The Department for Work and Pensions continues to work with the Ministry of Defence to agree the timetable for implementing this commitment and planning is due for discussion at the next Armed Forces Termly meeting in November. In the meantime, preparatory work is underway to develop the guidance, learning and resources Jobcentre Plus staff will need to provide accurate information and signpost interested jobseekers to Armed Forces career opportunities. Further details will be set out once the implementation timetable has been agreed.

Jobcentre Services in Hamilton and Clyde Valley are provided from Hamilton and Lanark Jobcentre Plus.

Through Jobcentre Plus, Work Coaches offer personalised advice to help individuals secure roles which reflect their skills, qualifications and prior experience, alongside targeted job-search support. In addition, we signpost to services delivered in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council, colleges, employers, and Scottish Government’s ‘No One Left Behind’ approach through Local Employability Partnerships. Those aged 16 to 24 also benefit from specialist Youth Work Coaches, employment programmes, and the Government's Youth Guarantee, which supports young people to access education, training, apprenticeships, and work.

In addition, we are currently exploring outreach opportunities within Hamilton, including within family hubs, alongside South Lanarkshire Council.

Universal Credit statistics uses the term ‘conditionality regime’ in place of conditionality groups and labour market regime. The intensive work search group is part of the labour market regime.

The latest available information on the number of people on Universal Credit by conditionality regime and Jobcentre Plus office is published and can be found in the ‘People on Universal Credit’ dataset on Stat-Xplore. The extracted statistics for May 2026 are shown in the attachment below.

All Jobcentre Plus staff new to DWP receive mandatory learning to support customers which includes learning for armed forces leavers. The learning provides an overview of armed forces leavers and assists colleagues in understanding what help is available to them, their spouse/partner when resettling into civilian life.

Armed Forces Champions (AFCs) are provided with point of need learning which includes the Armed Forces Covenant to provide support for service leavers and their families together with signposting to specialist organisations and charities.

The Department supports Armed Forces customers through a network of Armed Forces Champions operating across Jobcentre districts, groups and areas. Armed Forces Champion support is not always delivered through a dedicated resource in each district, with many areas receiving support through group or area-level arrangements covering multiple districts. As a result, a district with no locally recorded Armed Forces Champion resource may still have been receiving Armed Forces Champion support.

The Department for Work and Pensions is working with the Ministry of Defence to agree the timetable for implementing this commitment. In the meantime, preparatory work is underway to develop the guidance, learning and resources Jobcentre Plus staff will need to provide accurate information and signpost interested jobseekers to Armed Forces career opportunities. Further details will be set out once the implementation timetable has been agreed.

The Department keeps Jobcentre staffing requirements under regular review. Resource demand is regularly assessed using a range of operational measures, including claimant volumes and caseloads, and recruitment plans are reviewed accordingly.

The Department does not use parliamentary constituency boundaries as the basis for workforce planning. Recruitment decisions are made according to operational demand and service requirements across Jobcentres. This includes Jobcentre Plus offices serving the Leicester area, where staffing levels and workforce requirements will continue to be monitored and reviewed to ensure customers receive the support they need.

DWP recognises the importance of providing learning to enable all work coaches, to meet the needs of all our customers’, including those with dyslexia.

New to role Jobcentre Plus work coaches receive role specific learning, which:

• provides a definition of dyslexia and explains the impacts this may have on customers
• provides awareness of undiagnosed hidden disability
• ensures learners understand both their Public Sector Equality Duty responsibilities, and how to support customers’ additional needs
• enables staff to signpost customers to appropriate external specialist support.

All Work Coaches have access to and are supported with online point of need learning, which includes recognising the challenges faced by jobseekers with dyslexia and signposting to appropriate external support.

The government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, supporting almost one million young people and creating up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. It will also help unlock up to 200,000 more employment opportunities, through a new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers hiring 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, a new £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy employers hiring 16–24-year-olds and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job.

Between Q2 2024 and Q1 2026, Jobcentre Plus sites in Leicester East and across Leicestershire have delivered the previous DWP Youth Offer which provided tailored work coach support to 16- to 24-year-olds on UC in Great Britain.  The Youth Guarantee has been rolled out across all Jobcentres since Q1 2026 and we are ensuring a clear pathway into the new Youth Guarantee by reforming the existing DWP Youth Offer, ensuring all young people can access support. This includes increasing work coach time with young people, to provide more personalised employment support and improving connections to national provision, and opportunities to earn or learn.

