Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 73
We welcome the fact that the Department has increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers...
Recommendation
We welcome the fact that the Department has increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres. DEAs can provide specialist support to disabled people in a way that generalist Work Coaches do not, and the increase in numbers will go some way to addressing the fall in the number of DEAs during the pandemic. It is vital that all Jobcentre Plus staff, however, have a good understanding of disability, including specific conditions, and how best to support disabled people. DWP should keep the number of DEAs under review and commit to recruiting additional DEAs if demand rises. It should also ensure that any training that Jobcentre Plus staff receive on supporting disabled people is not just generic but covers the needs of specific impairment groups, including people with invisible disabilities.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government response details improvements to the Access to Work digital customer service, including speeding up payments and improving accessibility. It does not address the committee's recommendations regarding Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) or Jobcentre Plus staff training.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
73
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
Jobcentre staff undergo comprehensive ongoing learning which continues at point of need throughout their role. This provides them with the knowledge and skills training to enable them to treat each claimant as an individual and to discuss with each claimant their health condition, the impacts of their condition and appropriate support. DEAs use a range of resources that are frequently updated including the District Provision Tool, a directory of the provision and support delivered by Jobcentre Plus, providers, local authorities, volunteer and charity organisations along with links and contacts to signpost customers and colleagues to these services. This ensures that they can access the most up to date advice and expertise on a particular disability or health condition. The decision to increase DEAs nationally to 1,000 was to ensure DEAs are available to provide support to Work Coaches, particularly new Work Coaches. The DEA is primarily an enabling role and their learning journey covers multiple health conditions. This enables them to support Work Coaches and Work and Health Services colleagues (e.g. Employer Advisers) to better understand how health and disability can impact employment and personalised support, tailored to each claimant’s individual needs. The DEA role was further enhanced in April 2021 through the introduction of Direct Support. A DEA and Work Coach agree additional actions that a DEA will provide for a customer for a maximum period of 13 weeks. These actions provide short term support for customers that require DEA expertise over and above the Work Coach core offer, whilst upskilling work coaches via working closely with DEAs. Guidance on Job carving
Read the full response on Parliament ↗