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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter of 6 April 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. H Kennedy.

Asked by
Gerald Kaufman (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
20 May 2009
Reference
492 c1394W; 276506
House
House of Commons
We are increasing the help available to incapacity benefit claimants, all of whom have access to back-to-work support through pathways to work. We are also taking forward the Gregg review vision that everyone should be expected to take active steps towards work in return for their benefits, except for those in the support group, who are most disabled. In the first instance, we will trial that approach for existing claimants through the invest to save funding model. We will also reassess everyone on incapacity benefit to make sure that they are on the right benefit.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c531
House
House of Commons
We recognise that Jobcentre Plus is facing an increased work load as a result of the economic downturn. Thanks to the funding assigned in the Budget, Jobcentre Plus will be able to recruit 10,000 more staff in addition to the 6,000 new staff already provided for in the pre-Budget report. The increase in resources will enable Jobcentre Plus to maintain the provision of flexible, responsive and targeted support to help move people into work as quickly as possible.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c538
House
House of Commons
Of course we should minimise regulation, but I do not think that there is a contradiction between supporting equality and helping more people into work whatever their background, and getting people into work. Knowing his views, I do not think that the hon. Gentleman does either. It is important to point out that the hon. Member for Shipley was talking about abolishing the minimum wage, showing that such views still obtain in some parts of the Conservative party today. [Interruption.] It is a Bill that comes before the House on Friday, and the hon. Gentleman is promoting it. It is important that people know about it.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c532
House
House of Commons
My hon. Friend makes an important point, and we are improving our help for carers to get back into work. Carer's allowance is clearly supposed to be a replacement income for people who cannot work, and therefore it has never had that structure in the past. However, we said in the carer's strategy review that we would keep on looking at the issue, and we will do so.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c532
House
House of Commons
I do take my right hon. Friend's point, but I am sure he recognises that coping with nearly twice as many people coming through has been a significant challenge. The fact that people's benefits are being paid and that we are maintaining the active labour market regime is an achievement for Jobcentre Plus. He is right, however, to say that we need to put more resources into ensuring that everybody gets a good service, not just certain groups of the population. He knows, for example, that we have worked with more than 300 private sector recruitment agencies to provide a service specifically for professionals who are signing on for the first time, but we want to ensure that we support everybody who claims in getting back into work. My right hon. Friend will be glad to know that more than 1 million people have left JSA over the past four months, which shows that the active regime we have put in place is working.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c539
House
House of Commons
My hon. Friend will be glad to know that that is exactly what we propose to do with the adviser discretionary fund—we always take his suggestions very seriously. We are increasing the adviser discretionary fund, which will pay for costs that need to be borne to get people back into work, such as the cost of buying a suit for an interview, or of getting qualifications in order to get people into vacancies in their areas. I am sure that all parties in the House will support that.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c539-40
House
House of Commons
It is very important for us to provide people with help to get back into work, and to improve the incentives for getting back into work. That is why we are re-testing everybody on incapacity benefit to make sure that they are on the right benefit. That is why we have tightened the gateway to make sure that only the right people get on to the benefit, and that is why we will require everybody for whom it is appropriate to have back-to-work support. The one thing that we will not do is abolish the minimum wage, to which I think he is referring. He is the promoter of a Bill on the issue, which will come before the House on Friday. I hope that everyone, including Conservative Front Benchers, will oppose it, and make it clear that that is not the way that we should go.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c531-2
House
House of Commons
Absolutely. We would be very happy to help any hon. Member from any part of the House who wanted to provide such a service to their constituents. I congratulate my hon. Friend on the initiative he has taken, and in particular on bringing together a number of agencies to help people who will be worried about how quickly they can get back into work. It is an excellent initiative that we are happy to support.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c539
House
House of Commons
It is not surprising that the Opposition Front-Bench team do not want people to be reminded of their record on poverty wages. On the hon. Gentleman's—[Interruption.] If he will just calm down for one second, he will hear that, on his question, he is wrong about the facts: people can volunteer for far more than that which he described. We are the first Government to require people to take part in work-focused activity, and that contrasts with the previous recession, when 1 million people went on to incapacity benefit. They were encouraged, sometimes forced, to go on to it by the Opposition, and they were trapped there, because they were offered no help to get back into work or back to health. It is a record that, frankly, he should be extremely embarrassed about, and I am therefore surprised that he wants to contrast his Government's record with ours.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c533
House
House of Commons
Clearly, we will look at that at each pre-Budget report and Budget, but we believe that we have put in place the right number of people for the situation that we face. I am sure that my hon. Friend would join me in taking this opportunity to pay tribute to Jobcentre Plus staff, who are doing a fantastic job. They are coping with almost twice the number of claims of two years ago, but processing benefits three days quicker. We should recognise that in the House.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c538
House
House of Commons
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we strongly welcome the Houghton review. He recommended that we invest money in helping local authorities to prevent the kind of worklessness that occurred in the past, and I am glad to say that that is exactly what we are doing.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c532
House
House of Commons
We want people to have the support they need to get back to work quickly. That is why, last month, we extended our local employment partnership programme to help newly unemployed people as well as disadvantaged jobseekers. I am pleased to confirm that, in the last financial year, these local employment partnerships have been highly successful. More than 20,000 employers have recruited more than 146,000 people, which is 40 per cent. more than expected for the year. The number of people moving into work through local employment partnerships continues to grow, increasing by almost 500 a week over the last quarter, proving that, even in these difficult times, we are still helping disadvantaged customers into jobs in significant numbers.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c542-3
House
House of Commons
As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have said we will make ex gratia payments and also apologise where appropriate. As he also knows, the problem happened under both Governments and we have taken steps to put it right. If he has further proposals, he should say how he would fund them.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c546
House
House of Commons
I am sure my hon. Friend will welcome the fact that, thanks to tax credits, more than 300,000 people are getting an extra £35 a week to soften the blows from the current recession. He will also welcome the fact that people who are working short-time can claim JSA for a short period, and he may want to make that known to his constituents. What is most important, however, is that we take the necessary action to get the economy going again and to support confidence. We believe the actions we have taken have saved 500,000 jobs so far, and we will continue to do more.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c546
House
House of Commons
I am sure that they will. As the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, my right hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty) mentioned, the Conservative chair of the Local Government Association has strongly welcomed this scheme, and I urge all Members to work with local authorities, charities and social enterprises to bid for the future jobs fund, to ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past, when a generation was left on the scrap heap. Instead, we can guarantee to find young people work or training within a year, and hopefully much faster than that.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c543
House
House of Commons
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Asked by
David Wright (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Topical questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c542-3; 273507
House
House of Commons
What assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in Jobcentre Plus; and if he will make a statement.
Asked by
Liz Blackman (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c538; 273490
House
House of Commons
What plans he has to assist long-term incapacity benefit claimants to move into employment.
Asked by
Philip Davies (Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
11 May 2009
Reference
492 c531; 273485
House
House of Commons
Jobcentre Plus in Devon and Cornwall continues to perform well despite rising work loads. New jobseeker's allowance claims are being cleared within target. Jobcentre Plus is increasing staffing and ensuring it has the office and infrastructure capacity it needs to respond to the current economic situation.
Answered by
James Purnell (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
16 March 2009
Reference
489 c633
House
House of Commons