January 2018: Touchbase edition 124
Updated 9 March 2020
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New Get to know your Pension website
The Get to know your Pension campaign encourages people to find out how much State Pension they could get and when they could get it.
The new Get to know your Pension website helps with this by providing easy access to online forecasts and calculators. It also gives tailored information for people at different stages in life, helping them to:
- check if there could be gaps in their National Insurance record
- trace lost pensions
- learn about the benefits of a workplace pension
The website is also available in Welsh.
Please take a look at the Get to know your Pension website, and consider linking to it from your website.
Retail is getting Disability Confident
Disability Confident offers employers advice and guidance on how to successfully recruit and retain disabled people, helping them to access a wider pool of talent.
From the end of January, we will work with our partners to promote Disability Confident in the retail sector. This is one of the largest employment sectors and presents the biggest opportunity for recruiting disabled people.
Over 5,500 employers have already signed up to Disability Confident. If you’re a retailer, or work with retailers, please visit the Disability Confident website to find out how you can:
- become Disability Confident
- help to promote the Disability Confident scheme
Work and Health Programme
The Work and Health Programme has started in the following areas:
| Contract package area | Provider | Launch date |
|---|---|---|
| North West England | Ingeus UK Ltd | 27 November 2017 |
| Wales | Remploy | 1 December 2017 |
| Central England | Shaw Trust | 15 January 2018 |
| North East England | Reed In Partnership | 15 January 2018 |
| Southern England | The Pluss Community Interest Company | 15 January 2018 |
| Home Counties | Shaw Trust | 15 January 2018 |
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) continues to work with Local Government Partners in London and Greater Manchester who are procuring and delivering localised versions of the Work and Health Programme.
GM Working Well (Work and Health Programme) will begin in Greater Manchester on 29 January 2018. The 4 London boroughs will follow by the end of March 2018.
Tax-Free Childcare rolls out to under 9s
Tax-Free Childcare is a new government scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare.
Parents with children aged under 9 can now apply online to receive up to £2,000 per child, per year, to pay towards childcare. For disabled children aged under 17, parents can receive up to £4,000 per child, per year.
Tax-Free Childcare will be rolled out to children aged under 12 from 14 February 2018.
The existing Employer-Supported Childcare scheme remains open to new joiners until April 2018.
Read more about the options available to parents to help with childcare costs.
Email options available for disabled people
DWP offers email communication as a reasonable adjustment to disabled customers who require it.
Disabled customers who think they would benefit from email communication should contact us using the details on the last communication they received from us, or let us know when they next get in touch.
We’ll work with the customer to find out whether email is the most suitable means of communication. If it is, we’ll let them know how we’ll set it up for them.
Deadline to claim the Warm Home Discount
The Warm Home Discount Scheme provides a £140 rebate on electricity bills to certain Pension Credit Guarantee Credit claimants.
Most eligible claimants will have received the rebate automatically from their energy supplier. Eligible claimants who received a letter advising them to contact the Warm Home Discount helpline must call by 31 January 2018 to receive the rebate.
People who claim other means-tested benefits may be eligible to receive a rebate, and should contact their energy supplier directly.
Using the correct postal address for correspondence to DWP
In March 2014, DWP announced that some offices were transferring to new postal addresses as part of a modernisation process. However, DWP is still receiving incorrectly addressed post. This can result in delayed action for customers and partners.
External partners, including local authorities, should ensure they are using the correct postal address or Business Reply Envelope. Envelopes should not have any additional information, for example ‘FAO’, written on them.
News round-up
Update on the future of DWP jobcentres
Number in employment reaches record high
Claiming Funeral Expenses Payment to be made easier
Appointment of Peter Schofield as Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions
Chair of the Pensions Regulator re-appointed
Final DWP customer telephone lines become free