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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people receiving jobseeker’s allowance who have accessed Universal Jobmatch.

Esther McVey

Universal Jobmatch does not differentiate between the different types of user who access the service. Universal Jobmatch is open to all, whether they are in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance or not. There are currently 8.6 million registered users. In order to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance, claimants must (amongst other things) be available for and actively seeking work. Universal Jobmatch is a key source of jobs, so for the vast majority of claimants, using the service will be a key part of actively seeking work and also allows Jobcentre Plus Staff to assist claimants when looking for work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken from an application for reconsideration of an employment and support allowance decision to a decision being made on that case was in each month since October 2013.

Mr Mark Harper

The latest information available is provided in Table 2.1 in the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mandatory-reconsiderations-of-dwp-benefit-decisions-data-to-october-2014

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many zero-hours contracts were advertised on Universal Jobmatch in each of the last 12 months.

Esther McVey

Information published by the Office for National Statistics suggests zero-hours contracts make up a small part of the overall labour market, accounting for about 2-4% of all people in work.

There are a broad range of vacancies available on Universal Jobmatch, offering various types of contracts to jobseekers. Universal Jobmatch (UJ) was designed to be a self-service job posting and matching service. Before employers can access the service and start advertising job vacancies they are required to subscribe to specific Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions state, that job postings must provide a full, clear and accurate job description of an actual (genuine) job or work opportunity. Further, there is also the requirement that all job postings comply to employment related legislation such as Working Time Legislation and National Minimum Wage.

When a job is being advertised on behalf of another employer (e.g. recruitment agency or job board) a contract should be in place with the end employer. The onus is upon the employer / agency to conform to the Terms and Conditions. DWP and the UJ Service Provider work collaboratively and proactively to ensure system compliance and where an employer is identified as breaching Terms and Conditions, appropriate action is taken. If the employer continues to breach Terms and Conditions, the circumstances will be investigated and access to UJ may be withdrawn.

Jobseekers claiming Jobseekers Allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies, they will not be sanctioned as a result of not applying. UC claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction. However a UC claimant will not be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract with an exclusivity clause.

UC automatically adjusts benefit payments depending on the number of hours a person works – whatever the type of contract. Where Universal Credit claimants refuse to apply for a role, including a Zero Hours Contract role when mandated to do so or refuse to accept a job offer, they can be sanctioned. People on UC will not be required to sign up to zero hours contracts which require exclusivity, so they will always have the opportunity to gain more hours elsewhere.

Universal Credit (UC) will substantially improve incentives to work, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn before it has any impact on the amount of UC they receive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Access to Work programme has spent on British Sign Language interpreters to date.

Mr Mark Harper

Since 1^st April 2007 and up to 30^th September 2014, the Access to Work programme has spent £150m on British Sign Language interpreters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of former jobseeker’s allowance claimants moving into work from the Work Programme in Merseyside, Halton, Cumbria and Lancashire contract area started work on a zero-hours contract in the last 12 months.

Esther McVey

Information published by the Office for National Statistics suggests zero-hours contracts make up a small part of the overall labour market, accounting for about 2-4% of all people in work.

Jobseekers claiming Jobseekers Allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies, they will not be sanctioned as a result of not applying. UC claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction as UC automatically adjusts benefit payments depending on the number of hours a person works – whatever the type of contract. However a UC claimant will not be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract with an exclusivity clause. UC is about enabling people to make a smooth transition back into work and off benefits.

Work Programme providers are not required to submit job start information until they claim a job outcome; only then are they requested to input a job start date which helps secure the validity of the job outcome payment. The type of employment is not a condition for a job outcome payment, although they must be working enough hours to leave benefit and therefore trigger the job outcome payment.