§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how he intends to inform all DSS and Benefits Agency staff of the developing policies towards carers outlined in the national strategy for carers. [78551]
§ Mr. BayleyThe report of the National Carers' Strategy is an important document for all Government Departments. As an employer we recognise the importance of personnel policies which meet the needs of our staff, a number of whom have caring responsibilities for elderly, sick or disabled relatives. Without such policies, it would be difficult to recruit and retain the best people and significant numbers of our staff would be unable to achieve their full potential. It is clearly in our business interests to ensure that our workforce is committed and contented and this means that we must take account of caring commitments. Our policies have developed and are still developing in line with the changing requirements of staff whilst taking account of the National Carers Strategy.
All of the Department's business units have recently been involved in reviews of their childcare and family friendly policies. One of the outcomes of this assessment is that there is a need to communicate our strategy for staff with caring responsibilities more effectively. Consequently the Benefits Agency issued a booklet, "Work and Family" to all its staff in November and DSS HQ are intending to do the same.
Where staff are involved in designing and implementing policy initiatives and commitments, such as the Single Work Focused Gateway and the State Second Pension, we are already taking steps to ensure that they will receive the appropriate information and training to support the Strategy's main objectives.