Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

The new Secretary of State recently told the Work and Pensions Select Committee that new internal guidance had been issued:

Q34 Siobhan Baillie: On the childcare element of Universal Credit, we have heard evidence that work coaches struggle with this. We were told that there was an effort to put a specialist childcare work coach into various
different jobcentres. I would be interested to know whether there has been any progress on this. It is a generous scheme at 85%. We know that the take-up is incredibly low and we have had witnesses before us telling us it is actively discouraging them from not only going to work but maximising their opportunity, particularly with the up-front costs. I would be interested to know what work has been done to assist work coaches to assist claimants and whether there are any potential changes coming down the track with childcare.
Mel Stride: We do recognise that we need to get the message out there. In June this year a major communication strategy was rolled out to encourage take-up, with the Department communicating new internal guidance to operational staff.

Please provide a copy of the new internal guidance issued in June.

Yours faithfully,

Owen Stevens