Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 16
First Report - DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work
Published 29 Jun 2021
Paragraph 92
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Unemployment has risen because of the pandemic, but some sectors have been hit harder than others. Sectors which have seen the highest proportion of job losses are those that have been “shut down” in response to the pandemic, such as arts and leisure, retail and passenger transport. Some groups of people are also more likely to have lost their jobs, including disabled people, young people, women, low-paid workers and workers from BAME backgrounds. We welcome the announcement of two new employment support schemes: Restart, aimed at the long-term unemployed, and Kickstart, aimed at young people on Universal Credit. But neither scheme has specific provisions for disabled people, and we have heard concerns from disability organisations about how well they will work for disabled people in practice. DWP must ensure that both schemes meet the needs of groups who are particularly likely to have lost out during the pandemic. To do that, it will need to collect better data than it currently has.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, First Report - DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work (HC 216), paragraph 92, 29 June 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 November 2021 (deadline 29 August 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government responds mainly by describing existing cross-departmental work, with BEIS, DfE and the ONS cited for several areas, and says it has no plans for Universal Credit claimant markers.
- On the recommended labour market strategy, DWP says it is "working with other departments, particularly DfE and BEIS", and that BEIS "is the department with responsibility for employment rights".
- On the Skills and Employment Survey, it says it is "solely a decision for the academics and ESRC" whether the survey runs again, rather than committing DWP funding.
- On assistive technology, the Disability Unit "will invest up to £1m in 2021 to 2022" in a new Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology, with findings to the Unit "by March 2022" and progress reported by summer 2022.
- On paternity leave reform, it says BEIS is analysing survey data and 2019 consultation responses, and that this "will inform government policy on parental leave and pay going forward".