Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Paragraph: 53
The default position should be that groups of local authorities, perhaps based on the recently-defined...
Conclusion
The default position should be that groups of local authorities, perhaps based on the recently-defined NHS integrated care system boundaries, where they have the will and capacity to do so, are responsible for delivering employment support for disabled people. DWP should provide funding and support to enable them to do this. This approach will not work for everyone: some local authorities may not have the capacity to commission or deliver employment support services, so there will still be a role for national programmes such as the Work and Health Programme. For some areas, however, such as areas with a Metro Mayor, this approach could work well, as we have already seen with London and Manchester. Where they want to and can, local authorities should have the power to commission their own employment support programmes. They should work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (or devolved administrations as appropriate), the NHS, the third sector, and education and training providers to achieve this.
Paragraph Reference:
53
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
It is DWP policy to ensure disabled claimants with complex needs and those who need additional support are supported using different method of communication. We are committed to making our services more accessible for disabled people and have made a number of improvements over the past year. For example, we have implemented the Video Relay Service across all our benefit and service lines. Video Relay enables British Sign Language interpretation for telephone calls. Since January 2018, Thebigword has provided Foreign Language and British Sign Language (BSL) services for the DWP staff and customers. All Jobcentres can access the service provided by Thebigword. This includes face-to-face interpreting and for inbound calls the Video Relay Service. We are also hosting the BSL video guides and case studies on Job Help and they are available on our dedicated YouTube channel, as well as developing more BSL guides and case studies. We have begun work to make all the forms we publish on Gov.UK fully accessible, whilst making it easier for customers to find the information they need about alternative formats. We are improving how we collect and record alternative formats and reasonable adjustments on our IT systems so that people will not need to request a change to their communications more than once. This allows DWP to capture the customer’s communication whether the customer is claiming benefits, looking for employment or moving into pension age. We are amending our IT system generated letters so that they clearly highlight to customers how they can request communications from us in an alternative format. We have also enhanced Employment and Support Allowance scripts so that colleagues are prompted to ask customers at the start of the claim about any reasonable adjustments they require DWP to make. Disability employment gap: Government response 11 Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs)