The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.[6] It is the second-largest governmental department in terms of employees,[1] and the second largest in terms of expenditure (£228 billion as of July2021[update]).[7]
The department was initially tasked with creating Jobcentre Plus and the Pensions Service from the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency.[9] The department became responsible for welfare and pension policy.[11] It aims "to help its customers become financially independent and to help reduce child poverty".[12]
In 2012, the department fully subsumed pensions, disability and life events under the DWP name; Jobcentre Plus and Child Maintenance Service remain as distinct identities publicly.
Until 2021, the DWP was still using ICL VME based computer systems originating from its 1988 Pension Service Computer System to support state pension payments.[13][14] The software was migrated to an in-house VME replacement system, in one of the largest computer replacement projects in Europe.[15][16]
Overall responsibility for the department; people of working age; employers; pensioners; families and children; disabled people, also in the Cabinet.[19]
Labour market including employer engagement; addressing inactivity; poverty; Jobcentre Plus; devolution; In Work Progression; skills; disability employment; childcare; Access to Work; Youth Offer; Occupational Health and Statutory Sick Pay; conditionality and sanctions
Disability policy and cross-government responsibility for disabled people; oversight of Disability Unit, and convenor of Disability Champions; work and health strategy, including sponsorship of the joint Department for Work and Pensions / Department for Health and Social Care Work and Health Unit, and disability benefit reform; disability employment, and disability employment programmes; financial support for those at risk of falling out of work, and disabled claimants including, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Carer's Allowance (CA); Support for disadvantaged groups; Youth Offer; Government Equalities Office (GEO) lead, Women and the Menopause; Military Covenant; Housing Benefit strategy and delivery, including Support for Mortgage Interest and supported accommodation.[20]
Private pensions; State Pension; pensioner benefits; Social Fund; Net Zero; Shadow Lords (including Child Maintenance Service and disadvantaged groups); arm's-length bodies (Money and Pensions Service, National Employment Savings Trust, The Pensions Ombudsman, Pension Protection Fund and The Pensions Regulator); HM Treasury responsibilities
Cross-DWP Lords spokesperson, fraud, error and debt strategy, national insurance number policy, oversight of departmental statutory instruments and managing the relationship with the Social Security Advisory Committee, departmental planning and performance management, and departmental business
With the creation of the department in June 2001, the Pension Service was created, bringing together many different departments and divisions. The Pension Service is a 'dedicated service for current and future pensioners'.[21]
The Pension Service consists of local Pension Centres and centrally-based centres, many of latter are based at the Tyneview Park complex in Newcastle upon Tyne. The following centres are at Tyneview Park:
Future Pension Centre (FPC) provides state pension forecasts for people approaching retirement age.[22]
Newcastle Pension Centre (NPC) originally dealt with the London area, the Home Counties, and part of West Midlands. Now the service is virtual so all pension centres deal with all areas of the country.[23]
Pension Tracing Service (PTS) helps track old pensions and pension schemes.[24]
International Pension Centre (IPC) deals with all enquiries regarding the payment of state pension, bereavement benefits, incapacity benefits and other such benefits for those living abroad.[25]
Local Pension Centres deal with localised claims for state pension and retirement related benefits. Pension Centres are found all over the country. Benefits dealt with at local Pension Centres include:
Pension Credit (replaced a former scheme known as 'Minimum Income Guarantee' in October 2003)
The Disability and Carers Service offers financial support for those who are disabled and their carers, whether in or out of employment. The DCS have offices throughout the country and deal with the following benefits:[26]
The department has been found to frequently invite disabled people to interviews in buildings which are themselves not accessible to people with disabilities. When the person does not attend the interview they deny the person disability benefits, causing malnutrition and destitution.[27][28] The DWP systematically underpaid disabled claimants who were transferred from Incapacity Benefit to Employment and Support allowance, risking hardship for claimants. A cross party committee of MPs, the Public Accounts Committee accused the DWP of a culture of indifference to claimants.[29]
Since at least 2020 DWP has had a policy of cold-calling vulnerable and disabled people to attempt to pressure them into accepting lower benefit claims than they were legally entitled. In July 2021 the DWP agreed to stop after it was threatened with legal action.[30]
Disability Confident scheme
DWP administers the Disability Confident scheme, which supports employers to employ people with disabilities and to maintain the employment of staff who become disabled. The scheme operates as three levels:
The scheme is intended to encourage employers to "think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people", but the DWP lost more disability discrimination cases at employment tribunal than any other employer in Britain between 2016 and 2019.[32]
Tell Us Once
The DWP introduced the "Tell Us Once" system in 2011 to enable people to use a single interface to inform the government about a change in their personal circumstances. Using 'Tell Us Once', departments and agencies like the pensions service, HM Revenue & Customs, the Passport Office and local authorities are informed about a person's change in circumstances in parallel, removing the need for "repeated, unnecessary form-filling".[33] Local authority departments making use of the service include libraries, housing departments, "Blue Badge" services and adult social care.[34]
DWP transferred to a cloud-based service in 2016 using the government's G-Cloud purchasing process for IT services. The Crown Commercial Service states that "cutting administration costs and reducing the overpayments of benefits—usually because of out-of-date records of people's personal circumstances—protected the cross-government savings generated by Tell Us Once, estimated at more than £20 million per year. By switching from a physical infrastructure to a cloud solution, DWP has also benefited from cost savings of around 50% on the IT running costs of Tell Us Once".[33]
Before 2008, The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service were two separate executive agencies; however, it was decided in April 2008 to merge them into one entity named The Pension, Disability and Carers Service.[36]
Both former agencies kept their corporate branding and provided services under their separate identities. The decision was made due to the two agencies sharing about half of the same customers; as a single agency, the rationalisation of services would provide a better service for customers.[37]
The status of PDCS as an executive agency (and its existence as a merged entity) was removed on 1 October 2011 with the functions being brought back inside the department; and both The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service becoming distinct entities once again.[38] Prior to July 2012 the Child Support Agency was the operating arm of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC).
All are now operated wholly from within the department, with the brand names shut down in 2012.
The total annual budget of the department in 2011–12 was £151.6 billion, representing approximately 28% of total UK Government spending.[40] The department spends a far greater share of national wealth than any other department in Britain, by a wide margin. The department spends an average of £348.9 million with suppliers per month.[41] The government noted in 2013 that DWP's third-party expenditure was characterised by a number of "complex, high-value contracts".[42]
A report of February 2012 found that billions of pounds payable had not been claimed. In 2009–2010 the DWP stated £1.95 billion job-seekers allowance, £2 billion income support and employment and support allowance, £2.4 billion in council tax, £2.8 billion in pension credit and £3.1 billion for housing benefit; in total £12.25 billion had not been claimed.[43]
Research
The department is a major commissioner of external social science research, with the objective of providing the evidence base needed to inform departmental strategy, policy-making and delivery.[44] The department has developed and uses various microsimulation and other models, including the Policy Simulation Model (for appraisal of policy options), Pensim2 (to create projections of pension entitlements up to 2100) and Inform (to produce the department's benefit caseload forecasts). Datasets held include the LLMDB and the Family Resources Survey.
During 2012 the department announced records of the number of people born outside of the United Kingdom ("non-UK nationals") claiming work-related benefits from 2011, using data already collated within the department together with those of HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency[45] (whose duties are now fulfilled by UK Visas and Immigration).
Employment, health and safety, and social security policy are reserved matters of the United Kingdom government. The Scotland Act 2016 devolved specific areas of social security to the Scottish Government to administer and reform. The Scottish Parliament passed the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 to establish a statutory basis of Social Security in Scotland. This created a principled based legislative agenda for Social Security providing for social security to be a human right in Scotland. Most aspects of social security in Scotland remain reserved to the United Kingdom and those will remain administered by the DWP.
Policy in these areas is technically devolved but, in practice, follows policy set by Parliament to provide consistency across the United Kingdom.[46] Employment and health and safety policy are fully devolved.
