argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Jobcentre Services — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend takes a strong interest in her Jobcentre Plus, as she updated me following her visit. I remind Members that since September 2020, our enhanced DWP youth offer has provided wraparound support for 18 to 24-year-old claimants, providing a 13-week tailored pre-employment course. I am pleased that Stafford JCP is hosting an interactive kickstart event tomorrow; our JCPs do that kind of event and engagement regularly.
Jobcentre Services — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Benjamin David Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for all her team are doing to support people back into work. In conversations with my local jobcentre staff this week, they reported very positive progress. They asked what opportunities there might be to consider extending kickstart-style schemes or incentives, so they are able to help out-of-work adults as well as young people. I wonder if my hon. Friend could help me to answer their question.
Jobcentre Services — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I am proud that our plan for jobs supports people, at any age and at any career stage, who are looking for new opportunities through, for example, our sector-based work academy programmes, our enhanced "50 PLUS: Choices" offer, and the new DWP "Train and Progress", through which people can train for longer into a growing sector using the flexibilities built in within universal credit.
Jobcentre Services — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Giles Francis Watling (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for her earlier answers. Before this terrible pandemic hit, I had the opportunity to visit my local jobcentre in Clacton. Its staff are enthusiastic and devoted to their work, but that workload has increased dramatically as our hospitality and tourism sectors have been hit. These sectors are vital to the Clacton economy. Is the Minister taking account of our often overlooked and deprived coastal areas as the Government continue their important work of helping people affected by this terrible pandemic back into work?
Jobcentre Services — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): Understanding the needs of every community is key—[Interruption.] I hear the Secretary of State mention Suffolk Coastal. The success of our jobcentres in understanding the local economy and getting local people back into work is key. Our JCPs change lives every day. One recent success story in Clacton was a customer who recently started a kickstart job in wildlife conservation—I am not sure whether my hon. Friend is joining him there at the moment—as a result of the five-week pre-employment course at the DWP.
Benefit Cap — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will be keen to know that, even in these current times, people moving out of the benefit cap and into work is going in the right direction. There are multiple vacancies in the hospitality, construction, care and logistics sectors. The benefits system provides a crucial safety net for people at their time of need and the benefit cap also provides a strong incentive for claimants to get into work and increase their hours so that the benefit cap does not apply.
Benefit Cap — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I remind hon. Members that the benefit cap is set at the equivalent annual salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London, which importantly provides fairness between taxpayers in employment and those with working-age support. Claimants can approach their local authority for discretionary housing payments if they need additional support to meet rental costs, or indeed for hardship grants. The hon. Lady should look out for the forthcoming in-work progression report, which will look at all these matters. We should take all this in the round.
Rules for Terminal Illness Review — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department is committed to publishing the outcome of the evaluation, and it will be announced in due course. I understand that the delay has been frustrating, and I remain absolutely committed to delivering an improved benefit system for claimants who are nearing the end of their lives.
Rules for Terminal Illness Review — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the hon. Member, who has been brilliant at championing the need to make changes, with which the Department agrees as part of its review to raise awareness of support, improve consistency with other services and, crucially, change that six-month rule. We will be able to make changes very, very soon.
Rules for Terminal Illness Review — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. I am grateful to all the stakeholders and those with real-lived experience, including disabled people themselves, who have been working with the Department on: the proposed changes to SRTI; our forthcoming health and disability Green Paper, which will look at both disability benefits and support and disability employment, of which we have delivered record amounts; and our national strategy for disabled people, which has the Prime Minister’s personal support and will, for the first time, bring genuine cross-Government focus to create more inclusivity and remove barriers. All of those are due very soon, and I am confident that they will be well received.
Kickstart Scheme — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted to say that we have agreed funding for over 230,000 jobs. What matters, though, is whether young people are starting those jobs. Over 36,000 young people have—nearly doubling since the previous DWP questions—and there are about 100,000 jobs currently live in the system waiting to be filled, so it is a very exciting time for young people to get kickstarted.
Kickstart Scheme — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Christopher Mark Clarkson (Conservative, Centre-right): Getting young people into these kickstarter positions is hugely important, but it is only a first step, so will my right hon. Friend tell me what support is available to those young people to turn these kickstarter opportunities into permanent roles?
Kickstart Scheme — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the key features of the kickstart role is the £1,500 that is given for employability support. Combined with that, there are now over 27,000 work coaches right across Great Britain. What will tend to happen is that those young people, after four months of being on kickstart, will be engaged to see what the next role could be. That could be an apprenticeship or a permanent role, and we are already seeing people get permanent work with their kickstart employers. I particularly pay tribute to Tesco, which has been absolutely amazing in the process so far, and I encourage other employers who are equally standing up to the challenge to continue to try to make sure that every young person gets a chance.
£20 Universal Credit Uplift — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): No assessment has been made. Projecting the impact of an individual policy on poverty levels is complex and inherently speculative. It is difficult to isolate the specific impact of one policy and determine its effect on how many people fall below the poverty threshold, which itself changes over time.
