To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the cost of ending the existing Find a Job digital service and transitioning to a new in-house replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the cost of ending the existing Find a Job digital service and transitioning to a new in-house replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to use AI-powered job-matching tools developed by the private sector to run the new digital service behind the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to use AI-powered job-matching tools developed by the private sector to run the new digital service behind the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the readiness of the replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the readiness of the replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the level of spending required to develop and run in-house the replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the level of spending required to develop and run in-house the replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) portability of (i) digital infrastructure and (ii) IT services at Jobcentre Plus locations, in the context of support for (A) staff and (B) public users in accessing...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) portability of (i) digital infrastructure and (ii) IT services at Jobcentre Plus locations, in the context of support for (A) staff and (B) public users in accessing...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) IT and (b) costs associated with running Jobcentres in each of the last five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) IT and (b) costs associated with running Jobcentres in each of the last five years.

I confess that I know my hon. Friend’s jobcentre extremely well; I thank it for its response to the pandemic and all those who have been on the frontline in this emergency. From the start of June, our work coaches have made over a quarter of a million outbound customer support calls each week. Understanding the digital needs as well, we will be using technology to host virtual job fairs—they have already started—working

with employers to deliver online mentoring circles and facilitating sector-based work academies, which I am sure will come to Eastleigh.

I confess that I know my hon. Friend’s jobcentre extremely well; I thank it for its response to the pandemic and all those who have been on the frontline in this emergency. From the start of June, our work coaches have made over a quarter of a million outbound customer support calls each week. Understanding the digital needs as well, we will be using technology to host virtual job fairs—they have already started—working

with employers to deliver online mentoring circles and facilitating sector-based work academies, which I am sure will come to Eastleigh.

With the possible increased uncertainty over employment in these times, many of my constituents will be relying on the good work of the jobcentre to secure future opportunities. Will the

Minister outline how jobcentres are using technology to help with employment and to help find opportunities faster for my constituents in Eastleigh?

With the possible increased uncertainty over employment in these times, many of my constituents will be relying on the good work of the jobcentre to secure future opportunities. Will the

Minister outline how jobcentres are using technology to help with employment and to help find opportunities faster for my constituents in Eastleigh?

Lords statement on the work of the Department for Work and Pensions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lords statement on the work of the Department for Work and Pensions during the coronavirus pandemic.

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement made yesterday by my right honourable friend Thérèse Coffey, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The Statement is as follows:

“With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a Statement updating the House on the work...

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement made yesterday by my right honourable friend Thérèse Coffey, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The Statement is as follows:

“With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a Statement updating the House on the work...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating that Statement. I want to record our thanks to each member of staff working on the DWP front line for all they are doing during this crisis to process the unprecedented volume of claims that have been made.

I want to say at...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating that Statement. I want to record our thanks to each member of staff working on the DWP front line for all they are doing during this crisis to process the unprecedented volume of claims that have been made.

I want to say at...

I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement and I would also like to thank the staff of the DWP for their commitment to answering and addressing the huge additional workload which is the result of the current crisis. What is clear is that, despite their hard work, there are...

I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement and I would also like to thank the staff of the DWP for their commitment to answering and addressing the huge additional workload which is the result of the current crisis. What is clear is that, despite their hard work, there are...

I thank both noble Baronesses. I realise that I am quite new to this, but they have a large amount of knowledge and experience. I will start with the five questions put by the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock. The first was about increasing legacy benefits. If we had those in...

I thank both noble Baronesses. I realise that I am quite new to this, but they have a large amount of knowledge and experience. I will start with the five questions put by the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock. The first was about increasing legacy benefits. If we had those in...

I thank the Minister and the staff of the DWP for this amazing effort. We should really be loving not only the NHS, but the DWP. I am reminded during this crisis of the old saying that politics is about giving other people’s money away. There has to be a...

I thank the Minister and the staff of the DWP for this amazing effort. We should really be loving not only the NHS, but the DWP. I am reminded during this crisis of the old saying that politics is about giving other people’s money away. There has to be a...

I thank my noble friend. Yes, there are still 58,000 jobs on the website. It is a new website and it is easy to access. For anybody who is still looking for a job—I know that there are jobs and schemes for fruit and vegetable picking this summer for those...

I thank my noble friend. Yes, there are still 58,000 jobs on the website. It is a new website and it is easy to access. For anybody who is still looking for a job—I know that there are jobs and schemes for fruit and vegetable picking this summer for those...

My Lords, it took 16 years to get consensus and fully implement pensions auto-enrolment, so I certainly welcome the decision to maintain employers’ auto-enrolment duties, thus avoiding undesirable consequences and the negative impact on younger generations, and the fact that the job retention scheme allows grants to cover employers’ statutory...

My Lords, it took 16 years to get consensus and fully implement pensions auto-enrolment, so I certainly welcome the decision to maintain employers’ auto-enrolment duties, thus avoiding undesirable consequences and the negative impact on younger generations, and the fact that the job retention scheme allows grants to cover employers’ statutory...

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken so far who have thanked the staff in the DWP, who have been amazing and are still under huge pressures. The noble Baroness asked a lot of very detailed questions that I will not try to answer at the moment, but I...

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken so far who have thanked the staff in the DWP, who have been amazing and are still under huge pressures. The noble Baroness asked a lot of very detailed questions that I will not try to answer at the moment, but I...