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DWP ramps
up drive to help low earners increase their wages and encourage
employers to support career progression.
- Universal Credit claimants are securing job promotions and
better pay after local Jobcentres step in with specialist In Work
Progression support.
- Network of specialist Progression Leads are in place across
England, Scotland and Wales who work with local skill providers
to develop tailored opportunities.
The support known as the In Work Progression offer has rolled out
across all of Great Britain and includes help with CVs and
signposting to skills provision.
Work coaches can support in-work claimants to tackle barriers to
progression including accessing childcare costs, which as
announced last week will now be paid up-front rather than in
arrears. They can also help eligible claimants with other
expenses such as travel costs through the Flexible Support Fund.
Minister for Employment, said:
In Work Progression is one of this Government’s core priorities.
It’s about supporting people in work to raise their incomes, and
ultimately becoming financially secure.
Rolling out this voluntary offer nationwide demonstrates our
commitment to help even more people take control of their careers
and finances, setting them firmly on a pathway to a brighter and
more prosperous future.
Work coaches delivering this support to claimants who want to
increase their earnings and progress in work will be supported by
Progression Leads, of which 37 have been recruited to cover all
Jobcentre Districts.
Progression Leads work with local government, employers, and
skills providers such as the Federation of Small Businesses and
local Chambers of Commerce to identify and develop local
progression opportunities. They also work with partners to
address local barriers that limit progression, such as childcare
and transport.
For example, a holiday park in Scotland has agreed to combine
part-time shifts for cleaners and waiting staff which will allow
employees to have a full-time job, whilst Whitbread in Dumfries
have also followed the same approach, combining part-time roles
to increase hours for hospitality focused staff.
From September this year, the Government will start to require
that more working people on Universal Credit engage with the In
Work Progression offer. This will ensure that around 460,000
working claimants who are in what’s known as the Light Touch
group will receive tailored help to progress and increase their
earnings.
Further InformationCase study
Sharnette, aged 51 from Rotherham, benefitted from the support
provided by the In Work Progression offer. She is a mum of four
who was self-employed for over 20 years but found herself out of
work due to the pandemic. Following a claim to Universal Credit,
she started working for a care home but was open to progression.
With thanks to her “unstoppable” work coach, Sharnette is now
working full time as an Ambulance Care Assistant for a private
ambulance service in Yorkshire and credits the DWP with “allowing me
to dream and carry my dream into reality”.
- Eligible claimants will be contacted via their Universal
Credit journal and invited to participate but claimants can also
send a journal message requesting support which will be picked up
by a work coach.
- Claimants in the Light Touch and Working Enough regimes are
eligible to join the voluntary offer.
- 460,000 people in the Light Touch group will be in scope for
mandatory In Work Progression support from September can already
access the offer on a voluntary basis.
