Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 12
12
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Locally-commissioned employment support will require close working between local government and a variety of partners,...
Recommendation
Locally-commissioned employment support will require close working between local government and a variety of partners, including the NHS. Integrated care systems (ICSs) have an important role to play in strengthening these partnerships. The Government’s ambition is for every area in England to be covered by an ICS. ICSs already bring together providers and commissioners of NHS services with local authorities to plan and deliver health and care services. We recommend that the role of ICSs be expanded to include collaboration with local government on the commissioning and delivery of localised employment support to disabled people, with equivalent work by devolved administrations also being supported.
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55
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Jobcentre staff undergo comprehensive ongoing learning which continues at point of need throughout their role. This provides them with the knowledge and skills training to enable them to treat each claimant as an individual and to discuss with each claimant their health condition, the impacts of their condition and appropriate support. DEAs use a range of resources that are frequently updated including the District Provision Tool, a directory of the provision and support delivered by Jobcentre Plus, providers, local authorities, volunteer and charity organisations along with links and contacts to signpost customers and colleagues to these services. This ensures that they can access the most up to date advice and expertise on a particular disability or health condition. The decision to increase DEAs nationally to 1,000 was to ensure DEAs are available to provide support to Work Coaches, particularly new Work Coaches. The DEA is primarily an enabling role and their learning journey covers multiple health conditions. This enables them to support Work Coaches and Work and Health Services colleagues (e.g. Employer Advisers) to better understand how health and disability can impact employment and personalised support, tailored to each claimant’s individual needs. The DEA role was further enhanced in April 2021 through the introduction of Direct Support. A DEA and Work Coach agree additional actions that a DEA will provide for a customer for a maximum period of 13 weeks. These actions provide short term support for customers that require DEA expertise over and above the Work Coach core offer, whilst upskilling work coaches via working closely with DEAs. Guidance on Job carving