Welcome to the July edition of in touch

Each month, in touch keeps you up to date with the latest news from Jobcentre Plus.

This edition includes news of the Welfare Reform green paper and your opportunity to comment, changes to child maintenance and the countdown to the Employment and Support Allowance.

There's also news of a faster new claims process for customers who have claimed JSA recently.

If you have a suggestion for a future edition, or any feedback, please let us know.

Latest news

Welfare Reform Green Paper

On 21 July, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell announced the publication of 'No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility'.  This Green Paper sets out plans for improving support and work incentives to create a system that rewards responsibility. 

You can read and respond to the paper online. We'll have more information about the proposals in the next edition of in touch.

New telephone network for Jobcentre Plus Contact Centres

All of Jobcentre Plus' 31 contact centres have now become a virtual network using new technology that provides a single network of phones in our contact centres.  This means that calls can be routed to the next available customer service agent with the appropriate skill, wherever they are located, meaning customers' calls can be dealt with faster.

Val Gibson, Head of Jobcentre Plus' Contact Centre Directorate, said that, "this is a tremendous milestone.  We're very proud of this achievement. The success is the result of a lot of investment in our people, processes and technology over the last couple of years".

Partnership agreements foster closer cooperation on Local Employment Partnerships

In May, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Jobcentre Plus wrote to all contracted DWP providers, stressing their commitment to working closely with providers on Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs), engaging with employers and supporting customers into work. You can read the letter online.

The model partnership agreement that was enclosed with the letter is now forming the basis for local discussions as Jobcentre Plus Districts meet providers to create local partnership agreements. This initiative grew out of a Jobcentre Plus consultation event with a number of providers and representative organisations. Lindsey Harman from the LEP project team attended one of the events and found it encouraging. "There was a real sense of common purpose and genuine enthusiasm for working together on LEPs for the benefit of all parties", she said.

Through LEPs, Jobcentre Plus aims to get a quarter of a million people from priority customer groups into work by the end of 2010.  Find out more online.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit - changes to conditions.

The occupational conditions for the prescribed industrial disease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema, PD D12) have been amended.

From 21 July 2008, work on the screens on the surface of a coal mine before 1 January 1983 can be added to work underground to give the required total of 20 years. Two years' screen work will equate to one year underground.

Previously, in order to be entitled to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) for this disease, a person must have worked underground in a coal mine for a total of 20 years. Work on the surface did not count.

Claims for IIDB should be made using the claim pack BI 100PD which is available online, or can be obtained from a local Jobcentre Plus office. Additionally, benefit advice and the address and telephone number of the customer’s Regional Disablement Centre are available from the Benefit Enquiry Line (for people with disabilities) on 0800 88 22 00.

In focus

Giving children a better start in life

Breaking cycles of poverty and putting the poorest children on the path to success are priorities that Jobcentre Plus shares with many other organisations.  Here's an update on the changes already in the pipeline, and more information about new approaches.

Child maintenance changes

Child maintenance changes are moving forward following Royal Assent for the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill. This includes the establishment of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission as a crown Non-Departmental Public Body.

There is good news for parents with care who claim benefits.  For the first time they have the choice to put their own child maintenance arrangement in place, or use the statutory maintenance scheme currently managed by CSA. This applies to all new benefit claiming clients from 14 July and will be extended to existing clients from 27 October.

Also from 27 October, all child maintenance payments received by the CSA will be paid directly to parents with care, and they will be allowed to keep up to £20 a week before it affects their benefits. A full disregard in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will also be brought in at this time, meaning that more money will go to where it is needed most.

From 27 October, parents with care who claim benefit will need to declare any maintenance received to Jobcentre Plus, as they would with any other income.

The CSA will be writing to parents with care affected by these changes over the summer, together with information on what to do next.

Information and Support

To help parents understand all of the options available and make an informed choice about child maintenance, a new information and support service called 'Child Maintenance Options'’ is being set up. Child Maintenance Options will also provide information on a range of related issues such as housing and employment, and will signpost parents to specialist sources of help. The service is currently being piloted with benefit customers, and will be available to everyone later in the year. For more information visit www.cmoptions.org.

Working together in London

In London child poverty has fallen by less than anywhere else in the UK, with inner London rates at 31 per cent - above the national average of 22 per cent. 

Eradication of child poverty requires everyone to play their part, but nowhere more so than in London. Government has been working with employers to share ideas on how business can get involved, and this month launched a London Child Poverty Pledge to help  national, regional and local government, delivery agencies and other key partners to increase their focus on child poverty in the capital.

