Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 19
Eighth Report - Plan for Jobs and employment support
Published 19 Jul 2023
Paragraph 124
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Plan for Jobs and employment support All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The UK labour market is facing high rates of economic inactivity, driven up as a result of the pandemic and the ending of freedom of movement. Although rates have now somewhat recovered, there are many more people outside the labour market than prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst DWP offers a range of support for unemployed people who are in receipt of benefits there is almost no support Plan for Jobs and employment support 83 available to individuals who are economically inactive and outside the benefit system. We are concerned that a lot of people who are not in work but are capable of working, are not being supported to re-enter the labour market. DWP should expand the eligibility requirements of future support programmes that target groups with high levels of economic inactivity to include people who are not in receipt of benefits.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Eighth Report - Plan for Jobs and employment support (HC 600), paragraph 124, 19 July 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 23 October 2023 (deadline 24 October 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the report's focus on economic inactivity and points to its Spring Budget 2023 package, while declining several recommendations, including devolving all employment support and separating support from benefit administration.
- On the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit cliff edge, the Department "acknowledges the challenge" and officials are working to develop options, but says it "would be challenging to eradicate this issue as early as April 2024" and funding "would also need to be secured through a future fiscal event".
- It does not agree that Restart should be extended to inactive people, or that employment support should be separated from benefit administration, giving conditionality and welfare spend management as reasons for the latter.
- It does not agree to automatically devolve all employment support, deciding the delivery approach "on a programme-to-programme basis". It will trial a more devolved approach in the Greater Manchester and West Midlands deals before considering further rollout.
- On Jobs Plus, the government says it is "supportive of Jobs Plus and will be implementing a pilot scheme based on the Jobs Plus model", though no date is given.