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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Levi Winchester

DWP to give Jobcentre staff £250 in vouchers for getting people back into work

Jobcentre staff who get the most people back into work will be rewarded with up to £250 in vouchers as part of a new scheme.

The pilot from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will also see Universal Credit claimants asked to visit a Jobcentre every weekday for a fortnight once they have been on the benefit for 13 weeks.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union warned the scheme - first reported by the BBC - could increase the number of claimants being sanctioned.

Martin Cavanagh, the union’s DWP Group President, said: "Asking more customers to travel more often into job centres does nothing to help our staff or their workloads."

A total of 90 Jobcentres will be involved in the trial, with 30 testing just the rewards scheme and 30 trialling just the "enhanced daily support" scheme.

A further 30 Jobcentres will test both the rewards and "enhanced daily support".

Jobcentres across Central Scotland, Surrey and Sussex, West Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire will take part.

It follows initial testing in Coalville, Crawley, Partick and Pontefract Jobcentres.

As part of the staff rewards, workers would be set targets and those at the top performing sites - based on how many benefit claimants they get back into work - would get £250 in vouchers.

The next best performing staff will get £125 each.

According to an internal DWP document seen by the BBC, officials want to test whether offering rewards to staff "drive better outcomes".

A spokesperson for the DWP told The Mirror: "It is right that we reward our staff when they go above and beyond, and helping people to secure, stay in, and succeed in work is a key government priority.

"DWP has an existing in-year reward policy which allows for recognition in the form of both individual and team-based awards in the form of vouchers to colleagues."

The news comes as the DWP is set to raise benefit payments in line with inflation from April 10.

Benefits rise every year in line with the previous September rate of inflation.

The rate of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for September 2022 was 10.1% - so benefits will rise by this amount from April 2023.

The exact date the new rates will kick in from is April 10 but when you start to receive your higher amount depends on when your benefit payment normally falls.

The move, which will cost £11billion, was announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn budget in November last year.

You can see how much benefits are rising by here.

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