Recommendation 20

HM Government Accepted

The Government’s Plan for Jobs successfully supported people through the pandemic, and Kickstart and Restart were an important part of this. The Restart scheme was designed in response to an Office for Budget Responsibility unemployment forecast of 11.9%. However, recovery from the pandemic was quicker than anticipated with unemployment peaking at 5.2%. The department renegotiated the Restart contracts, reducing the size of the programme accordingly. As the forecasts for unemployment reduced, we were able to expand eligibility from those who had been in Intensive Work Search (IWS) for between 12 and 18 months to those who had been in IWS for 9 months, to provide an increased opportunity for more claimants to benefit from the scheme. As of the end of April 2023, over 450,000 people have started this scheme since July 2021 and over 150,000 people have reported first earnings. Restart expenditure is monitored robustly by the Department, to accurately forecast expenditure and continue to ensure that it secures value for money for the taxpayer. Similarly, for Kickstart, as the labour market recovered from the pandemic, and young people moved back into work, we rightly refocused our employment support strategy to reflect that and as a consequence fewer Kickstart jobs needed to be funded. Restart is designed for claimants who have been unemployed and actively searching for work in the IWS regime for over 9 months, therefore the department does not agree that Restart should be extended to inactive people. As noted in response to the previous recommendation, there is already a range of support available to those who are economically inactive and not claiming benefits and as part of the first phase of Universal Support, 25,000 additional places will be offered through the Work and Health programme for inactive customers using a place and train approach. On the committee’s point of publicising these programmes, the Government agrees it is important to raise awareness of support available. DWP always aims to promote and raise awareness of our programmes to ensure that eligible claimants understand the support available to them and are referred if the support is appropriate for their circumstances. The largest economically inactive group is those who are disabled or long-term sick, many of whom DWP is in contact with via the benefit system. Beyond this, we work with a wide range of partners to ensure our support reaches those who need it, including health systems and regional and local government across the country. This includes the WorkWell Partnerships Programme announced at Spring Budget, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners in collaboration with Jobcentres to provide joined up work and health support. Employment support services and getting people into work Conclusion and recommendation 21 We have heard numerous positive reports about Kickstart, however, without a comprehensive analysis of Kickstart or any publication of data on employment outcomes, it is not possible to say with any assurance how successful the scheme has been or what value it delivered for participants. We look forward to the statistical release which DWP has said it will publish “before the end of term”. DWP should apply the lessons of its forthcoming evaluation in considering possible future schemes along the lines of Kickstart. (Paragraph 135) Response The Kickstart Scheme process evaluation was published in July 2023. The learning gained through the evaluation, based on the views and experiences of large numbers of young people, employers and partner organisations, are providing insights relevant to a range of ongoing policies, as well as lessons for the development of any future similar schemes. Conclusion 22 We welcome that the Department has already responded positively to our request to publish Restart statistics regularly. The previous lack of transparency around how the programme was performing and its employment outcomes for participants had prevented valuable external assessment of the scheme and limited DWP’s accountability for the programme outcomes. The move to publish regular statistics for Restart is a good step towards increased transparency. (Paragraph 140) Conclusion and recommendation 23 Access to Work is seen as being a very successful programme with positive impacts for claimants. However, employer awareness of the scheme is limited and there are many more people with a disability or health condition who could benefit from the support. In line with our recommendations in the Disability employment gap Report, DWP should launch a marketing campaign targeted at employers and disabled people to raise awareness of the scheme. (Paragraph 148) Response DWP is committed to improving awareness of Access to Work. In 2021, DWP delivered a paid communication campaign to increase awareness, widen the reach and increase take- up of grants under the scheme. We have built on the learning of that campaign