Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, let me see if I can give noble Lords the clarifications they wish in this area. The amendment seeks to create provisions which would allow regulations to specify that when people claim employment and support allowance an assessment is made of their other entitlements. They are then notified of any entitlements and advised how to claim them. It is only right that people should have full access to information and advice on the financial and other help available to them. The Department for Work and Pensions already provides extensive background information on the full range of benefits, statutory entitlements and how to go about claiming them. For example, where customers require quick or urgent advice they can contact their local office or call Jobcentre Plus Direct or their appropriate benefit delivery centre. Our wide range of literature is available in many locations and formats. For example, the Jobcentre Plus leaflet entitled A guide for disabled people, those with health conditions, and carers explains the support that is available to those people if they are unable to work, looking for work or not looking for work at the moment but may in the future. In addition, the customers home page of the Jobcentre Plus website signposts disabled customers to the specialist help available for disabled people; for example, Access to Work, Workstep or Remploy. We acknowledge that there are many challenges associated with producing customer information. We have made much progress in rationalising our leaflets and the information on our websites and increasing its accuracy and availability. We are moving in the right direction but recognise that there is more to do. As the implementation of ESA progresses we will continue working with all stakeholders to ensure that this information gets to the right people at the right time and in the right way. There is cross-government co-operation in this respect. The Disability and Carers Service is working with the Department of Health to improve the ways benefit advice about disability living allowance and attendance allowance can be delivered. This includes exploring the provision of benefit advice through the ““information prescription”” which the Department of Health will trial in England. We have also taken steps to improve the customer management system scripts. The department’s officials responsible for the system are in touch with Macmillan so that there may be a real opportunity for Macmillan’s aspirations for its service users to become a reality. I am sure noble Lords will agree that this is a positive move forward. Jobcentre Plus is fortunate in that it is staffed by dedicated and hardworking staff who already do all they can to provide information at the right time to all those who contact it for help and advice. I am, therefore, not convinced that the power to provide for a statutory duty would add anything to the requirement that we already place on Jobcentre Plus. Accordingly, I hope that I have provided the comfort that noble Lords require and that they feel able to withdraw the amendment.