Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
The Department also told us about some other cross government work it is involved in,...
Conclusion
The Department also told us about some other cross government work it is involved in, including working with the Department for Levelling up, Housing & Communities to avoid benefit recipients paying higher rents for poorer-quality accommodation in the private rented sector.20 17 Q 71 18 Q 75 19 Q 73 20 Q 72 12 The Restart Scheme for long-term unemployed people 2 Participant experience on Restart and scheme performance Participant experience on Restart
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to improve support to those with complex barriers, as set out in the White Paper published on 15 March 2023, and will work across government with other departments to build support for claimants facing other complex needs.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
6. PAC conclusion: Many claimants have complex barriers that prevent them from finding work, and some of these barriers may be better addressed through other means than an employment support scheme such as Restart. 6. PAC recommendation: The Department should set out, in its Treasury Minute response: • Its understanding of how complex barriers such as mental health problems and homelessness, which might not traditionally sit with the Department, impact on people’s ability to find work and the associated cost of this to society and the exchequer. • How it will develop and use its knowledge of claimants to help government as a whole to take a joined up and effective approach to overcoming the ‘complex barriers’ that prevent people from finding and maintaining employment 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 The government set out its plan to improve support to those with complex barriers relating to health and disability in the White Paper Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper published on 15 March 2023 6.3 The White Paper recognizes the need to ensure join up across public services and with employers, to ensure that people receive the most appropriate support to release their potential. An example is the work through the Joint Work and Health Directorate, with Department for Health and Social Care, to extend the Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies services to support more people with mental health issues (paragraph 65 of the White Paper). 6.4 The department also works across government to build support for claimants facing other complex needs, for example with: • Ministry of Justice, on their Prisons Strategy White Paper. This includes testing ways of starting Universal Credit claims and the claimant commitment in prison • Department for Education to support care leavers as they move out of the care system • Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities on their rough sleeping strategy, to introduce homelessness leads in every jobcentre.