Help for Jobseekers Local Employers and Skills Providers 2021-12-13
2021-12-13
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
None provided.
What plans she has to work with employers and skills providers at a local level to help more jobseekers into work.
Through our place-based approach, the DWP is working closely with employers, skills providers and other Departments to support people into work. Our jobcentres connect directly with local employers to discuss their recruitment needs and offer tailored advice and support to help fill vacancies. This includes offering work experience opportunities and increasing the number of sector-based work academy programme places available.
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Assessment & feedback
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Q2
Direct Answer
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More than 100 young people in the Scottish Borders have started work through the kickstart scheme. The question focuses on encouraging employers to retain these workers after the scheme ends.
I am delighted that more than 100 young people in the Scottish Borders have already started work through the kickstart scheme. What can the Government do to encourage employers to keep people on after the scheme ends?
I am delighted, too. I am pleased to announce that more than 112,000 kickstart jobs have been started by young people across the UK. Many young people have found permanent jobs through kickstart, and we continue to work closely with employers to help young people find those long-term employment opportunities. We have helped employers to move kickstart participants into apprenticeships more easily by working with colleagues in the Department for Education to ensure employers receive the incentive payments for doing so.
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Assessment & feedback
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Q3
Direct Answer
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Concerns about individuals on universal credit losing their entitlement when accessing new training and qualifications through government schemes.
How has the Department worked with DFE to ensure that people on universal credit who are accessing new training and qualifications through the various Government schemes do not lose their universal credit entitlement as a result?
I assure my hon. Friend that we work closely with the Department for Education. With the existing flexibilities in the benefits system for people taking up that training, DWP Train and Progress allows universal credit claimants to participate in full-time work-related training for up to 12 weeks and to attend DFE skills boot camps for up to 16 weeks, including the recently announced HGV boot camps, which have more than 10,000 places available.
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Assessment & feedback
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Q4
Direct Answer
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North West Leicestershire has 1.1 jobs per individual but a significant amount of unemployment due to skill gaps.
In North West Leicestershire, we are fortunate enough to have 1.1 jobs for every individual. However, a large amount of our unemployment is down to gaps in skills and training, so what will the Department do to solve that problem?
Through my hon. Friend's Jobcentre Plus support and the flexibilities I described in DWP TAP, his constituents can now access level 3 courses for free, skills boot camps and other training opportunities that my Department has ensured all UC claimants can access by extending the length of time they can participate in full-time work-related training. In addition, we are investing £10 million annually over the next three years in the sector-based work academy programmes, delivering those life-changing opportunities in those key sectors.
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Assessment & feedback
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Q5
Partial Answer
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Concerns about leadership from the government in creating green jobs opportunities.
The Minister talks the talk, but does she walk the walk? In places such as Huddersfield, we are creating a new syllabus for people who are 16, 18 and 21 to get into green jobs and green enterprise, but there is a lack of leadership from the Government and things are fragmented at the local level. Get your act together and do it properly. There is a whole green economy here, where we can save this fragile planet, but we need action now.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for asking me about walking the walk. I assure him that through our national employer and partnership team, NEPT, and the work we do across government and through the green jobs taskforce, we are absolutely tackling that. We have a direct strand of work, which I was engaged with just at the end of last week, that is making sure that those skills, abilities and opportunities in his constituency, and everyone else's, are there for those who want to go into that bit of the economy.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific ask about leadership was not directly addressed with concrete actions or timelines.
Talking About Tackling Fragmentation Without Specifics
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Q6
Partial Answer
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The Ways to Work centre in St Helens made over a thousand unique interventions in just six months.
The first Ways to Work centre opened in St Helens in June, with one to follow in Earlestown in the new year. It is locally designed and has been recently supported by Labour-led St Helens Council and the Liverpool city region respectively. It brings education, employment and training for local people together under one roof. Will the Minister join me in congratulating the project on making 1,300 unique interventions in just six months? Does she agree that this type of local model works? If so, will she help me to ensure it gets the funding it needs to be sustainable?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for everything he has mentioned, because we are doing that across the UK in 150 brand-new youth hubs. If he will listen to my answer, I hope he will understand that we are linked locally to the economy; we are keen for those job outcomes to come to his constituents and more widely, and this is being done through local interventions and local engagement.
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Assessment & feedback
Specific funding request was not addressed with concrete commitments or figures.
General Support Without Specifics
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Q7
Partial Answer
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Concerns about the lack of measurement for outcomes and success of Universal Credit in getting people into work.
The Tory trope is that UC helps people into work, but it has been a few years since the National Audit Office said that there is no way of measuring the outcomes and success of UC. So will the Minister tell me what measures are now in place to measure the outcomes of UC in getting people into work, particularly at the local level?
We absolutely measure the outcomes of all our programmes, particularly the sector-based work academy programmes. Of course, skills are devolved in Scotland. In my recent engagement with the Welsh Government and at the Welsh Affairs Committee, I pointed out that outcomes are not measured in Wales. I think this is a thing we should be doing in all devolved areas.
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Assessment & feedback
Request for specific measurement of UC's impact was not directly addressed with concrete measures or figures.
Acknowledging Lack Of Measurement Without Addressing Specifics
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Q8
Partial Answer
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The Kickstart scheme, aimed at helping young people find employment, faces criticism for its underperformance and closure before Christmas. Over 100,000 young people are concerned about support after the programme ends.
People across the country who have had a really hard time at work in the past year need DWP Ministers focused on their jobs. The DWP has been criticised for poor performance during lockdown. With more than 100,000 young people set to lose support when Kickstart closes before Christmas, what will the Minister do to help them?
Kickstart has not underperformed. Over 112,000 young people have joined the programme. The unemployment level is currently just over 4%, lower than expected when the programme was created at around 12%. Outcomes for these young people are being tracked carefully and linked with the Department for Education to ensure traineeships and apprenticeships are available.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific ask about plans for young people after Kickstart closes was not directly addressed.
Let Us Focus On The Outcomes
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Q9
Partial Answer
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A new inland border facility in Holyhead has created more than 200 job positions. There is a need to ensure these jobs are accessible and go to local young people.
The Minister mentioned young people. The new inland border facility in Holyhead means that more than 200 jobs are coming to the island of Anglesey. How will the Minister ensure that those new jobs go to local young people?
Local jobcentre is working with employers and has made sure that buses are available for people to access these jobs. The Minister acknowledges Virginia Crosbie's efforts in reopening the jobcentre safely, ensuring it is suitable for local employment needs.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific ask about measures for young people was not directly addressed.
We Will Continue To Work With Her And The Jobcentre
Response accuracy