Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted
Include Work Coach numbers, average caseloads, DEAs, and DEALs in quarterly statistics releases.
Conclusion
We are concerned that there is not sufficient capacity in the system to absorb the number of claimants who will be made subject to conditionality, or increased conditionality, following announcements made in the 2023 Spring Budget and 2023 Autumn Statement, as well as planned changes to the Work Capability Assessment. This could have a negative impact on claimants and on Work Coaches, who conduct Benefit levels in the U 77 valued work in our constituencies. To improve transparency, the Department should include in its quarterly statistics release, the number of Work Coaches and the average number of claimants they are responsible for. This would help inform an understanding of the pressures on Work Coaches, provide information on the number of Work Coaches working in Jobcentres and help inform an assessment of whether there is sufficient Work Coach capacity in the system. The Department should also include the number of Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs), the number of Disability Employment Adviser Leads (DEALs), and the number of Work Coaches DEAs and DEALs are supporting in Jobcentres. (Paragraph 158) 78 Benefit levels in the U
Government Response Summary
The Department committed to publishing quarterly full-time equivalent (FTE) statistics for Work Coaches, Disability Employment Advisers, and Disability Employment Adviser Leaders. However, it rejected publishing average Work Coach caseload sizes, stating it would not provide clarity on support levels.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Department is committed to delivering the appropriate employment and health support to disabled people and people with health conditions who are impacted by the work capability assessment changes to support them to move closer to or into work. In line with other departments, the Department already publishes monthly workforce management information covering payroll staff by grade, non-payroll staff by type, headcount staff numbers and full-time equivalent staff numbers. DWP is able to supplement this by releasing Work Coach, Disability Employment Adviser and Disability Employment Adviser Leader full time equivalent stats quarterly. While the numbers of people claiming different working age benefits and in different conditionality groups are already publicly available, publishing average Work Coach caseload sizes will not provide clarity on the level of support provided to claimants. It would exclude all support delivered outside the Jobcentre. It would also not reflect other roles within Universal Credit and the wider Jobcentre that support claimants. The Department uses extensive modelling to calculate Work Coach demand based on various factors and this is updated as new policies and processes are introduced. It does not use average caseload size as a formal metric to calculate demand for Work Coaches.