The department's main counterparts in Northern Ireland are:
Partners, providers and sub-contractors are used extensively by DWP, for supply of goods and services in general but especially in employment related services. A Code of Conduct aiming to "to ensure excellent sub contractual relationships between the top-tier and high performing third sector and other organisations" working for these schemes was established in the department's 2008 Commissioning Strategy.[47] This code was subsequently developed into the "Merlin Standard",[47] "a standard of behaviour which DWP prime providers are expected to adhere to in their relationship with their subcontractors ... [and which] is designed to encourage excellence in supply chain management by prime providers". A "Merlin Standard Advisory Board" was established in July 2011.[48] The Merlin Standard was replaced with new Provider Guidance in 2013.[49]
DWP contributes to government ambitions to make supply chains more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises, but the government commented in 2013 that it had yet to secure good insight into the supply chain role of SMEs.[42]
Controversies
In August 2015, the department admitted using fictional stories from made-up claimants on leaflets advertising the positive impact of benefit sanctions, following a Freedom of Information request from Welfare Weekly,[50] claiming that they were for "illustrative purposes only"[51][52] and that it was "quite wrong" to pass these off as genuine quotes.[53]
Later that month figures were released which showed that between December 2011 and February 2014, 2,650 people died shortly after their Work Capability Assessment told them that they should be finding work.[54] The DWP had fought hard for the figures not to be released, with chief minister Iain Duncan Smith at one point telling Parliament that they did not exist.[55]
In 2019, a computer system was introduced but the DWP refused to reveal details. Claimants and their supporters feared it would add to poverty and hardship. Frank FieldMP stated in early 2020 that claimants, "will be left at the mercy of online systems that, even now, leave all too many people teetering on the brink of destitution. We've already seen, in the gig economy, how workers are managed and sacked, not by people, but by algorithms. Now the welfare state looks set to follow suit, with the 'social' human element being stripped away from 'social security'."[56]
In 2019, the department was found by an independent inquiry to have broken its own rules, in a case where a disabled woman killed herself in 2017 after her benefits were stopped when she missed a Work Capability Assessment because she had pneumonia.[57] Previous research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health by Oxford University and Liverpool University had found that there were an additional 590 suicides between 2010 and 2013 in areas where such assessments were carried out. The researchers said that the DWP had introduced the policy of moving people off benefits without understanding the consequences.[58] In 2022 the department refused to release data to researchers at Glasgow University who were investigating if benefit sanctions were linked to suicides. This was despite earlier promises by ministers that they were supporting the researchers.[59]
A disability pension is a form of pension given to those people who are permanently or temporarily unable to work due to a disability.
Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is an unemployment benefit paid by the Government of the United Kingdom to people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the claimant is out of work.
Jobcentre Plus is a brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom.
Housing Benefit is a means-tested social security benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help meet housing costs for rented accommodation. It is the second biggest item in the Department for Work and Pensions' budget after the state pension, totalling £23.8 billion in 2013–14.
Income Support is an income-related benefit in the United Kingdom for some people who are on a low income, but have a reason for not actively seeking work. Claimants of Income Support may be entitled to certain other benefits, for example, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Child Benefit, Carer's Allowance, Child Tax Credit and help with health costs. A person with capital over £16,000 cannot get Income Support, and savings over £6,000 affect how much Income Support can be received. Claimants must be between 16 and Pension Credit age, work fewer than 16 hours a week, and have a reason why they are not actively seeking work.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a United Kingdom welfare payment for adults younger than the State Pension age who are having difficulty finding work because of their long-term medical condition or a disability. It is a basic income-replacement benefit paid in lieu of wages. It is currently being phased out and replaced with Universal Credit for claimants on low incomes, although the contribution-based element remains available.
Incapacity Benefit was a British social security benefit that was paid to people facing extra barriers to work because of their long-term illness or their disability. It replaced Invalidity Benefit in 1995. The government began to phase out Incapacity Benefit in 2008 by making it unavailable to new claimants, and later moved almost all the remaining long-term recipients onto Employment and Support Allowance.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a social security benefit in the United Kingdom paid to eligible claimants who have personal care and/or mobility needs as a result of a mental or physical disability. It is tax-free, non-means-tested and non-contributory. The benefit was established by the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, integrating the former benefits Mobility Allowance and Attendance Allowance and introducing two additional lower rates of benefit. Prior to 2013 it could be claimed by UK residents aged under sixty five years. However, the benefit was phased-out for the majority of claimants between 2013 and 2015 and replaced by a new Personal Independence Payment. DLA can still be claimed by children under sixteen and can still be received by existing claimants who were aged sixty five or over on 8 April 2013.
Disability benefits are a form of financial assistance or welfare designed to support disabled individuals who cannot work due to a chronic illness, disease or injury. Disability benefits are typically provided through various sources, including government programs, group disability insurance provided by employers or associations or private insurance policies typically purchased through a licensed insurance agent or broker, or directly from an insurance company.
Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) was a United Kingdom state benefit intended for those below the state pension age who cannot work because of illness or disability. It was replaced by Incapacity Benefit in April 2001, which itself was replaced by Employment and Support Allowance. However, although it is no longer possible to make a claim for SDA, individuals who are already receiving the benefit have continued to do so. The benefit is administered by Jobcentre Plus.
Universal Credit is a United Kingdom based social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits, for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), and Income Support; Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC); and Housing Benefit. An award of UC is made up of different elements, which become payable to the claimant if relevant criteria apply: a standard allowance for singles or couples, child elements and disabled child elements for children in the household, housing cost element, childcare costs element, as well as elements for being a carer or having an illness or disability and therefore having limited capability to work.
Personal Independence Payment is a welfare benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help working age adults with the extra costs of living with a health condition or a disability. It is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not in Scotland where Adult Disabled Payment (ADP) is claimed instead.
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which makes changes to the rules concerning a number of benefits offered within the British social security system. It was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 8 March 2012.
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is used by the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to decide whether and to what extent welfare benefit claimants are capable of doing work or work-related activities. The outcome of the assessment also determines whether claimants are entitled to "new style" Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and potentially additional elements of Universal Credit (UC).
Carer's Allowance is a non-contributory benefit in the United Kingdom payable to people who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. It was first established as Invalid Care Allowance in 1976, and married women were not eligible. This policy was held to be unlawful sexual discrimination by the European Court in 1986 in the case of Jackie Drake. See Carers rights movement In May 2020 around 1.1 million people in England were entitled to Carer’s Allowance, of which 780,000 people were being paid it, according to the National Audit Office.
Disability in the United Kingdom covers a wide range of conditions and experiences, deeply impacting the lives of millions of people. Defined by the Equality Act 2010 as a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, it encompasses various aspects of life, including demographics, legislation, healthcare, employment, and culture. Despite numerous advancements in policy and social attitudes, individuals with disabilities often encounter unique challenges and disparities.
The Minister of State for Social Security and Disability is a junior minister in the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for disabled people. The role has also been known as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Disabled People, Health and Work.
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment, used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom, to assess and reassess claimants of Employment and Support Allowance or enhanced rate Universal Credit, has been wide-ranging, from the procedure itself, to the financial cost of using both Atos and Maximus to assess claimants. Other criticisms discuss the level of deaths, suicides and high overturn rates at tribunals that the WCA has caused.
Social Security Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government with responsibility for social security provision.
Iain Duncan Smith served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2010 to 2016. A member and previous leader of the Conservative Party, Duncan Smith was appointed to the cabinet by Prime Minister David Cameron following the 2010 general election and the formation of the coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. He was reappointed after the Conservatives won a majority in the 2015 general election but resigned in March 2016 in opposition to disability benefit cuts.
References
1 2 Worlidge, Jack; Aiyar-Majeed, Sameer; Grama, Teodor (11 June 2024) [15 Dec 2017]. "Civil service staff numbers". Institute for Government. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
↑ "How to understand public sector spending – Annually managed expenditure (AME)". HM Treasury. 29 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016. Annually managed expenditure, or AME, is more difficult to explain or control as it is spent on programmes which are demand-led – such as welfare, tax credits or public sector pensions. It is spent on items that may be unpredictable or not easily controlled by departments, and are relatively large in comparison to other government departments.
↑ "How to understand public sector spending – Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL)". HM Treasury. 29 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016. The government budget that is allocated to and spent by government departments is known as the Departmental Expenditure Limit, or DEL. This amount, and how it is split between government departments, is set at Spending Reviews. Things that departmental budgets can be spent on include the running of the services that they oversee such as schools or hospital, and the everyday cost of resources such as staff. The government controls DEL by deciding how much each department gets.
↑ "Departmental budgets". Institute for Government. July 2021. Table Total managed expenditure (TME) by department, 2021/22 (planned). Retrieved 1 July 2024.As of 1July2024[update] this article is dated 7 November 2017 but the relevant table is dated July 2021.
1 2 This article incorporates text published under the British OpenGovernmentLicence: Department for Work and Pensions and the Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion, Review of the Merlin Standard, Research Report no. 907, published in October 2015, accessed on 22 November 2024
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United Kingdomportal 