£20 Universal Credit Uplift — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): Our expectation is that, as the vaccine is widely rolled out, restrictions will be lifted and our economy will reopen over the next few months. Therefore, the Government’s focus will rightly shift towards supporting people’s incomes by helping them back into work and to increase their earnings through progression as part of our comprehensive plan for jobs. We have consistently shown throughout the crisis that we will continue to assess how best to support individuals and businesses as the situation develops.
£20 Universal Credit Uplift — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): As I said, our expectation is that as the vaccine roll-out gathers pace, as restrictions are eased, as our economy opens up and as our labour market starts to grow again over the next few months, it is absolutely right that our focus shifts towards supporting and empowering people back into work, because we know—all the evidence shows us—that work is the best route of poverty. We will do that through our £30 billion comprehensive plan for jobs.
Levelling-up Agenda — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Levelling up is the Prime Minister’s key priority, making sure that people right across this country have the opportunity to thrive. The way that the Department does that is to work with other Departments, particularly thinking about skills and people going into in-work progression, as well as the use of levers, such things as the flexible support fund, that are aimed at removing barriers for people to take advantage of the opportunities available.
In-work Poverty — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): The number of working-age adults in working families in absolute poverty before housing costs fell by 300,000 in 2019-20. We have strengthened the welfare system, spending £7.4 billion in 2020-21 on measures such as the universal credit uplift. This is on top of additional support such as the coronavirus job retention scheme and the self-employment income support scheme.
In-work Poverty — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are wholly committed to supporting the most vulnerable in our society, spending over £111 billion on working-age benefits in 2020-21, including an additional £7.4 billion in covid-related welfare policy measures. Additionally, my Department’s covid winter grant scheme—now the covid local support grant—has helped those families most in need with the cost of food and other essentials. We take the issue of food insecurity incredibly seriously; that is why we have published data on household food insecurity from the family resources survey for the first time, to get a better understanding of the lived experience of families.
In-work Poverty — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course I do not want to see anybody in this country, let alone any child, growing up in poverty. Working-age adults in working families were approximately four times less likely to be in absolute poverty than working-age adults in workless families. A child living in a household where nobody works is five times more likely to be in absolute poverty than a child in a household where every adult is working. As I said, we have to focus on in-work progression and tackling in-work poverty, and we are doing that: we have the In-Work Progression Commission, which will report shortly on the barriers to progression for those in persistent low pay and set out a strategy for overcoming them.
Benefit Sanctions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): As we approach 19 July, we have to have a business-as-usual approach in how we traditionally respond to the needs of our claimants, but I want to stress that, as ever, the claimant commitments are perfectly tailored to different benefit recipients. We also take into account the different vulnerabilities that people face. That is why, just over a year ago, we changed the process so that decisions would be made in a more centralised way to get a consistent approach, recognising that we want to ensure that people fulfil their commitments and the requirements made by DWP in order to continue to receive the benefits that they have.
Benefit Sanctions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): I will be open: I do not know how the law applies in Scotland. I know that in England and Wales there is a duty on councils to continue to have an element of responsibility for people who have left care until they reach the age of 25. I want to encourage the hon. Lady by saying that, right around the country, our jobcentres and work coaches are mindful of the extra demands, and that we continue to make sure that people’s individual vulnerabilities are accounted for.
Disability Employment Gap: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): The disability employment gap has narrowed by 0.3 percentage points in the year to March 2021 and now stands at 28.6 percentage points. The Government remain committed to seeing 1 million more disabled people in work by 2027, despite the challenges of covid.
Benefits System: Fraud and Error — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we want to see issues resolved as quickly as possible. I would stress that the vast majority—around 95%—of payments are paid correctly, and the Department has processed over 4.3 million new universal credit claims since March 2020. The priority has been to get money to those people who need it desperately as quickly as possible. To do that, we streamlined some of our normal checks, but we are currently revisiting any high-risk claims that we paid during the covid-19 trust and protect period. I would of course be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to talk about this issue in more detail.
Supporting Young People into Work — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
David Mervyn Johnston (Conservative, Centre-right): I am one of those people who do not think it is a good idea for everybody to work from home, because it means that young people do not have older workers that they can observe and chat to, to learn the ropes. However, while a lot of office space sits empty or underoccupied, would my hon. Friend consider encouraging employers to make that space available to charities and training providers in order to train young people in the skills they need?
Supporting Young People into Work — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much understand my colleague’s comments. Supporting young people to thrive and find new opportunities is an important priority for me, and I take his comments on board. This is exactly what we are doing with our new DWP youth hubs. Jobcentre Plus works with employers, training providers and charities to identify local training needs and to ensure that opportunities and suitable outreach are available for all claimants, including young people.
Supporting Young People into Work — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Mohammad Saqib Bhatti (Conservative, Centre-right): Careers fairs can be a fantastic way of promoting opportunity in the local area, which is why I plan to host one in my constituency of Meriden in the coming months. Given the strengths of jobcentres and their local relationships, what support can they provide to help make careers fairs such as mine a success?