Young people now receive tailored guidance and offered up to six options (such as: work, work experience, Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), apprenticeship, training or learning) to help them progress into employment. This support includes access to specialist work coaches – Youth Employability Coaches - to help address complex barriers to work and the partnership led Youth Hub network.

There are currently 3 Youth Employability Coaches in Leicester City and 5 in Leicestershire. This number is constantly reviewed as numbers of customers requiring the extra support offered by Youth Employability Coaches change.

Work Experience is widely offered across both the City and County with a wide range of employers across a number of sectors offering opportunities.

The Youth Hubs expansion will increase coverage to more than 360 locations across Great Britain, combining employment help from Jobcentre work coaches with local services for health, housing, and wellbeing. Currently, in Leicester, there is a Youth Hub at Leicester City Youth Hub - King Power Stadium, which is in the Leicester West constituency but can be accessible for constituents in Leicester East within an hour.

This government recognises that a fundamental change in how employment support is designed and delivered is required to help more people to find, stay and progress in work, including those not receiving benefits.

The core Jobcentre Plus offer is primarily designed to support individuals who are expected to be searching or preparing for work as part of their benefit-related conditions, providing Work Coach support and helping claimants prepare for, find and move into work or better work. Beyond the core offer, Jobcentre services can vary locally, with service leaders having flexibility to extend additional support where resources allow and where this reflects local labour market needs.

In addition, the expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 locations across Great Britain will ensure that every young person aged 16 – 24 years old- including those not receiving benefits - can access opportunities and comprehensive support in their local area. A core service blueprint will guarantee high-quality, holistic support, including mental health, housing, essential and vocational skills, and employer engagement at every Youth Hub.

As part of our Jobs and Careers Service, we have launched digital tools, known as the Work Hub, designed to help everyone access online support, including an online AI work assistant, CV builder and a new job search tool. We are also expanding community-based employment and careers support through Jobcentre vans and delivering employment support in libraries, GP surgeries and local authority buildings, which are accessible to everyone.

In England, the National Careers Service currently supports adults with SEND and disabilities as a priority group, including many neurodivergent people. They can access careers information and advice through the website, webchat and telephone line, as well as accessing in-depth advice and guidance from professionally qualified careers advisers through the community-based offer.

As part of the new Jobs and Careers service from 1^st October, support will be more inclusive and tailored to individual needs to help people find, progress and stay in work. This includes our recently launched digital tools, known as the Work Hub, designed to help everyone access online support, including an online AI work assistant, CV builder and a new job search tool. We are also upskilling our colleagues to deliver high-quality, personalised employment support through our Get Britain Working Coaching Academy. Our qualified careers advisers will focus on providing in-depth advice and guidance to customers who face greater barriers to working or learning, regardless of whether they are claiming benefits. This includes neurodivergent people.

In terms of Jobcentre Plus support, there are around 1,000 (full time equivalent) Pathways to Work Advisers in place in Jobcentres across England, Scotland and Wales, providing personalised one-to-one support to disabled customers and those with health conditions.

To ensure customers with complex barriers receive the right support from Jobcentres, Disability Employment Advisers help work coaches and Pathways to Work Advisers tailor their support to help customers with long-term health conditions and disabilities move closer or into the labour market.

Jobcentre Plus Recruitment Consultants can signpost to specialist programmes like Connect to Work, which provides intensive support to people with complex barriers to employment, including people who are neurodivergent.

AI has potentially transformative benefits for the economy and wider society, and the Government is doing all it can to ensure that the United Kingdom is at the forefront of this technological transition.

The government is actively monitoring the impact AI may cause in the labour market, including job creation and displacement. Where workers are displaced, as you would expect, they will benefit from support from work coaches to find reemployment.

DWP is committed to ensuring that Work Coaches are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to provide tailored support to customers navigating a changing labour market. All Work Coaches undertake a comprehensive learning programme, including induction, consolidation and continuous professional development throughout their careers.

The learning programme is regularly updated to reflect changing customer needs and developments in the labour market, including the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This supports Work Coaches to have informed conversations with customers about emerging employment opportunities, changes in skills demand, and the support available to help people move into or progress in work.

