Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Accepted
Paragraph: 181
Re-focus DWP programmes on sustainable employment and publish long-term outcome metrics
Recommendation
The Way to Work campaign focused on moving people into work as quickly as possible, without considering whether this work was suitable or sustainable in the long-term. This approach may reduce unemployment in the short-term, but the long-term positive impacts are not evidenced. It can also dissuade employers from using Jobcentres as a resource for finding new employees. DWP should re-focus on getting people into sustainable and suitable employment that enables them to stay in work long-term. DWP should undertake an analysis to understand the long-term employment outcomes of each of its programmes. For future programmes, DWP should create metrics around long-term employment outcomes, measure these outcomes for participants and publish this data.
Government Response Summary
The government asserts that DWP already provides comprehensive support for individuals to achieve sustained and quality employment, citing the In-Work Progression offer and Restart scheme's focus on sustained outcomes. It also states that its employment support programmes undergo comprehensive evaluation, measuring and reporting on long-term employment and benefit outcomes externally.
Paragraph Reference:
181
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
DWP has comprehensive support in place to help people start, stay and succeed in work, including face-to-face time with work coaches who provide a package of interventions to help claimants prepare for, look for and move into work which are tailored to individual capability and circumstances. Beyond getting people into work, DWP is committed to supporting individuals to progress in work, helping them increase their earnings and move into better paid, quality jobs. Support provided through the voluntary In-Work Progression offer focuses on removing barriers to progression and providing advice such as considering skills gaps and identifying training opportunities. In addition, Restart provides intensive, tailored support to long-term unemployed people to help them into sustained work. There are contractual job outcome expectation measures for Restart, set at the start of the contract with providers. Under the terms of the scheme, job outcomes represent sustained employment, and between July 2021 and April 2023, 84,000 individuals achieved a job outcome. In addition, Spring budget 2023 announced Universal Support which utilises the concept of ‘place, train and maintain’ that helps match someone to a job that is right for them at the earliest opportunity, trains them to do the job in the way the employer wants it done and provides personalised, ongoing support to sustain their employment for the longer-term. The Plan for Jobs package of employment support includes comprehensive programmes of analysis and evaluation, in some cases including programme impact analyses. This analysis includes reporting programme impact on longer term employment and benefit outcomes, building on previous evaluations, and cost-benefit analysis. DWP employment programmes have employment outcomes aligned with programme policy intent. These are measured during the programme life and reported externally where there are published statistics for these schemes (for example, for the Work Programme, Work and Health Programme, Restart Scheme, and Work Choice). The longer-term employment outcomes may be assessed through comprehensive programmes of evaluation which, where appropriate and drawing on best practice outlined in the Green and Magenta books, include outcome and impact analysis as well as wider evidence building to inform ongoing delivery and policy development.