To ask the Minister for Communities when Jobs and Benefits offices will return to pre-pandemic operating levels facilitating face-to-face drop in visits between staff and claimants.

Ms Hargey

On 5 May 2021, jobs and benefits offices reopened for people on a one-in, one-out appointment basis. That was extended to multiple appointments in the autumn of last year. Face-to-face services continue to be prioritised for vulnerable groupings: young people aged 18-24; those not engaging using telephone or digital channels; and those who need to verify their identity to make a new claim. Concern about the COVID omicron variant has meant that plans for the wider resumption of services, which include opening digital zones and offering a drop-in service, have been put temporarily on hold. My Department, in conjunction with other Departments, is considering the COVID-19 measures that are in place throughout its workplaces, in line with Public Health Agency (PHA) advice. While face-to-face services continue to be constrained by measures such as social distancing, jobs and benefits offices are using other service delivery channels, such as video, telephone and digital, to ensure that people requiring assistance are supported.

Ms Hargey

Labour market partnerships are a new approach, working through the 11 councils. Rather than have just regional programmes, LMPs are tailored to meet the needs of each council area. I recently visited Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council, which was the first to undertake the programme and put forward its proposals. Councils will meet regularly as part of a regional group that will tie in all local labour market partnerships directly with the Department. The LMPs will have ongoing engagement and liaison with the Department, and not just with jobs and benefits offices but across the Department. Up to now, there has been really good work, for example, in the ABC council area, where there was an identified shortage of HGV drivers due to Brexit and other issues. It was able to run a programme to start to recruit people to fill a gap in that council area. That is one example. We are working with the remaining councils to get their action plans and priorities in place. That is really about bringing the private, public and community and voluntary sectors together to respond to the needs of individuals who are looking for work or to progress and the needs of employers with regard to where employment opportunities will be over coming years. It is an exciting programme, and we look forward to seeing the roll-out and the impact that it will have at a local level.

Ms Dolan

Following on from your last response, Minister, can you give an additional update on the measures that you are taking to help to create employment opportunities?

Ms Hargey

As I said, we are rolling out those new labour market partnership approaches. That is really where they will operate: in each of the council areas. The councils will come together through those partnerships, working with the private sector and the community and voluntary sectors to develop action plans to meet the employment and economic needs of their boroughs. As I said, some really good programmes are beginning to run in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area, which I went to. Of course, other councils are coming forward with their proposed action plans, which we will look to implement as soon as possible. Obviously, we continue to look at other employment programmes, even through the adviser discretion fund, where I have supported upfront childcare costs. We are now seeing more and more families availing themselves of that opportunity to allow them to access employment. Recently, I launched a £10 million skills and employment fund targeted at the creative industries, the culture, arts and heritage sectors and the community and voluntary sector that will see upfront employment opportunities for the next three years for people from those sectors. Applications have been going really well, with organisations in the community applying to create hundreds of posts.

Mr Durkan

I place on record my party's gratitude to the hard-working staff in jobs and benefits offices. It is a stressful job at the best of times, but it is fair to say that the past couple of years have been unprecedented in terms not just of demand but of people's desperation and the situations that they have found themselves in and needing help to get out of. Minister, for clarity, can you outline for the House what support is provided by jobs and benefits offices to benefit claimants, such as those in receipt of universal credit (UC), who are not computer-literate to ensure that they are not disadvantaged by the online system?

Ms Hargey

There is practical hands-on support from work coaches who work directly with individuals to go through all their needs with regard to processing their benefit claims or maintaining the benefit that they may be on. They also help them with interview skills and writing applications. Obviously, there was the Job Start programme, where we gave 25 hours per week of practical experience to young people up to the age of 25 to test out employment sectors that they were interested in working in. As I said, we offer upfront childcare costs through the adviser discretion fund. We can cover other costs — clothing, for example. That may be available for people who want to go to interviews. At the minute, we are looking to continue to expand the adviser discretion fund, for example, to look at the whole issue of digital connectivity and ways in which we can support those who are unemployed or looking for work at the moment with digital inclusion. I hope to make an announcement on those issues and enhancements in due course.