Next steps and new ideas

We'll tell you about the next stage of welfare reform in August's in touch, but if you want to find out more about the proposals announced this month, and to have your say, take a look at the DWP website.

In the meantime, work to implement current reforms continues at a pace. We've begun piloting a different form of in-work credit in two Manchester Districts. The In Work Retention Pilot  in Greater Manchester Central and Greater Manchester East and West will test whether a lump sum payment after the nine and twelve month points of employment, directly linked to personal adviser interviews, helps lone parents stay in work.

Government also recently announced more information about the child poverty pilots outlined in the last Budget. These build on already successful initiatives, such as offering new services in children's centres and testing new approaches to improve families' incomes. Some of the key things are: 

• A new Child Development Grant of around £200 for low income parents with children under the age of five in 10 local authorities from early 2009.
• Help in certain children's centres in Preston and Newham for parents to better understand and claim tax credits - to support families with everyday costs and childcare costs.
• £7.6m for 30 Children's Centres across 10 Local Authorities to offer enhanced work-focused services.
• Extra help for London including finding new ways of making childcare more affordable for families, and investing up to £10m in incentives to help parents get back to work.
• Improved supported accommodation for teenage mothers by providing additional services to improve the health and development of their children, improve their parenting skills and support them with learning.
• Grants to local authorities to develop new and innovative approaches to tackle the causes and consequences of child poverty.

For more information visit the HM Treasury website.

Stakeholder news

A round-up of business information for stakeholders

Employment and Support Allowance – 100 days to go

19 July was a key date for the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), as it marked the start of the 100 day countdown to go-live on 27 October.

As outlined in June's edition of in touch, Jobcentre Plus is working with key Customer Representative Groups to form a communications working group.  We're also engaging with employers, who will be critical to the success of the new approach ESA will introduce. In addition to local and regional communication about ESA, ongoing national activity includes a recent presentation to the HMRC's employers consultation forum, and planned engagement with the CIPD, Business Links and the Learning and Skills Council. 

Development of a media campaign is also well advanced, with plans for coverage in trade journals and the national and regional press.

ESA replaces the current incapacity benefits for new customers and represents a major shift in the way that Jobcentre Plus looks at its customers with illnesses or disabilities. Under ESA, the emphasis will be on what the customer can do, not cannot do, and on overcoming the barriers that stand in the way of a return to work.

More information about Employment and Support Allowance is available on the DWP website.

Customer news

A round-up of information of interest to those advising customers

Jobseeker's Allowance Rapid Reclaim.

New Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) customers who are eligible for a Rapid Reclaim can now make their claim much more quickly and easily. 

Customers can make a telephone call to our freephone number 0800 055 6688, where their details will be taken and the claim will be processed on the basis of that telephone call. The call agent will tell the customer the date and time of their first fortnightly jobsearch review, where all the necessary documentation will be issued.  This removes the requirement for a lengthy interview at the Jobcentre and means customers will be informed of their benefit entitlement earlier.

To be eligible for Rapid Reclaim, customers need to have had a previous JSA claim within the last 12 weeks and their circumstances need to have remained the same.

Financial Inclusion Champions Initiative Draft

The Government recently published Financial inclusion: an action plan for 2008-2011, announcing the establishment of a 'financial inclusion champions initiative'.  The campaign will build on the existing Now Let's Talk Money campaign (NLTM), using dedicated champions to work with local authorities, social landlords, and other key partners to promote financial inclusion locally.  

NLTM successfully engaged with a wide range of intermediaries, and, where appropriate, Jobcentre Plus advisers are now sign-posting customers to free face-to-face money advice (offered by organisations such as Citizens Advice) and affordable credit (offered by credit unions and community development finance institutions).

Financial Inclusion Champions will work to further reduce the number of people who lack access to basic financial services, for instance those with no bank account, no access to affordable credit, no savings, no house contents insurance and no access to money advice.

This support is vital for those looking to enter the labour market, as debt, lack of banking facilities and lack of access to back to work or small business start up loans have been identified as barriers to work.

People who hold and are able to use suitable bank accounts are more likely to manage their personal money better; pay their rent and utility bills on time; avoid burdening themselves with uncontrollable debt; and build assets and pensions.  Most importantly, it also helps people of working age show employers that they are 'job ready'.

Read more information about the Financial Inclusion action plan online

About in touch

 in touch aims to provide you with short summaries of the latest news, progress of our modernisation programme, forthcoming changes to benefit rules, updates on performance, as well as news on important policy issues which affect our shared customers.  in touch complements Touchbase, the quarterly publication from DWP, by providing a monthly focus on Jobcentre Plus related issues.

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