THE Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd visited Chippenham on Friday, to talk about tackling homelessness and to meet staff at the Job Centre.

She discussed Universal Credit with Job Centre staff, and the work done by work coaches to help people back into work.

The member of parliament for Hastings and Rye was a guest of Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan. They met with representatives of local homelessness groups Doorway and Alabare.

“I have been going around the country meeting work coaches and talking to job centres about their experience of Universal Credit,” she said.

“I have also been talking to other partners to make sure there is joined-up working.

“When Universal Credit was first rolled out there were difficulties. Now I feel it is working very well.”

Ms Rudd, who was Home Secretary from July 2016 to April 2018 and became Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in November, praised the work of work coaches and expressed how she appreciated the personal investment they had put in trying to help individuals.

The role of the work coach is to support jobseekers, whether on health-related benefits or income support, into employment.

They interview people and aim to identify the barriers stopping them from working and look for ways to overcome them.

Ms Rudd was optimistic that the move to Universal Credit was a positive one, despite problems at the beginning.

“It does take a few payments to make it easier, but we are continuing with the changes,” she said. “The difficulties are getting ironed out now.”

She added: “I know that people are nervous about moving to this system, but there is support available.”

Sally Cook, the employer and partnership manager for Wiltshire, said they worked with a host of partnership agencies, including local authorities and the Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as work and health organisations, to help support people into work.

“When someone makes a claim for Universal Credit, they will come into the Job Centre and they will support them through the process,” she said.

The work coach was intended to be a consistent presence, to help someone who might have been out of work for years.

“Sometimes it can be small steps. We will help with benefits awareness and training – it depends in the individual. It is a person-centred approach.”

She said meetings with a work coach were usually held every two weeks but this might not always be face to face.

“The benefit of Universal Credit is that it takes a holistic approach to the individual,” she said.

After the visit, Ms Donelan said:

"I am passionate about helping the most vulnerable in our society and breaking the cycle of debt.

"My casework is dominated by housing and benefits issues and I have worked hard for the last four years to ensure that we tackle homeliness and prevent it.

"I invited the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions to Chippenham to come together with local parties including Doorway and Alabare to discuss these issues and how we can ensure that we help better protect the most vulnerable in our community.

"I will ensure that this is not the end of the discussions – we must all work to ensure that everyone has a roof over their head and that the vulnerable are always prioritised.”