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Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20 Department for Work & Pensions Work for Department Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20 & Accounts Report Annual ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2019-20 HC 401 Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20 for the year ended 31 March 2020 Accounts presented to the House of Commons pursuant to section 6 (4) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 Annual Report presented to the House of Commons by command for Her Majesty Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 30 June 2020 HC 401 © Crown Copyright 2020 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/opengovernment-licence/ version/3 Where we have identifed any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available on our website at: www.gov.uk/offcial-documents Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Finance Director General’s Offce 5th Floor, Caxton House 6-12 Tothill Street London SW1H 9NA ISBN 978-1-5286-1894-6 CCS0420451628 06/20 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fbre content minimum Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Offce Contents 3 Contents Performance report Secretary of State’s foreword 6 Permanent Secretary’s overview 7 Performance overview 12 Performance analysis 20 Accountability report Corporate governance report 106 Lead non-executive member’s report 106 Director’s report 111 Governance statement 122 Remuneration and staff report 141 Parliamentary accountability and audit report 159 Statement of Parliamentary Supply 161 Parliamentary Accountability Disclosures 175 Certifcate of the Comptroller and Auditor General 180 Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General 184 Financial report Financial Statements 198 Notes to the Accounts 204 Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20 Performance report 6 Performance report The Right Honourable Thérèse Coffey MP Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Secretary of State’s foreword DWP is one of the main interfaces between After a fantastic year of increasing employment government and people. We help and support rates (up to a joint-record 76.6% in March) directly in a number of aspects of life – from and reducing unemployment, the COVID-19 maternity allowance to support in employment emergency has had a signifcant impact on the to your state pension – and will continue to country, including its economy. A worrying time deliver a safety net for all. for many, the furloughing practice through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has helped In the last few weeks of this fnancial year, over eight million employees so far to keep this has become even more apparent with the their employment. This Department will play a impact of the largest public health emergency crucial role in getting people back into work and in generations. I take great pride in how getting the economy moving again. the Department has risen to this challenge, adapting at great speed to deliver support to I joined the Department in September as those in need. This is thanks to the hard work Secretary of State. With my Ministerial Team, and dedication of our staff. I have carried on the fundamental approach to improving the effciency and effectiveness I have been clear in my ambition for DWP to of our Department in line with the Single be a learning Department. We will look to learn Departmental Plan. We have had a general the lessons of this pandemic as we adapt our election with new manifesto commitments. processes to deliver for our customers in the The United Kingdom has left the European future. I am confdent that there will be some Union and we, including our arm’s length operational changes that we can retain and we bodies, continue to prepare for the end of the stepped up digitisation in our processes but, transition period. There is more work to be unfortunately, we know that criminals will keep done and I will be taking forward our welfare trying to defraud the taxpayer and we will keep agenda in a way which levels up areas across trying to stop that happening. the country and helps people to reach their full potential. Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20 Performance report 7 Peter Schofeld CB Permanent Secretary Permanent Secretary’s overview As I write this, in the midst of COVID-19, it legacy claimants onto UC whilst protecting is hard to look beyond the impact of the their entitlement. pandemic on our country. Since 16 March, we 19.2 million eligible employees are now saving have seen a massive increase in the number for retirement on a workplace pension. With of citizens seeking support from DWP, and the total minimum contribution increased from we acted swiftly to ensure we could respond. 5% to 8% of qualifying earnings on 6 April Our priorities have been making sure we pay 2019 helping to ensure fnancial security for new claims on time, while keeping staff and citizens in retirement. The establishment of the members of the public safe. Since the start of Money and Pensions Service and development the pandemic, there has been unprecedented of pension dashboards with the industry are levels of demand for Universal Credit (UC). helping people to make even more informed From 1 March 2020 to 26 May 2020, the decisions and utilise the pension fexibilities Department received 2.4 million new claims available. from households to UC, (2.9 million new claims from individuals), and paid over 89% of new In 2019-20 we have continued to deliver the claims on time and in full. For now, we have devolution of welfare to Scotland, supporting suspended almost all of our face-to-face the Scottish Government to introduce new interactions with members of the public, and disability and carer benefts and put in place supported people to make their claims online. agency agreements to enable us to continue We have established a new call centre as to deliver these benefts on their behalf, when part of the wider government work to provide executive competence for these benefts support to the most vulnerable, “shielded” transferred on 1 April 2020. We have also citizens. And we have enabled more of our staff provided support to the Scottish Government to work from home. as they prepare for delivery of new benefts including their Job Start Payment and the The response to COVID-19 dominated the Scottish Child Payment. last two weeks of the fnancial year, but 2019 -20 had already been a year of signifcant Having exited the European Union (EU), achievements. Employment levels peaked DWP is committed to working closely with at 76.6%, the joint highest rate on record. other government departments to seize the This year also saw the Department start the opportunities. Within the Department, the next phase of UC roll out through the Move EU Transition Programme has established to UC pilot, the process of safely moving programmes of work to develop the future Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20 8 Performance report social security coordination policy, support • we were on track to realise further negotiations and ensure readiness to deliver reductions to annual running costs services on 1 January 2021. delivering within reduced funding of 5% or £300 million compared to 2018-19. The Throughout the year we have worked to uncertainty caused by, and need to respond improve the services we deliver every day to to, COVID-19, meant in early April I sought over 20 million citizens. We have maintained a Ministerial Direction to proceed with right high standards across all our major product and necessary action to respond to the lines, and worked to listen and respond more COVID-19 pandemic at pace. The timing effectively including establishing the Serious of this mobilisation meant we couldn’t Case Panel. In 2019-20: be certain of the impact on our outturn. • customer complaints have decreased by However, the Department has ultimately 12% compared to 2018-19 contained expenditure within our 2019-20 • we continue to process an ever increasing control totals proportion of UC claims on time – with • we have continued to employ a highly payment timeliness maintained above 89% capable, engaged workforce and further • collected £2.19 billion of debt and extended our opening hours from October protected taxpayers’ money and ensured 2019 to support demand and improve payment accuracy through our fraud and customer service error strategy • our estates reduction and location strategy These achievements have been delivered has delivered both savings and a more alongside signifcant changes in the way fexible modern workspace we work, through transformation which we • our investment in digital capabilities has accelerated as we responded to the impacts strengthened both our resilience and ability of COVID-19. to deliver services in more effcient ways. Service down time has reduced to 0.02% and automations such as ‘Straight-through processing’ on the Get your State Pension service has proved invaluable in freeing up resource so vitally needed to respond to COVID-19 Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20 Performance report 9 Forward Look The year ahead poses further unprecedented challenges. There will be signifcantly more people who will need support through UC and the Department will have to work in new ways as we adapt to changes in workplace guidance and adopt best practice to keep our staff safe. Alongside ensuring people get the fnancial support they are entitled to, our focus is turning towards getting Britain working again and responding to the economic impact of COVID-19.
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