This Government is investing £187 million in digital and AI learning. Every UK adult is eligible for free AI upskilling via the AI Skills Boost, with the ambition of upskilling 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030.

This is in conjunction with a range of wider reskilling opportunities, such as Sector Based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs) which provides opportunities to those who are looking to change career or sectors through providing placements for pre-employment training, a work experience placement and a guaranteed interview for a real job.

The Department offers a range of appointment channels, including face-to-face, telephone and video appointments and will use the most appropriate channel based on the purpose of the appointment, the claimant’s individual circumstances and the support identified by their Work Coach.

Face-to-face support remains an important part of Universal Credit service delivery. Claimants are asked to attend face-to-face appointments with Work Coaches where this channel is considered most appropriate to their circumstances. However, all channels provide an opportunity for tailored support; ensuring claimants receive the assistance they need to progress their claim and optimise their labour market outcomes.

This is consistent with the Department’s wider commitment to ensuring individuals recieve support through the channel that best meets their needs. For example, the Department is increasing the proportion of face-to-face health assessments, while continuing to provide reasonable adjustments and alternative delivery channels, including home visits where appropriate, for people whose disability or health condition makes attendance difficult.

The proportion percentages for attended appointments for the most recent 12 weeks are 58.5% in person, 16.2% by video and 25.3% by phone.

The Department published an evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support: The impact of Additional Work Coach Support on the employment outcomes of LCWRA participants and Evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support. Additionally, we have published a study that assessed the feasibility of evaluating the impact of Access to Work: Feasibility of evaluating the impact of the Access to Work programme.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working closely with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to improve the support available through Jobcentre Plus for people interested in Armed Forces careers.

Local relationships already exist between Jobcentres, Armed Forces Careers Offices and Armed Forces Champions. Building on the agreement announced in February 2026, DWP and MOD are working to strengthen how these relationships support jobseekers to access clear information about Armed Forces roles, training routes and career opportunities, including in engineering, cyber, healthcare and logistics.

DWP and MOD are developing the practical implementation of this approach, including specialist training for work coaches and closer working between Jobcentres, Armed Forces Careers Offices and Armed Forces Champions with the approach being piloted in the West Midlands. This will help ensure jobseekers receive more informed and consistent advice about Armed Forces opportunities through the Jobcentre Plus network.

This supports the ambition set out in the Defence Investment Plan to strengthen routes into Armed Forces careers. DWP and MOD will use learning from pilot activity to inform wider delivery and support informed career conversations with jobseekers.

The Youth Guarantee aims to increase opportunities for 16-24-year-olds to make them work-ready and equipped to thrive. Success will be measured by improvement in employment outcomes, reduction in economic inactivity, and an increase in participation in education and training.

Evidence for the effectiveness of expanded Jobcentre support is primarily derived from the DWP Youth Offer Process Evaluation, which was published in October 2024. It found generally positive outcomes, with most participants reporting tailored and useful support; findings have since informed improvements to delivery, mental health referrals, and efforts to address local service gaps and barriers. We will monitor these outcomes nationally for all Youth Guarantee participants. This will build on already commissioned evaluation of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers and a planned full process evaluation of the Jobs Guarantee, the first phase of which is now underway. Evaluation plans for the Youth Jobs Grant and the Youth Hub expansion are also being developed.

The new Jobcentre support is based on these findings and offers young people on Universal Credit and looking for work tailored employment support and a structured path into a job, apprenticeship, work experience, SWAP, learning or training from their first appointment in the Jobcentre.

The Department is committed to ensuring Jobcentre Plus work coaches are equipped to support disabled customers, including people with learning disabilities. Through the Strategic Relationship Team Learning Disability Project, DWP has developed new learning products to improve understanding of learning disability and support effective service delivery. These have been co-designed with national learning disability organisations, including BASE and Mencap amongst others, and peer reviewed by people with a learning disability.

This specialist learning is currently being rolled out, and we are exploring ways to ensure it becomes embedded within relevant learning pathways. Due to this we do not currently hold uptake data at work coach level and are therefore unable to provide the number of work coaches who have completed this training, or the percentage of the total work coach workforce this represents.