Supporting Young People into Work — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): Jobcentre staff have a wealth of knowledge of the local labour market, cultivated by working closely with MPs, partners and businesses in their local community. My hon. Friend’s careers fair will be a very welcome addition to the ongoing work of Jobcentre Plus branches in the area, which are inviting employers on a one-to-one basis for kickstart interviews daily. They have virtual group information sessions as well to get young people into work.
Supporting Young People into Work — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Matthew Alexander Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): The Lakota Training Group, set up by Joanne and Paul in Stockton, does incredible work, helping the long-term unemployed to develop the skills and confidence they need to get great jobs—they go above and beyond to change the lives of so many people. What steps is my hon. Friend taking to help training providers such as Lakota continue to help people find work and unleash their full potential?
Supporting Young People into Work — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend’s local Jobcentre Plus in Stockton has a very important relationship with Lakota and they have been working closely together for a number of years. They are currently offering motivational and employability courses, including "All about you", which builds on the customer’s skills, confidence and job search techniques and will help us, crucially, to deliver good job outcomes for local people in Stockton.
Personal Independence Payments — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): Volumes of new PIP claims awarded have remained stable since the introduction of covid-19 restrictions. Official statistics show that since April 2020 some 225,000 new PIP claimants have had awards. Over this period, we have continued to assess all claims on the basis of paper evidence or telephone assessments, where necessary.
Universal Credit Claimants — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): Through our plan for jobs, we are working with employers to deliver sector-based work academy programmes and swaps, and to provide bespoke training and experience, alongside a guaranteed interview for a real job in growing sectors. Additionally, DWP Train and Progress has provided even more flexibility for universal credit claimants to access training for longer, including new skills boot camps led by the Department for Education.
Universal Credit Claimants — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for her answer. In Truro and Falmouth, and around Cornwall, hospitality businesses are struggling to recruit staff at the moment. Does my hon. Friend agree that UC claimants could be provided with hospitality sector-specific training, and, potentially, with further incentives, to ensure that these vacancies in this hugely important sector are filled?
Universal Credit Claimants — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I am working strongly with the sector. These are some of the most rewarding, varied and enjoyable roles that there are. It is right that we encourage people to work in hospitality, as well as to enjoy its reopening. In Falmouth, we have created an intensive programme to provide claimants with an interest in hospitality with a set of transferable skills to ensure that they have the skills they need to flourish in this vital sector in beautiful Cornwall.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Well, there we are. By the way, Christine, the answer is none On the topical statement, on the basis of a successful G7, at which the employers taskforce fed into the discussions about work, I was able to participate in the G20 last week in Italy, as well as work on the OECD in terms of some of the work we want to do to make sure that, as a world, when we build back better we share and collaborate, because we want to make sure that we build back fairer and greener. I am particularly excited about the opportunities to help people with health conditions and disability to re-enter the world of work.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Greg Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): Increasingly sophisticated digital skills are ever more crucial for those seeking work. With that in mind, what steps is my right hon. Friend taking to help all universal credit claimants to improve and strengthen their digital skills as they seek work?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Education
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am conscious that digital inclusion is a key part of the skills issue. We are working collaboratively with the DFE, particularly on digital boot camps, and we have even changed the rules of aspects of universal credit to make sure that people can fully participate in extended courses. We will continue to use and signpost people to whatever resources are available.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): DWP staff are real staff at the very frontline. We undertake risk assessments for every single jobcentre. Dealing with trade unions is an operational matter that is ably done by senior officials in my Department. I am confident and we know that our workers are keen to get back into the office and to make sure that they encourage people there. Our mission is to try to help people to get back into work and we know that face-to-face interventions are the most successful way to make that happen.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
David Timothy Simmonds (Conservative, Centre-right): Young jobseekers who were just starting to build their CVs when the pandemic hit will have different needs in respect of entering the world of work from those who may have years of experience to draw on. Can my right hon. Friend tell me what dedicated support is available specifically to help young people to take those first crucial steps into the working world?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Probably the most obvious element is the £2 billion of funding for the kickstart scheme. Let me give a recent example of where I have seen kickstart work well: a young man in south-west Scotland started off an apprenticeship and was very quickly set aside, and then his confidence was rebuilt by a work coach and he managed to get into a kickstart placement and is now thriving. It is important that our 27,000 work coaches in well over 700 jobcentres already are making sure that young people are at the forefront in respect of the help we are seeking to provide.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Labor
Guy Thomas Opperman (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is a member of the Labour party. He will recall that it was the Labour party that set up the Pensions Regulator with operational independence to deal with these matters. He may have forgotten the basis on which the Pensions Regulator was set up, but I have not. It is a matter between the Pensions Regulator and the individual company, but I am sure that he will take that up when he meets the Pensions Regulator.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point about the rural elements. That is taken into account in the prioritisation of people we may wish to see in face-to-face interventions. We treat every claimant as an individual in trying to help them at this stage, and none more so than in his part of Scotland.