support for claimants in any future surges.
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department does not have complete data on diversity or disadvantage of the people it...
The Department does not have complete data on diversity or disadvantage of the people it supports. The National Audit Office reported that in February 2020, before the pandemic, the Department only had ethnicity data for 40% of claims made since … Read more
Government Response
The government accepted the recommendation and stated it was implemented, having changed its diversity data collection method for Universal Credit claims, resulting in an increasing declaration rate above 70%. It committed to ensuring evaluations consider diversity characteristics and collect ethnicity and disability data during research.
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11 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
In March 2021, the Office for National Statistics produced statistics showing that unemployment for young...
In March 2021, the Office for National Statistics produced statistics showing that unemployment for young black people aged 16–24 had increased from 24.5% in the period October-December 2019 to 41.6% over the same period in 2020, while unemployment for young … Read more
Government Response
The government accepted the recommendation and stated it was implemented, confirming it is working with the Office for National Statistics to understand how best to monitor unemployment trends by ethnicity and age, while acknowledging data limitations due to small sample sizes.
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12 Conclusion Not Addressed
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department’s current flagship programmes are aimed at youth unemployment, and the long term unemployed.
The Department’s current flagship programmes are aimed at youth unemployment, and the long term unemployed. There are relatively few schemes targeted at people from an ethnic minority background.29 The Department did tell us about its 20 challenge areas, which are … Read more
Government Response
The government's response did not address the committee's conclusion about the lack of targeted employment schemes for ethnic minority backgrounds or the specific actions in the 20 challenge areas, instead providing a response related to general diversity data collection.
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13 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department explained that it is planning to evaluate the impact of its new schemes,...
The Department explained that it is planning to evaluate the impact of its new schemes, beginning with the Kickstart programme, building on the evaluation work it completed for its previous schemes, which informed its current programme.34 We heard that the … Read more
Government Response
The government's response acknowledged the importance of evaluation and outlined ongoing work to assess work coach effectiveness and individual policies, with findings expected throughout 2022. However, it did not directly address the committee's observation about delays in existing evaluations or the long timelines for future scheme evaluations.
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14 Recommendation Rejected
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
While the Department publishes selective statistics about some of its support schemes, such as information...
While the Department publishes selective statistics about some of its support schemes, such as information about the work and health programme, it does not produce regular data on its schemes to allow Parliamentarians or its partners to scrutinise performance in … Read more
Government Response
The government rejected the recommendation to produce regular, granular statistical publications, citing that many programmes are ending soon. Instead, it is considering how to release information after programme closure and highlighted existing efforts to improve data collection and recent publications.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department’s employment support is mainly accessible to people on benefits, and they will usually...
The Department’s employment support is mainly accessible to people on benefits, and they will usually be referred to that support via their jobcentre work coaches. Work coaches have considerable discretion to tailor their support to claimants, including discretion around: the … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's observations about work coach discretion and skills, noting ongoing customer satisfaction surveys and existing work to evaluate work coach effectiveness and explore wider support offers.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department told us that a real advantage of delivering employment support through its work...
The Department told us that a real advantage of delivering employment support through its work coaches is the flexibility that those work coaches have to identify and draw on the right tools to help the claimant. The Department’s approach relies … Read more
Government Response
The government responded that it already systematically gathers feedback via its annual Customer Experience Survey, with recent reports being finalised. It also stated it has work underway to evaluate the effectiveness of work coaches and inform its future delivery strategy, addressing the concern about consistency.
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17 Conclusion Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department told us that its “top priority” now is getting people into work through...
The Department told us that its “top priority” now is getting people into work through the pandemic, and that it wants to avoid the risk of ‘scarring’ that unemployment can have on a person’s chances of getting a job – … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation is implemented, detailing how it successfully managed the pandemic's claims surge through recruitment, digital services, and expanded Jobcentre Plus estate, confirming it is already taking action to address the priorities and challenges outlined.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
People with health and disability issues continue to face major challenges in the workplace, including...
People with health and disability issues continue to face major challenges in the workplace, including issues around workplace accessibility, negative attitudes, and a lack of assistive technology.51 In 2017, the Department, alongside the Department of Health & Social Care, set … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation (framed in its response as 4a) is implemented, confirming the National Disability Strategy was published on 28 July 2021 and detailing various existing DWP initiatives that support disabled people in employment.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department, and the Department of Health & Social Care, ran a consultation from July...
The Department, and the Department of Health & Social Care, ran a consultation from July to October 2019 seeking views on the different ways in which government and employers can reduce ill health-related job losses.54 The Department has committed to … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation (framed in its response as 4a) is implemented, confirming the National Disability Strategy was published on 28 July 2021 and outlining existing DWP initiatives that support disabled people into and within employment.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Deferred
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department has established a Commission to review the evidence base around in-work progression and...
The Department has established a Commission to review the evidence base around in-work progression and make recommendations to better support people in low-pay employment to progress.57 This consultation ended in December 2020, and its results were published on 1 July … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation (framed in its response as 4b) to respond to the In-Work Progression Commission's findings but states it is still carefully considering the recommendations and will respond shortly, while also outlining existing trials and planned work coach support from April 2022.
HM Treasury
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21 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
The Department told us that it recognises that the needs of local areas differ, and...
The Department told us that it recognises that the needs of local areas differ, and said that it “is about working closely” with the local authority, local employers and local enterprise partnerships and mayoral combined authorities. We heard that the … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the recommendation but stated it was already implemented, describing existing regular engagement with local leaders and employers for understanding labour market issues and shaping employment programmes. It highlighted current collaborations and delegated commissioning in some areas.
HM Treasury
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22 Recommendation Accepted
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment …
We asked the Department whether it could be more proactive in sharing basic information such...
We asked the Department whether it could be more proactive in sharing basic information such as its district provision tool—essentially a list of local provision—with partners, so they could see what people were being referred to, and to see if … Read more
Government Response
The government accepted the recommendation, committing to regularly publish a list of locally available provision, including the District Provision Tool, by December 2022. It also stated Jobcentre Plus staff will continue working with local authorities to ensure up-to-date information.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 22 of 11 classified
Accepted 13
Accepted in Part 2
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 1
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 1
Total 11 recs + 11 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
25 Oct 2021 Correspondence from Peter Schofield CB, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions, re TM15 – DWP Employment Support – Recommendation 2, dated 29 September 2021
Parliament page
13 Jul 2021 Correspondence from Peter Willan, Chair, Richmond Heathrow Campaign, re Employment Support Follow up, dated 5 July 2021
Parliament page